About
Meet Sean Atkinson, a former corporate executive turned business success coach. Drawing from his corporate journey, he guides entrepreneurs to achieve their goals. Tune in to his podcast for actionable strategies and insights on navigating the world of business, tailored for aspiring and established entrepreneurs alike.
Sean Atkinson – https://majority.media
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
Subscribe To The Newsletter – https://www.switchintotech.com
Podcast Host: Elyse Y. Robinson – https://www.data.gal/about
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Data.gal – https://www.data.gal
About
Join Shawn Day on a thrilling entrepreneurial journey from launching a successful mortgage company to innovating the cleaning industry, culminating in a revolutionary hiring process that transforms how cleaning businesses staff up.
Shawn Day – https://linktr.ee/hireleadchill
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
Subscribe To The Newsletter – https://www.switchintotech.com
Podcast Host: Elyse Y. Robinson – https://www.data.gal/about
Listen On:
Apple Podcast – https://nobody.fyi/apple
Spotify – https://nobody.fyi/spotify
Google Podcast – https://nobody.fyi/google
Donate:
Stripe – https://nobody.fyi/donate
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Tech Freebies – https://nobody.fyi/freebies
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Full Tuition Scholarships – https://fullscholarships.org
Data.gal – https://www.data.gal
Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Mortgage to Mop: My Entrepreneurial Journey
From Mortgages to Mops: A Business Evolution
Cleaning Up in Business: My Path Through Mortgages and Beyond
Sweeping Success: Mortgages to Cleaning Empire
The Right Exit: My Transition from Mortgages to Maid Service
Sparkling Success: Building Businesses from the Ground Up
Dusting Off Dreams: My Entrepreneurial Leap from Mortgages
The Clean Break: My Shift from Mortgages to Maid Mastery
From Loans to Soap Scones: An Unlikely Business Journey
Scrubbing Up Success: My Story from Mortgage Mogul to Cleaning Champ
Hiring Shine: The Path from Mortgages to Staffing Solutions
Sweeping Changes: My Business Odyssey from Finance to Filth Fighting
From Closing Deals to Cleaning Seals: My Entrepreneurial Pivot
Clean Slate: From Mortgage Magnate to Janitorial Giant
Mortgages to Maintenance: Crafting My Business Dynasty
The Sparkle of Success: Mortgages, Mops, and Making It Big
From Financial Foundations to Sanitation Solutions: My Business Journey
Building and Cleaning: My Road from Mortgages to Mops
Dust to Dollars: My Entrepreneurial Shift from Housing to Cleaning
The Entrepreneur’s Clean Sweep: From Mortgages to Hiring Hacks
About
Embarking on a journey that began in the military, a man’s path took a serendipitous turn due to love, steering him towards a noble calling as a teacher. Embracing the transformative power of his experiences, he ultimately found his true passion in the realm of writing. Now, he delves into the depths of religious topics, weaving his diverse experiences into insightful works that explore the intricate tapestry of faith, human emotion, and the quest for understanding.
Cedric Sydnor – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CX23P5F6
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
Subscribe To The Newsletter – https://www.switchintotech.com
Podcast Host: Elyse Y. Robinson – https://www.data.gal/about
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Data.gal – https://www.data.gal
Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Classroom to Scripture: A Teacher’s Journey
Chalk Dust to Holy Writ: Transforming Visions
Lessons Beyond the Lectern: Faith’s New Chapter
Educating Souls: The Path from Teaching to Preaching
Blackboards to Blessings: A Life Redefined
The Teacher’s Quest: From Adolescents to Absolutes
Divine Syllabus: The Educator’s Leap of Faith
From Grading to Grace: A Story of Enlightenment
Scripture after School: Teaching, Learning, Believing
Homeroom to Holy Rooms: A Spiritual Awakening
The Scholarly Saint: From Classroom Conversations to Sacred Texts
Beyond the Bell: Journeys in Faith and Writing
The Educator’s Pilgrimage: From Secular to Sacred
Chalkboards and Chapels: An Educator’s Evolution
Lesson Plans to Liturgies: The Transformation of a Teacher
Teaching to Testimony: Bridging Knowledge and Belief
Curriculum of the Soul: A Teacher’s Divine Discovery
The Enlightened Educator: From Public Schools to Pulpits
Apostles and Assignments: The Dual Life of a Teacher-Writer
Pedagogy and Piety: Charting a New Course in Faith
About
Follow the transformative journey of a woman who transitions from a stay-at-home mom to finding her independence after leaving an unfulfilling marriage. Embracing change, she embarks on a path of self-discovery, becomes a psychotherapist, and ultimately, a writer dedicated to healing from family hurt. Through her story, we explore themes of empowerment, resilience, and the profound journey of healing, offering listeners insights into overcoming personal obstacles and finding one’s true purpose.
Phyllis Leavitt – https://phyllisleavitt.com
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
Subscribe To The Newsletter – https://www.switchintotech.com
Podcast Host: Elyse Y. Robinson – https://www.data.gal/about
Listen On:
Apple Podcast – https://nobody.fyi/apple
Spotify – https://nobody.fyi/spotify
Google Podcast – https://nobody.fyi/google
Donate:
Stripe – https://nobody.fyi/donate
Cashapp – $mselyserobinson
Patreon – https://nobody.fyi/patreon
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Affiliates:
Taxes and Services – https://www.taxes.services
Nube: Switch Into A Cloud Career Book – https://nobody.fyi/book
Tech Freebies – https://nobody.fyi/freebies
Monthly Seminars – https://nobody.fyi/seminars
Full Tuition Scholarships – https://fullscholarships.org
Data.gal – https://www.data.gal
Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Home to Horizon: A Journey of Transformation
Breaking Free: A Stay-at-Home Mom’s Escape to Empowerment
Healing Homes: The Psychotherapist Writer’s Path
Beyond the Threshold: One Woman’s Leap from Comfort to Calling
Reinvented Realities: From Domestic to Dynamic
The Unfolding: A Homemaker’s Guide to Finding Herself
Awakening Ambitions: The Journey from Stay-at-Home to Psychotherapist
Turning Tides: A Tale of Marriage, Mastery, and Moving On
Unraveling New Chapters: A Woman’s Quest Beyond Marriage
Bridges to Becoming: From Homemaker to Healer and Author
Shattered Silence: Breaking Bonds, Building Dreams
A New Leaf: The Stay-at-Home Mom’s Odyssey to Self-Discovery
Evolving Identities: From Wife to Psychotherapist and Writer
The Liberation of Letting Go: A Journey of Self-Rediscovery
Unveiling Potentials: The Transformation of a Domestic Life
From Shadows to Spotlight: A Woman’s Journey to Self-Empowerment
The Courage to Reinvent: A Journey from the Heart of Home to Healing
Breaking Boundaries: From Domesticity to Dreams Achieved
Finding My Voice: The Stay-at-Home Mom’s Path to Writing and Healing
A Leap of Faith: Beyond Marriage to a Life of Purpose and Passion
About
Meet Michael Glassock, a former finance professional turned life coach in the bustling streets of the United Kingdom. Inspired by his own journey of self-discovery, Michael is on a mission to guide individuals towards their true paths. Michael navigates the complexities of life, helping people uncover their passions, overcome obstacles, and find fulfillment on their unique journeys. Join him on a quest to unlock the full potential of every individual he encounters.
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
Subscribe To The Newsletter – https://www.switchintotech.com
Podcast Host: Elyse Y. Robinson – https://www.data.gal/about
Listen On:
Apple Podcast – https://nobody.fyi/apple
Spotify – https://nobody.fyi/spotify
Google Podcast – https://nobody.fyi/google
Donate:
Stripe – https://nobody.fyi/donate
Cashapp – $mselyserobinson
Patreon – https://nobody.fyi/patreon
Be A Guest: https://nobody.fyi/guest
Affiliates:
Taxes and Services – https://www.taxes.services
Nube: Switch Into A Cloud Career Book – https://nobody.fyi/book
Tech Freebies – https://nobody.fyi/freebies
Monthly Seminars – https://nobody.fyi/seminars
Full Tuition Scholarships – https://fullscholarships.org
Data.gal – https://www.data.gal
Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
BritCoaching Chronicles: A Man’s Journey to Inspire Change
London Luminary: Tales of Transformation with a UK Life Coach
Mindset Mastery: A British Life Coach’s Odyssey
From London to Legacy: The Life Coach Diaries
Coaching Britannia: Unleashing Potential in the UK
The Gentleman Guide: Navigating Life’s Challenges, UK Style
Empire of Empowerment: A British Life Coach’s Rise
Tea and Transformation: A UK Life Coach’s Podcast
Across the Pond Coaching: Inspiring Stories from the UK
The British Coach’s Blueprint for Success
London Luminary Lounge: Conversations on Life and Coaching
Elevate Your Life: A British Life Coach’s Wisdom
Beyond Borders Coaching: A UK Perspective
The Covent Garden Coach: Transformative Tales from the UK
Thames Triumph: A Life Coach’s Journey in the UK
The Buckinghamshire Breakthrough: UK Coaching Stories
Mindful Manchester: A Life Coach’s Guide to Well-Being
Wise Whispers from Westminster: A UK Life Coach’s Insights
The Peak District Pathfinder: A British Life Coach’s Adventures
Leeds Luminary Lessons: Life Coaching in the Heart of England
Show Notes
[00:00:00.740]
Speaker 2: Hey, you all. This is your host, Elyse Robinson with the Nobody Wants to Work, though podcast, season 2. I hope the stories inspire you to switch careers. I have done all kinds of interesting things in my life, and I’m a firm believer if you only live once. Sit back and enjoy. We are Switch into Tech. Tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology. Monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships, free Udemy courses, free events, free boot camps, and more. You can find us at www. Switchintotech. Org. Hey, this is Elyse Robinson with Nobody Wants to Work, though, podcast. Today we have Michael Glassick. No, Glassick. That’s good.
[00:00:54.210]
Speaker 1: I love it, Elyse. I tell you what- And he’s going to introduce himself so I can quit butchering his name. I love coming on these podcasts, and I love talking to American people because it’s a joy to hear how they pronounce my surname. But yeah, I am Michael Glassick. I am a Career and Confidence Coach, and I will talk a lot more about what that involves in the practicalities. But thank you so much for having me, Elyse. I appreciate it.
[00:01:23.840]
Speaker 2: All right. I guess, who are you? What do you do? What is a career A career confidence coach.
[00:01:33.040]
Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah, absolutely. So who am I, I suppose? So first and foremost, I’m a husband and son. That’s how I see myself, first and foremost. But in terms of my professional life as a career confidence coach, and I’m sure we’re digging into why I ultimately ended up here. I didn’t always do this and I didn’t start in this place. And there are some very personal and professional reasons for why I’m here. But my sole job and the purpose and the energy I have every Every day when I wake up is to inspire people to do what inspires them. And that is the thing that drives me and gives me energy and motivates me. I truly believe in a world that’s so full of hate, that if we can have more people doing what inspires them, we’d live in a much more caring and compassionate world. If I can even live a small ripple effect on that, then I’ve done my job and I can go to bed when I hang up my boots at the end of my life, at the end of my day as a happy man.
[00:02:30.460]
Speaker 2: You said a lot because before we had this conversation, I told you that I’ve always loved tech, but the industry is just ill. They don’t want people that look like me in the industry. This is not even any part of the question. How do you try to coach people and you know that they don’t fit the mode? We can do extreme example of, Oh, I’m 5’4, but I want to be an NBA player or a football player. Or, I’m not the best-looking person. I don’t fit the mode of the typical model. Or somebody that… I don’t know. I’m given physical stuff, but how do you rectify that when you do your career coaching? You just know that you You’re delusional.
[00:03:32.170]
Speaker 1: For me, and I will push back a little bit, at least, I think, on this is, first and foremost, who am I to say who is delusional and who’s not? By saying I’m someone who’s delusional, what set of rules am I basing that on? As you quickly said that to me, because I knew exactly what I was going to answer when you started that question, I just googled the shortest basketball NBA player, and I’ve got a chap that’s come up as Mugsy B who’s 5’3. There’s another person who’s 5’3. There’s another person who’s 5’4. There’s about 10 different people, the shortest basketball player. Now, I know I’m saying it a little bit in jest, but I truly think beyond that, for me, and this with a constant underlying factor that I always fall back on because there will be hard times. You’ll be silly to think there won’t be. It’s always what’s the why? Why are you doing this? Are you doing this to appease your friends? Are you doing this to appease your family? Are you doing this to please society’s aims and I suppose beliefs on what you should do with your life?
[00:04:36.390]
Speaker 1: If you are, maybe I would have a bit of more of that challenge. I wouldn’t definitely call them delusional, but I would definitely challenge them more. But if there’s a stronger why, and I can see it in the souls of their eyes when they speak to me, then who am I to dissuade them and call them delusional? Because it’s happened in the past, and even if it hasn’t happened in the past, who used to say they aren’t the first person to do it? For me, it’s a lot around coaching. For me, it’s around my own self-awareness, around my limiting beliefs and my restrictions, because I can only take someone as far as I’ve gone. And if I have those restrictions in my beliefs and what you can or what is and isn’t possible, then how will I truly be serving someone with those restrictions and those beliefs? So for me, the answer to your question per se for me is, what is the why behind this? And if I’m happy with that why and I’ve pushed someone to get to a why where you can see it’s soaring out of their eyes, then who am I to say they’re delusional or whatnot?
[00:05:38.940]
Speaker 2: You’re right. I’ll agree with that.
[00:05:44.490]
Speaker 1: I hear a bop.
[00:05:46.350]
Speaker 2: Here’s another example. This was a couple of years ago. I was living in Mexico or whatever. There was this Facebook group I was part of, and there was this lady, she came on there, and she She said that she had two kids, and one was still under six months, so it was fresh. She said she wanted to move to another country, and she basically said that the IRS took her tax refund, but she got a couple of dollars saved up or whatever. I told her, I said, Look, ma’am, when you move to another country, especially a so-called shithole country, there is no welfare, there’s no support services. When Especially when you’re not a permanent resident or a citizen. You can’t just move somewhere all willy-nilly and expect, if something doesn’t work out, they’re going to help you and take care of you. I said, You have two kids. You got to plan this out very carefully so therefore, you’re not over there suffering. Because people get in their mind that it’s so easy to move overseas, it’s cheaper, and all I got to bring is $5,000 or insert number here, and I can figure it out when I get there.
[00:07:02.340]
Speaker 2: And she cussed me out, right? Because I’m a realist, and I’ve done this. And I’ve also seen people fail at it. So I’m trying to save her the heartache and trouble, make her think. But people were silently messaging me saying, Hey, I didn’t want to say it. People are scared to say it, but you’re right. So I guess my next question is, how do you deal with people that don’t want to listen to common sense, I guess it is, and work around that? Do you cut them as a client? What do you do?
[00:07:47.760]
Speaker 1: Absolutely. So I mean, firstly, thank you for sharing your personal story about that person. And I think what will perfectly cover this is for me, a coach, and this was very What much instilled in me when I did my initial coaching training with the ICF, was a coach does three key things, like a trifecta. So they guide, support, and challenge people to ultimately reach their goals. Now, that support is that cheerleader. You have that friend who always says you can do everything no matter what. So even if the odds are stacked against them in that situation you gave, they just, Yeah, you can do it. The yes men, perhaps. The guidance is obviously supporting someone on journey. Perhaps you’ve done the move yourself. You have moved abroad. You have a bit of insight, a bit of experience that you can share with others to help guide them on their own path. But then most importantly, I personally think is the challenge. So even how I slightly push back a little bit with yourself in terms of that delusional piece, I think it’s acting from a place of integrity and challenging someone from a place of love and not from a place of I know it all and I’m telling you what to do.
[00:08:55.960]
Speaker 1: But if you challenge someone and you do it from a place of love and you already have a sense of rapport and trust built with that person, for me, it can only lead it to a positive space. Now, I will do that from the beginning. I jump on a call with someone throughout the whole coaching journey with them. And I have people, and I am very choosy with the people I work with because a coaching relationship, I suppose, the key difference, I would say, very quickly. Therapy works on the past and how it affects you to your present day. Coaching works on where you are on your present day to achieve your current goals. And it’s what we call an equal A mentoring relationship. And mentoring is something where, say, you’re an account intern, someone’s a chartered accountant. A mentor tells you what to do. Take this exam, take this path, take this ACA or this CEMA in terms of to do your charter journey. A mentor tells you what to do. Now, I’m not saying one is better than another, but I share those differences because different mentors, therapists, coaches can perform an amazing results depending on the situation of the client.
[00:09:59.090]
Speaker 1: So for me, when I I have that initial coaching conversation with someone, I’m very clear on what I do. I’m very clear on the challenge. Then when people put their idea across of what the goal they want to do, I will challenge them. If there is not that chemistry, one of two things, I say, Look, please book a consultation call with another coach. I might not be the best person for you. But equally, I will also say maybe a therapist or a mentor is what’s best for you in your current situation. I hope that answers your question to a certain degree because the challenge is incredibly important. If you just say, yes, you’re amazing, you can do everything, you’re lying to that person. If you’re lying to someone, are you actually truly serving them? In my opinion, no.
[00:10:40.930]
Speaker 2: Basically, what you’re saying is, I need to stop making definite statements and do questions instead.
[00:10:48.130]
Speaker 1: I suppose with me, I will often answer with a question more than an answer. When I say more, I mean almost 90% of the time. Because even the fact you’re a question in a coaching conversation, obviously not in a podcast situation. Why are you asking that question? Are you seeking my validation on the answer? Yes, I can make you feel good and say, Yeah, that sounds great. But what happens in a week’s time when you’re on your own? So for me, humans, it sounds cliché, are capable of far more than we can ever imagine. You shared a bit of your personal journey with me, which I think is truly inspiring. And if you were to look back five years, do you think you truly thought you’d done all the things you’ve done today. There’s no way in hell I could have done all these things. But your resilience, your grit, whatever you want to call it, your values have held you to achieve so many magical things in the past five years. Who’s to say what you can’t accomplish in the next five years? And for me, how can I be the judgment or the ruler to put preconceptions on other people?
[00:11:51.690]
Speaker 1: What I can do is I can challenge someone, but I’m in no state to say this is possible or this isn’t.
[00:11:57.780]
Speaker 2: No, I agree with that. No, I’m a bad motherfucker soul.
[00:12:02.350]
Speaker 1: No. Amen. Yes, you are, at least. Like I said, we were sharing our stories. We were sharing our day. We went live. I think you lived a hell of a life and you can teach some people I agree.
[00:12:17.070]
Speaker 2: I can’t wait until… I’m 40, so I can see what else I do. But at this point in my life, I’m like, I’ve done a lot. How can I top that? I’m like, What else can I do to top It’s funny that you say that because I was talking to a therapist when I was going through my home buying process. It was a journey in itself, and I was boom boom crying all the time because I thought it wasn’t going to work. I reached out to a therapist because my family was getting tired of hearing me talking about it. I was like, I need an independent person. But he was basically saying, What are you going to do in the What’s your next goal? And I was like, You know what? I don’t really know at this point. So I guess I have to figure something out because I don’t really have anything at this point. I’m like, I just want to lay around and as me and My sisters, they look ugly. So that’s where I’m at.
[00:13:18.700]
Speaker 1: And I suppose on that piece, the word passion, goals, purpose, a lot of these terms get thrown around quite willy-nilly. And I think whenever you hear someone who shares this, always look at the context for why they’re sharing it with you. Are they prying on an insecurity to try and sell you something? Be very wary of the world you live in. But not every single person has one purpose. People have multiple purposes. And the purpose doesn’t have to be as big and Almighty as solving world famine or anything like that. For me, simply trying to inspire people to do what inspires them could be applied to so many different factors. And if I can just do that on a daily basis, whether it’s through my words, through a podcast or through my actions, through the practice I run, that is what gives me energy at the end of the day. And energy doesn’t lie. That pit in your stomach when you do certain things or it’s Sunday afternoon, you’re thinking, Here we go again. It’s back to work on a Monday. Energy doesn’t lie. So for me, it doesn’t always have to be overwhelmingly, I’m going to solve this planet or solve this world issue.
[00:14:24.060]
Speaker 1: For some people, it has. You look at past MLK and those who have stood on their shoulders. They’ve done those things. But for me, just at a small, grandier level, if I can serve every day and inspire people to do what inspires them, that is what gives me energy, and that’s what put a smile on my face.
[00:14:41.660]
Speaker 2: No, definitely. Getting back to the questions because we even got all the way off topic. All good? I love it. How did you get to this point that you wanted to be a coach? Because no one wakes up when they’re 12 and say, Hey, I’m I’m going to be a coach one day.
[00:15:02.030]
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. I think for me, first and foremost, I would say the coaching industry is clearly booming. Every man, wife, and dog is calling themselves a coach, which for me personally, I think it’s only a good thing because I think the more people who can have those conversations and have increased self-awareness is only going to serve a better purpose, especially in a world full of hate, as we discussed earlier. For me, there was quite a personal reason for how I fell into coaching. I wasn’t that 12-year-old, like you said, who woke up and said, Mom and dad, I’m going to be a coach. I’m what you would call a second-generation immigrant. My mom was born in Jamaica, my dad was born in England, in UK. My mom moved to UK and had me in UK, hence being a second-generation immigrant. A lot of things, this is not the sole reason, but a lot of things in my life, I was absolutely spoiled with love, didn’t need or want anything. So I lived a very humble childhood, definitely not poor, definitely not rich. But there was a big drive around that financial security and stability. And funny enough, I actually went to try to aspire to be an accountant.
[00:16:13.450]
Speaker 1: So I took account in finance. But very quickly, even in my university degree, swoped to business management. And it’s only with hindsight, I can see my love of people. But at the time, I didn’t twig, still went into financial institutions, absolutely Hated it. Went into a contemporary art gallery. That was where as an Accounts Intern, absolutely hated it. And then finally, fell into what we call the National Health Service in the UK at the NHS. And that’s when I found my home. I was there for roughly six, seven years in operational/project manager roles. So creating massive projects that affect thousands of patients’ lives. And I still have that strong purpose of the NHS of For me, what we call free at the point of entry. So providing health care to those who can’t afford it. And I think it’s a really valuable system. But slowly over time, although I love the purpose of the NHS, my role itself was getting more and more detached from why I joined initially. I was in more and more meetings, speaking all these big fancy words, but not seeing the change that was actually happening. And I could see if I was to continue on that path, I could be a transformation director and earn good money and all the rest of it.
[00:17:29.820]
Speaker 1: But But ultimately, I wouldn’t be happy at the core of my soul. That combined, I would say, with my dad receiving a diagnosis for Alzheimer’s, absolutely through my life up in the air. Whether you like it or not, it makes you reflect on a lot of things in life. My dad was only, I believe, 74. He had to be quite late in life, but my dad was only 74 at the time. In the grand scheme of things, that is early. He’s still got easy 15, 20 years of his life to live. So from there, I really reflected on my career, my life, how not this live life like its last day, none of that nonsense. But it did force me to say, if I’m going to be on this planet for another 40, 50 years, by God, I want to actually do something that I enjoy and serves a wider purpose. And that’s when I fell into podcasts, I fell into books. And I used to have to describe who this person is, but they’re so big now. I don’t have to. I listened to a particular podcast by a chap called Stephen Bartlet, so dire of a CEO.
[00:18:30.120]
Speaker 1: And he interviewed a chap called Jordan Peterson, and it was all around self-confidence and self-awareness. And from that podcast, that was me. I was reading books. I found coaching, realized it’s basically something I’ve done since the beginning of my days in terms of answering the question with a question, not telling people what to do, and did a coaching course. And then my interest and my curiosity just snowball from there, at least. So hence why I’m here today speaking to you.
[00:18:58.350]
Speaker 2: I love that podcast. I don’t listen to all of them, but he put me on to Dame Dash because Dame Dash is Dame Dash. He’s black culture in America, right? And that podcast really touched me because He lost his mother very early and it sent him down a spiral. But yeah, I love that podcast. The latest one I had watched was Busta Rimes, and he’s a big part of black culture, too. But yeah, if anybody I heard of him and watched him, he’s phenomenal. I aspire to be like him when I grow up.
[00:19:37.510]
Speaker 1: It’s so funny because when I first listened to him, not like I was his first ever listener or anything like that, but when I first listened to him, he was relatively small. I had to say, Oh, there’s this person in the UK, he’s mixed race, and he’s really good. Whereas now, I don’t have to do any of that. I just say, You know Stephen Bartlet? And they go, Yeah, I know Stephen Bartlet. Because obviously, his message and his story has grown and transcended that he’s absolutely killing it. And good luck to him. So, yeah, I’m not the only one. I’m sure many people have listened to his podcast and gone on to amazing journeys. But that, combined with the Alzheimer’s for my dad, was the catalyst, I suppose, for my career change.
[00:20:17.480]
Speaker 2: Got you. Where did you want to be when you grew up?
[00:20:22.860]
Speaker 1: So I love this question, at least, because this is the God’s truth, right? I don’t know. And I even had to message my mom. And my mom replied and said, Is this a test? Because I don’t know. So it’s really funny. I don’t remember wanting to be a sportsman. So that’s often what common men may all figures often want to do. I know when I got older, like teenager, I wanted to be a business person. I do remember that. Again, I think linked to that security and stability and the rest of it. But in my earlier She is. I don’t know, really. And what I do know is I love talking to people, and that’s never stopped. And I’ve always been curious. I’ve always been that annoying person that says, why? But why? But why? And it’s like, Oh, this is the answer. You don’t need to know why. But yeah, I think that’s my honest and fair reflection on my childhood. Like I said, I did my research and asked my mom, and she said, No, nothing stuck out. I think it was only when I became more lucky in my teenage years and had a bit more of an understanding of the world, that then a business person working for myself, per se, that’s what started to interest me.
[00:21:37.790]
Speaker 2: My nephew said since he was a baby, he wanted to be a police officer. I ask him every year. I’m like, You still want to be a police officer? Yeah, he’s 11 now. I make sure I ask him because I want to be able to prepare him for the future if that’s when he still wants to be and we can get him on that track. But now he said since he was very little, he wanted to be a police officer. He used to tie me up and beat me. So I’m like, Okay.
[00:22:13.360]
Speaker 1: You’re getting down some dangerous conversations here.
[00:22:18.070]
Speaker 2: Gosh, I’m like, there’s different types of police officers. You can work for the feds as FBI agent or criminal officer. When When I worked for the IRS, there was a lady, and she was really short and stuff, and she was a criminal agent. She would go in there busting doors on people that did financial crimes. She was so sweet, and I never expected her to be that. She was like, Yeah, I used to do that. I’m like, You don’t have to be that type of police officer. There’s other kinds. Let’s see. You talked about the catalyst and what got you interested in that? All these things come at a cost. What did it cost you along the way? Did your family think you were crazy? Did your friends support you?
[00:23:12.530]
Speaker 1: I think on the parents’ question, I suppose, if someone truthfully asked me who are my heroes or who did I look up to when I was young, it’s going to make me emotional, actually. But it always is to this day is my parents. I’ve always looked up to my parents of how strong, how resilient they’ve been, especially my mom, bless her in these current days, myself and her caring for my father. And the work ethic they had, my mom isn’t particularly intelligent, and she wouldn’t mind me saying that. But my goodness, she has the work effort to make up for it. And there’s so much… It’s almost easy. If you’re born with talent, it’s almost a shame to waste it. But my Mom, she got every drop out of what she was brought to this Earth by. I couldn’t have a bigger role model with my Mom, to be honest. And my dad, bless him, he started as an appulsturer, so creating furniture and stuff like that with my dad, or my granddad, sorry. He went from there as a postman, so posting stuff to a messenger. Back in the days before computers and sending letters by to banks, to a receptionist, and then to a senior receptionist in a bank in London.
[00:24:36.350]
Speaker 1: Hence, his way of talking with people, and that’s fallen down to me, and he’s a judge of character. For me, I had, and even to this day with my wife, bless her, I’ve had so much support on my journey. I think when people can see that you’re doing it from a truthfully authentic place, it’s a lot easier for people to jump onto that journey and support you on your path. Of course, I had to shed a previous identity. I was Mr. Corporate Project Manager, delivering these amazing projects and changing people’s lives and all the rest of it. And a clear shift, the clearest, I would say, was on social media profiles like LinkedIn, because I was badged as this is who I am to connect with others. And over time, I had to slowly unfold that project manager identity and rebuild myself as a coach. And I had people at various, honestly, senior high-level positions question me at my workplace and say, What’s all this coaching lark? What’s all this coaching stuff, Mike, I’m seeing that made me think twice about, Is this the right path? Is this what I want to do? But thankfully, I had my family, my wife, my partner at the time to support me on that journey.
[00:25:52.830]
Speaker 1: I always talk about two words, consistency and curiosity. I’m a curious It’s individual, and I will be to the end of my days. But consistency just eats everything for breakfast. If you take small, tangible actions, and I bang on about this so much with the clients I serve, say every week, it’s 52 weeks in the year. If You made one small action every week, just like, my goodness, the change and the growth you can have in a year’s time. And I did that. I made my one small little post on LinkedIn, and slowly I shed the identity of my previous self. And I now have a real amazing network of coaches and clients and people I can fall back on now. So for me, what is courage? It’s filling the fear and doing something anyway. And that is one of the biggest things that I did and got me to where I am today, I would say.
[00:26:44.890]
Speaker 2: Did you get your CA?
[00:26:48.510]
Speaker 1: My what? Sorry.
[00:26:49.430]
Speaker 2: Your chartered accountant?
[00:26:51.170]
Speaker 1: No, I didn’t. I didn’t know. I didn’t. I very quickly, thankfully, I dropped from an accounting path to a project manager path. I have Prince 2 and more project management qualifications because that was going to be my corporate route.
[00:27:06.830]
Speaker 2: No, I asked because I’m wondering, where did your first client come from? Was it from your background in accounting or did it help?
[00:27:18.710]
Speaker 1: Yeah, it’s a good point. I actually coach people in the NHS. I did a multiple group coaching sessions with senior NHS leaders all around emotional intelligence. And so and simply for those who may not know what emotional intelligence is, simplest way I describe it is, what is it like to be on the receiving end of you? That’s what emotional intelligence is. So especially senior NHS managers You think, my goodness, the pressure they’re under in terms of health care is not known for being the most well-funded operation. You’re dealing with trauma and the hardest cases. How can we support our leaders to operate a place of strong emotional intelligence? Because that trickle effect is incredibly important on operational teams. And then ultimately, patient outcomes. Because if you don’t look after your employees, in turn, it often leads to negative effects on the patients, clients, customers, whatever field you’re in. So that was a big piece for me. I served as quite an emotionally intellectual leader in terms of my project manager role. And I think that’s what people knew me as. I was very good at connecting with individuals, even if I hadn’t It’s the first time I met them and serving from a place of love and saying, how can we do something as a collective?
[00:28:36.800]
Speaker 1: And I think that shone through. And then as soon as I adopted that coaching role, I think it was a no-brainer for a lot of people. I think some people almost saw it in me before I saw it myself. And they were like, of course, do this workshop for us and help our future leaders. So, yeah, that was one that comes to mind that came from my past life per se, and then helped me into the coaching career.
[00:29:00.880]
Speaker 2: No, I asked that because there’s people that I talk to and some of the guests that come on the show, and they’re like, I thought that was a waste during the time that I was doing this, and I wasn’t, I guess, walking in my purpose, what I wanted to actually do. I tell them it’s because that prepared you for where you are now, whether it’s a client or those connections or One thing that helped me when I was an auditor was presentations. Not to say that I was scared or anything like that, but it helped me to talk to people that were equal to me or higher level than me and not see them as, Oh, I shouldn’t say this or I shouldn’t do that. They’re people, too. And to practice I guess people have alter egos. I let my alter ego take place. I guess right now, I’m probably in my alter ego because I’m an introvert. So people think I’m an extrovert, and I’m not. I like to sit at the house. I say that because a lot of people think the things that they do in their lives are a waste. It’s really not.
[00:30:26.740]
Speaker 2: Whether it’s resting or you did another career Here for a number of years, it’s never really a waste. Just on that, I think I completely agree with you.
[00:30:39.980]
Speaker 1: I think for me personally, I have a faith. Faith doesn’t always have to be a religious constraints. It can be whatever you deem it to be in terms of faith. But I do truly believe everything happens for a reason. And that faith really does serve me in a positive light. Even when my dad had these diagnosis, at the time, I wasn’t operating from this place that I’m speaking now, but it allowed me to move past that. And even though I’m still processing it to this day, and I will to the end of my days, I’m allowed to utilize that as a catalyst that allowed me to put me on this path to then help other people. I think it’s truly powerful to say not to see yourself as a victim and everything you do, the transferable skills that allowed me from project management and from financial administration that I utilize now in this current day is absolutely invaluable. I completely agree. Don’t see as your past time is wasted. There will always be experiences or skills that you can lift out of that that will just prepare you for the future.
[00:31:39.390]
Speaker 2: No, definitely. You spoke on something that’s really important, too, is that there’s No coincidences. Whether you believe in a higher power or not, I don’t believe in coincidences. The universe gives you all the signs and symbols you need, and whether you pay attention to them or not, they’re there. When When I do these podcasts, you’ll hear people say over and over again, I saw it, but I wasn’t really paying attention. It was always there, but I didn’t really want to do it right then and there, or this, this, and this, some type of excuse, I guess. Let’s see. You talked about your process on switching careers. Years. What type of certifications did you get? Did you have to reword your resume? How did you convince people to take a chance on you and be their coach?
[00:32:42.480]
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely. I suppose a key thing that I did is even to this day, I split careers, and it’s been really helpful for me. I work at a higher education, so like a university as a careers officer, helping people, grads, post-grads, pursue their careers, post-education. And then I have the coaching practice. And it’s amazing because they both feed into each other. So one talks a lot about what I would call functional recruitment, so how to get the job. And then the coaching side talks about what job, where do I go to find it? It’s a beautiful mix of the two that help each other. But to get to that space, both of those roles that I’m now in give me energy. They actually give me energy. They don’t take energy away from me. I think it’s nothing do with the organizations or whatever I worked at previously. It’s just as I grew more comfortable in who my authentic self was and what gives me energy, you start to realize more and more what takes away from you. But a big piece for me, and something that I bang on about so much in terms of the clients, especially off the how to get a job, was that networking piece.
[00:33:50.330]
Speaker 1: So some of the key people I met through LinkedIn, I connected with people. When I did my initial research of what careers complement coaching or what careers at allow you to implement coaching skills on a daily basis, that careers officer role came up at loads at higher education establishment. So I contacted people. So I always talk about trying to get your mentor to be you but five years ahead. So I contacted people who were five years into a careers officer career, met over Zoom, asked about the qualifications they had, the skills they had, the experience they had previous to join in that role. And then I actually got people to read over my CV to help tweak it, to talk about interview questions. The biggest thing for me that I’ve touched on slightly is transferable skills. So your past years aren’t just wasted. You have so much experience. I mean, me, I was recruiting people from the chief executive to cleaners. So when I’m now going into a careers role, I actually have the practical experience of having people sit in front of me, interviewing them, shortlist them through CVs to actually get them to that place.
[00:34:56.300]
Speaker 1: So yes, you need a level of theory and theoretical knowledge to be more in a higher education establishment. But I actually had practical knowledge that I was bringing to the table, which you can’t replace, really. So that along with an understanding of the education establishment and the more qualifications that I required or at least needed an understanding about. That put me in a massive place. But the ceiling, the deciding factor for me was when I got to the interview. So all of that helped me get to the interview. But when I got to the interview, and again, I was going to say this, it’s always linking back to this why. I was communicating not just how and how I’ll be a good person in this role, but I was communicating why I was in that interview and why I wanted the job. And for me, and I repeat what I said, I said, I don’t just see you as another notch on my CV or another notch on my career. I see you as an opportunity for me to do what I think I was born to do and ultimately do something that gives me energy.
[00:35:56.660]
Speaker 1: Now, you can look at my past career and you can see all the achievements I’ve done that I am proud of, but that was in a place when I was in jobs that were taking energy away from me. Just think what I can do when I’m in a place when I’m actually aligned to what I want to do and I’m actually getting a job that’s giving me energy. For me, the added bonus was I actually When I studied, I studied at this institution, and then I went full circle to actually work at this institution. I said, if you’re not just getting someone who’s going to be doing a job that’s giving them energy and going from this level where I’ve done X, Y, Z, but you’re having someone who’s… When they’re talking to students, they’re talking to people. I’ve been in their footsteps. I’ve gone in the real world. I have eight odd years experience behind me of practical work experience, and I’m now sitting in front of them and telling them what they can do. If that’s not going to inspire the next generation, I’m not sure what is it. It’s hard if you got a 50-year-old old white person sitting in front of you, how can you relate to that person, especially from you and me in terms of our background and our ethnicities?
[00:36:57.470]
Speaker 1: Whereas if I look at someone who’s 5, 10 years older than me, that looks like me, that speaks like me, I’m much more likely to listen to them. And then they’re much more likely to give a shot and give me a go.
[00:37:11.420]
Speaker 2: No, definitely. People are steadily telling me, I mean, you told me that I need to put myself out there more. And I have over the years. Maybe society wasn’t ready for me at the time because everything has to literally line up. But yeah, like you’re saying, someone that looks like you because what if someone wants to go study overseas or One thing that I did was I went to Guatemala outside of Mexico to learn Spanish because Guatemala is much, much cheaper than Mexico for whatever reason. But I guess when you think of Spanish, you think of Mexico, right? I went to Guatemala for three months and got my Spanish all the way tight or tight enough. And I did a homestay with a family, and I was terrified because I was like, I don’t want to stay with a family. I pretty much lived by myself or a since I left the nest. And so going to stay with some strange family, and there’s other people that I don’t know about, too, staying in this house, that’s terrifying. But then there was, you’re saying, someone that looked like and she was like, Yeah, no, you should do it.
[00:38:33.340]
Speaker 2: It was amazing. And I’m like, Okay, I’m going to go do it. You know what I’m saying? And I loved it. I loved it. I loved the three months that I was there. So I got to go back because I got to go see my teacher. But yeah, no, I mean, you’re so right about being somewhere and seeing someone that looks like you and have the same experiences. I mean, it makes everything okay. So, yeah, I’m going to try to put myself out there more than what I already do, but I’m an introvert.
[00:39:11.020]
Speaker 1: I’m always mindful of these titles and these boxes. So I would also associate with that introvert label. I’ve spent this whole weekend because I was very self-aware that I’ve been incredibly busy and I needed some time for myself. So I spent this whole weekend just crafting and listen to podcasts on my own and just crafting, literally all day, Saturday and all day, today, apart from meeting yourself, just to recharge my batteries ready for another few weeks, another stent. But that being said, I’m mindful of the label of calling myself an introvert, and I actually don’t do it that much now. Because we often, our mind is incredibly clever, but whatever we say, our mind manifestsates it, and it tries to act our behaviors, our actions, try to align it to what we’re saying. So by I keep saying we’re an introvert, you’re almost limiting your potential on what you can do. So again, I would challenge you, I suppose, at least not to say that’s your fundamentals and how you work, because I completely associate with that, hence having the whole weekend to myself. But I’m mindful now the language, like ADHD, autism, all these terminologies, all these boxes we put.
[00:40:21.330]
Speaker 1: I’m very mindful now because what we tell ourselves often becomes true. I think there’s a quote from Mr. Ford, who created Ford, and I think his quote is along the lines. Apologies if I butcher it, but it’s, Those who believe they can’t and those who believe they can are both correct. If you believe you can’t, you probably won’t be. But if you believe you can, you will probably make it true. I think I’ve seen that in my past, and I’m sure you’ve seen it in yours, too. I don’t know.
[00:40:53.890]
Speaker 2: I believe in labels. I’m all about labels because I need to know what I’m dealing with.
[00:41:01.190]
Speaker 1: For me, again, this is not a coaching conversation. I don’t want to coach unsolicited because it’s a vulnerable space to be in. But I would argue labels give us security and labels give us safety and labels let us know the boundaries that we’re operating in. But you don’t show me like someone that likes to operate within boundaries. You know what you want. From what you told me earlier, you know what you’ve always wanted to do, and you’ve done it. Why let someone’s boundary, most importantly yourself, get in the way of that?
[00:41:37.120]
Speaker 2: Boundaries for everyone else, not for me. Because I’m going to do what I want to do. But I like labels because like you’re saying, you operate within these boundaries, what to do, what not to do, and things like that. I totally agree with that. You got to remember that I studied accounting, so everything has boundaries. There’s rules and regulations to everything. I operate in that a lot. Rules for thee, not for me.
[00:42:07.230]
Speaker 1: Yeah. And again, this will be my final comment, and I will sip on this comment, is that that sounds like the story you’re telling yourself. And you’re extrapolating a professional, these are my boundaries. I did a counting, so of course I’m going to be like this. That’s the story you’re telling yourself. So of course it will manifest and be that way. So yeah, you’re right. There’s always regulations. There’s laws. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nuance to everything. But I would always push back a little bit and be mindful of just because I’m an accountant doesn’t mean you have to think a certain way per se. But that’s just me.
[00:42:41.340]
Speaker 2: No, I agree with you. And that’s the gray area that you’re talking about. But everything is pretty much black and white. So there’s that. There’s just that one couple of times it’s gray. But I forgot what I was going to say. But yeah, no, I don’t limitations. Everything needs limitations. But again, there’s gray areas. There’s time where there shouldn’t be limitations. But No, it’s not something that I’m telling myself. It’s true to an extent. And that’s that gray area.
[00:43:26.060]
Speaker 1: Your laugh says it all, Elyce. I probably stopped zipping, so your laugh says it all.
[00:43:31.260]
Speaker 2: It’s true to an extent, that gray area. But no, I mean, I guess my thing with the introvert thing is, is like, I’m not going to reach out to you. You’re going to have to reach out to me because otherwise I ain’t going to be able to do it. That’s the whole thing.
[00:43:52.740]
Speaker 1: Do you mind if I ask you a question? Yeah. So I think when you have those presentations and you said previous experience that helped you, we’re speaking to people, regardless of what senior position they’re in, when you first did that, I would guess that you were very confident and that was It made you a bit nervous and made you a bit scared about the situation. You might still be nervous now, but I’m sure you’re a lot more confident when approaching presentations and approaching those conversations. It simply happened because of a consistency of practice and taking small actions. Now, what you’ve just said, yes, that might be your default, and I’m not disagreeing with that. But who’s to say you can’t shift that default with small steps and small actions and adopting a goal around consistency? So it’s not to say every time I have a podcast, every time I’m invited to do something, I’m like, oh, God, here we go. My shoulders go up and I get a bit nervous. But because I’ve done it so many times, it’s just 1% easier. Whereas if I was to do this five years ago, there’s no way in hell you get me up on a mic and speaking about my life and sharing it with others.
[00:45:07.840]
Speaker 1: Like I said, with all things in life, there’s nuance. But I think just because that’s your default, it doesn’t mean you can’t change that and take small actionable steps to go to a place where in your words, you’re more extrovert or in your words, more confident.
[00:45:24.220]
Speaker 2: No, definitely. I guess, like you’re saying, when I first started as an auditor, I guess it was more so scary because I worked for the military, and I was in military. So my boss is all in my head saying, You’re going to be talking to officers. These people fly planes, and they run squadrons of 300 plus people. They’re super important. Who am I? This little black, skinny, tall, ball-headed woman. I’m like, 24. Coming in there trying to tell an officer what to do. I guess the thing is that other people put these ideas in your head, and that limits you a lot of times. And then when I got there, I’m like, These people ain’t nobody. I don’t give a dang. If you’re an officer, you fly planes and stuff because the airplane officers, they’re the worst. Let me stop stereotyping. But yeah, when someone gets in your head is really what the problem is. So you got to tune all that out. And that comes with age of tuning everything out. When you’re young and dumb, Everything scares you.
[00:46:48.100]
Speaker 1: Yeah. I do agree. I think as we build that self-reflective practice, whatever word you want to call it, that self-awareness, that self-confidence, it often happens with time It can, but it can often happen with big life experiences, I suppose, with myself, that you grow so confident in who you are and how you act and why you act the way you do. And for me, that links to lots of values. And I talk about values as the filter for the decisions you make, rather than just some proxy pieces of words that you have on a piece of paper and you check away. Those are the core elements of your soul, and they act as the funnel for the decisions you make to actually serve a purpose. And I think the more you have an alignment with those values, And then when these little decisions or these little people get in your ear, you’re less likely to be swayed off that path. So I think that’s a testament to your journey as well in terms of where you were and where you are now. But at the end of the day, everyone’s human. And most importantly, everybody is suffering with something that we’re not aware of.
[00:47:50.380]
Speaker 1: Might be small, might be big, but every single person in this world has a challenge or is suffering something that we’re not aware of. And I think the more and more you can act from a place of empathy and love, knowing that, not saying it’s easy, people still cut you up and annoy you and all the rest of it. But the more and more you can align to that place, life becomes a whole lot easier.
[00:48:11.020]
Speaker 2: No, definitely. What are some positives and negatives of your new career?
[00:48:19.580]
Speaker 1: I think the positives are quite obvious. I think it truly gives me more energy. And I think it can be addictive, so I have to be wary of this. But seeing the light bulb moment in someone’s eyes is absolutely magical. When you ask that question, it doesn’t have to be a complex question. It’s often the most simplest questions. When you ask it and you see someone, they’re looking and thinking, Oh. They’re thinking, Oh, that story that I’ve told myself, you completely debunked it. And it’s like, Now what am I going to do? The whole world is open to them because they’re limiting themselves in that I think providing those light bulb moments for people and allowing them to move past their previous challenges just fills my soul up so much. It’s the most important thing that I do and what gives me so much energy to continue on this path. So that for me, fulfill, whatever word you want to align to it, that is what gives me so much joy and is the biggest positive I could take away from it. The negative, per se, and I, as a coach, suffer with the word or struggled with the word failure or negative because I just…
[00:49:34.160]
Speaker 1: And you might think it’s cringe or cliché or those are listening, but I’ve trained my brain so much to see things as opportunities to learn that I struggle to even interpret the word failure. But for me, knowing what I know now, it’s a hell of a ride. I know 5% of the things I knew a couple of years ago, and I still know only 10% of what I need to know in terms of running a practice Just serving people, the different tools and techniques I can utilize, how I can help someone in three sessions rather than six sessions. I’m constantly on this journey. But lying in back to that value, it’s like a strong value for me is lifelong learning. And that’s whether it’s with a sport. I love playing golf because I literally can’t be perfect. Every day I play golf, I improve or I learn something new. So even the negative of being naive to the journey I’ve had to overcome to just get to here, and I’m not even 5% along the way. For me, it just excites me because, I mean, for me, you could argue what is life. I think for me, it’s just to learn, evolve, and experience the joy as that life brings to us.
[00:50:46.740]
Speaker 1: For me, what a journey I’m on, running a practice, helping people. There’s so much inner work I have to do and learn to then serve other people. Is it a negative or is it actually the best blessing I could ever receive?
[00:51:01.100]
Speaker 2: No, it’s funny to me that you mentioned the failing and then learning as a negative because I’m one of those people, if I fail, it’s like, Okay, well, the cliché, the song, Dush yourself off and try again. I’m not dead. I didn’t hurt anyone. I didn’t hurt myself. Might have wasted a little bit of money, maybe a lot of money, but I’m still here. Absolutely.
[00:51:31.050]
Speaker 1: And maybe that waste was actually, again, maybe that waste was an investment. Maybe by doing that, you’re investing in a mistake to make you learn something. So the rest of your life, you act a different way. So, yeah, Like I said, some people roll their eyes and I’ve been there. Don’t get me wrong. Five years ago, I’d be rolling my eyes a lot of things. But it’s a journey we all go on. But the more and more you embrace that, like lifelong learning, I suppose, it alleviates a lot of stress in life because you think, I either do what I want or I learn. So I win either way. Of course, it doesn’t mean you act from a place of ego or a place of like, I don’t have to try, but it definitely alleviates a lot of stress and then alleviates a lot of the concern of changing careers and that confidence piece as well.
[00:52:19.800]
Speaker 2: No, I find that people are scared of people that can dust their self off and try again. Because I hear it all the time like, Oh, I really couldn’t have done that. You just keep going. And it’s like, What other option do I have? I don’t want to be homeless and starving. You know what I’m saying? So what you’re telling me is that you You’re going to be homeless and starving? That’s what you’re telling me? I run into that a lot of where people don’t know how to deal with the person that just let the punches roll off of them or whatever like that. I don’t know what question I’m trying to ask is that as someone that walks that walk, do you find that, too?
[00:53:15.100]
Speaker 1: Yeah, as in, so I’m definitely not scared of, I suppose, afraid or scared of people who roll with the punches, per se. But I suppose I learned from my experiences I think for me, I think that person who might be afraid and thinking, There’s no way I can get to a place where Michael is or wherever it is. I’m not perfect, and I never will be perfect in my entire life. Perfect does not exist. When you look at people who are deemed as a success, whether it’s in society, business, whatever realm it is, I always say, Show me a man’s success, then show me his learnings. Because Because if a man is successful, I want to see his learnings that have been before him. You look at a lot of these business owners. These are third, four-time, lucky people. Don’t get me wrong, the quarter of people who are success, and it booms unicorn businesses on their first try. But a lot of these people have learned their mistakes from multiple businesses, and then they craft that knowledge and craft those learnings and then launch their fourth or fifth business, and then it kicks off and then it explodes.
[00:54:26.460]
Speaker 1: For me, when someone says, Look at this person’s success, for me, I study their learnings. And it’s exactly the same with me. Please don’t, I’m not saying you would be, but don’t be afraid of the manner I speak or the place I operate from and you feel that you can’t get to that place. Be very aware of the learnings and what you may call the failures that I’ve been through, because that is only what’s allowed me to operate and come to this place I am now. And my goodness, there’s going to be a lot more learnings, and there’s going to be a lot more failures on this journey that I’m on. And I can’t wait for them because they are just a journey. They are present, and they are an investment into my future. Without them, I would still operate in my little box that I was a few years ago.
[00:55:09.080]
Speaker 2: Definitely. I think people miss the growing opportunities that come along with failure and dusting yourself off again. That’s one reason why I listen to the diary of a CEO is because people talk about their failures and you can learn from them. I don’t understand why a lot of people are scared to talk about their failure, that’s number one. Number two, try to act like they didn’t have any failures. It just hit all of a sudden. And funny, before I started this podcast, me and my friend, we actually were going to start a podcast about entrepreneurship journeys and talk to people about their entrepreneurship journeys because I don’t think there’s anything out there like that. There’s There’s books. I’ve read books about it, but that’s about one single person, usually. But that didn’t jump off. If someone ever starts a podcast about the entrepreneurship journey and the failures, I’ve watched interviews about people that got off of drugs and their journeys and people that went to prison and their journeys because I enjoy stuff like that because it’s constant learning and you should want to watch things like that so you know what to do, what not to do, as my mother used to say, reinvent the wheel.
[00:56:45.870]
Speaker 1: At its deepest core, it’s real. That’s what it is. That’s what I suppose I love, and that’s why I’m attracted to it. With that journey or that podcast that you’ve imagined, nothing. It’s the reality of people’s lives. And again, in a world where there’s lots of false stories and people build themselves to be something, false personas build themselves to be something that they’re clearly not, to share a bit of reality, to share vulnerability. At the end of the day, we are humans, and that is probably the biggest way we connect with others for a sense of vulnerability and a sense of reality and practicality. So, yeah, no, I couldn’t agree with you more.
[00:57:28.820]
Speaker 2: All right. What What are some traits that you believe that someone would be good as a coach? I ain’t going to be no coach because… Well, somebody told me that I could be a coach because I’m a direct coach, but they said some people would pay for it. So I’m going to be the abusive coach.
[00:57:48.900]
Speaker 1: I’m not going to lie, I’ve never heard of that tagline, the abusive coach. I’m not sure that will stick. But I mean, everyone in this world can be a coach in their own right. For me, pardon me. For me, I think it’s one thing to enter an industry. It’s another thing to master it. For those who are worried about transitioning careers, and again, there’s nuance, there’s balance, I understand. But it is incredibly easy to transition and enter careers. It’s more the self-talk, the identity, the confidence piece around it that stops us from doing so. But to master a career And when I say master career, I mean master career in your own right, in your own eyes, not master career. Master career means I have to be a billion pound business or anything like that. That for me is another level. And my naivety was a great factor and a great trait to being into the place I am today. I was thinking about this. I was thinking if I knew all the work I had to do, would I have still taken this path? And I absolutely I would have. It makes me almost laugh because I think if most people are honest with themselves, they’ll say, Absolutely not.
[00:59:08.040]
Speaker 1: All this hassle, all this effort. But for me, the amount of learning I’ve gained on this journey has just been invaluable. For me as a coach, I would say, having such a strong alignment to my values has allowed me to be so clear on my why, and that has been the single biggest factor for why I got into coaching. Very quickly, my values are fulfillment, freedom, integrity, and lifelong learning. So fulfillment, very easy. To serve people, to inspire people, to do what inspires them, for me, there’s not many more fulfilling things that I could do in my life. Freedom, I could coach. I’m speaking to you in Ohio from UK. I can coach from anywhere in the world. And if I do it well and I committed to my craft, it will invest me or give me a level of financial security, which is incredibly important for me, my family, and my children to give them what I think is most important, and that’s experiences in life, not materialistic possessions, but experiences in life. Integrity. There’s a lot of people I think that I love the fact the coaching industry is growing and booming because I think so many people could benefit from these conversations.
[01:00:16.050]
Speaker 1: But for me, to operate from a place of integrity when you’re putting someone in a vulnerable state and they’re sharing their opinions, they’re sharing their past, their trauma to a certain degree, to not serve from a place of integrity is truthfully unlawful and unmoral. Integrity is incredibly important for me. Finally, that lifelong learning. I will never be a perfect coach, and that excites me. I could be 80, coaching one day a week, and that is my goal, and I will still learn things from the clients I serve. Now, for me, once I talked about values being a filter for the decisions I make, because I have such a strong conviction on those values and I’ve had to go through coaching, I still have a coach myself. So my action is a bit louder than my words. I still have a coach to this day. Because I have such a strong conviction on my values, that’s been the biggest trait for me to understand my why and why am I doing this? Why am I actually doing coaching? So when I go through those challenges, I can then overcome them. I’m not like, you know what?
[01:01:12.670]
Speaker 1: I can’t be bothered. It’s too much. So For me, that alongside a constant mantra of curiosity and consistency, I will always be curious. What may change in five years? I don’t know now, but I will know in five years because I’ll always be curious. And that constant level of consistency, taking small actions every week, every day, every month will ultimately align me and put me in that positive direction. So if I can do that, and if you can do that, whatever field you want to do and have that alignment and strong conviction in your values and your why, there is nothing that will not stop you.
[01:01:49.520]
Speaker 2: No, I totally agree. You mentioned integrity. And I’m thinking, does that mean not going to tell someone’s business? Because my sister’s in health care, and so she’ll message me, We’ll be at one o’clock in the morning. She’s like, Oh, my God. Somebody came in here and they’re doing this, this, and this. I’m enjoying all of it. But she’s not naming names or anything like that. But if you had a famous client or somebody like that, you can’t go tell their business.
[01:02:31.210]
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I think an integrity… The words I use are important for me, but I think it’s choosing the right word, semantics. Sementically, choosing the right word for you that means something to you. It could be honesty, could be transparency, whatever it is. Just integrity is the word that’s so important to me. I have a close circle of friends. Your friends are the family you choose. Integrity is one of the biggest factors in that. Seeing someone, the actions they take, like you said, the clients I serve, not sharing people’s stories. Just serving from a place that’s morally found in myself. And that’s why me personally, I find unjust situations incredibly triggering. And that’s, again, another little way that you can find your own value. If you have that incredibly strong sense, that pit in your stomach when something happens, that is often pointing to a core value. And that when I first encountered that, suppose, value and integrity, that’s exactly what happened. A lot of things happened in front of me that I didn’t feel very comfortable with. And even if it put me in a negative situation, I would speak out about them. And that’s when I had a strong indication of what that value was.
[01:03:41.350]
Speaker 1: And then through coaching, I could then come to the place now where I can actually articulate and verbalize it. But if you have that strong sense of that strong gut reaction to something, I would argue nine times out of 10, that’s pointing towards a core value for you. And that’s not to say values can’t change. They often don’t change a month to month, not even year to year, but they are things that will change over time and most definitely will change after big life circumstances as well.
[01:04:08.990]
Speaker 2: You need to give me some core values. I’m going to have to think about that. Mine is yellow.
[01:04:14.030]
Speaker 1: Yellow? What does yellow mean to you?
[01:04:18.480]
Speaker 2: You only live once. That’s my core value. Oh, yellow.
[01:04:21.630]
Speaker 1: I thought you said yellow.
[01:04:24.100]
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, yellow and nothing is promised. But that comes back from I’m 30, and my mother passed away at a young age. So that stuck with me for a number of years at this point because I’m like, I’m going to do it. Absolutely. Can’t be scared out here. I’m going to do it. I guess this is the last question because we already talked about tips and tricks of getting into the career. What would you tell someone who wants to career switch just in general?
[01:05:03.200]
Speaker 1: Career switch in general. For me, it’s two things. It might be even three things. The first one is, you are capable of more than you can ever imagine. If you truly think back to five years ago in your life and where you were and what you’ve accomplished in that time, I guarantee you that person five years ago wouldn’t have thought that was even possible. Now, if that person five years ago didn’t think where you are standing in this current day, at this current minute, as you listen to myself in the least, didn’t think that was possible, who’s to say what you can do? Who’s to say what you can’t do in the next five years in your career, in your life. For me, having perspective and stepping out of that current state and looking back to the past and maybe even looking on to the future, that’s incredibly important. I think that general sense of that why question is incredibly important, especially for the hard times, because you would be silly to think there’s not going to be hard times on your journey. And the stronger that why is, for me, yes, it’s inspired people to do what inspires them.
[01:06:15.110]
Speaker 1: But I think even future-wise, there’s a really good exercise I sometimes do with clients called the Gravestone exercise. It’s quite morbid, but it really centers you, and it’s what would you want to be written on your Gravestone? And mine is always something on the lines. Of course, it will change month to month a little bit, but it’s always something along the lines of a caring and loving husband, father, and son that sought to help inspire people to do what inspires them. So there’s always that central factor around family and being that caring husband, father and son, but always serving a wider purpose of trying to inspire people and change people’s paths and serve a purpose that is bigger and wider than me. And that why is so strong in my heart when I think about when eventually I have children and the current family I have and the family I will. It’s been so strong in my soul that when I do have tough times, and don’t get me wrong, I have days, maybe even weeks when I’m low. But ultimately, that why will always pick me up because that is so much stronger than doing something just for me.
[01:07:18.810]
Speaker 1: It’s so much stronger in terms of my journey. So the biggest thing for me is understanding, whether it’s through coaching, whether it’s through friends, whatever it may be. But understanding that why, that purpose, whatever word you want to give to it, I don’t care. I suppose understanding that if you’ve done all of this in your past five years in your life and you didn’t think you could five years ago, who’s to say what you can’t do in the next three to five years going forward? So that would be my message to your listeners today.
[01:07:48.330]
Speaker 2: Yeah, that’s really deep. I think people need to dig down to the core of their being and, yeah, reflect. Reflect on what they in the past and put that same energy into the next five years. I don’t know if I’m going to do that, but other people shouldn’t.
[01:08:09.080]
Speaker 1: Do as I say, not as I do. When you got children, but Thank you so much for having me, Elyce, though. It’s been a pleasure. And thank you for sharing your story as well. Because as I said, I think it’s truly powerful and I think it’s inspirational. And I think the more people that can have that catalyst in their lives, as I said to you earlier, the more caring and compassionate the world can be because it’s like a ripple effect. So all of these conversations, all of these experiences we have, they’re going to ripple onto our family, our friends, our colleagues, our co-workers. So, yeah, I’m very much a realist, but I’m also positive for where the world can eventually go and become.
[01:08:51.640]
Speaker 2: Tell people where they could find you.
[01:08:55.190]
Speaker 1: Yeah, quite simply, if you type Michael Glasset coaching, so M-I-C-H-A-E-L-G-L-A-S-S-O-C-K Coaching. So Michael Glassack Coaching, you can find me my website. You can find me on LinkedIn at simply Michael Glassack, and you can find me Michael Glassack Coaching on Instagram as well. Those would be the three best places, my LinkedIn, my Instagram, and my website. And it’ll be a pleasure to… You can look at my post and hopefully use my free stuff. Don’t run in and say, I’m selling you this and I need to buy this. Use my free stuff and use other people’s free stuff to make those small steps on your journey. And then if it works and it actually gets you to a place where you have some more money to invest in something and invest in yourself, and you then have confidence in, okay, this this person is the right person for me, then crack on and go ahead, and it’ll be a pleasure to help you on your journey. But for me, it’s not a case of buy my shit, as I say. There’s a lot of buy my shit in this world currently. Use people’s free stuff. Look at the context, look at their bias.
[01:10:01.990]
Speaker 1: And if it serves you and you think like that person is a good fit for you, then go on that journey.
[01:10:08.520]
Speaker 2: All right, Michael. Thank you all for listening or watching. My name is Elyse Robinson with the Nobody Wants to Work. And until next time, we out.
About
Tune in to Gabriel Thomas Spartan, that went from an overseas Teacher to a new dad turned entrepreneur. Listen as he empowers fellow dads to actively engage in their children’s lives. Whether you’re a seasoned dad or new to fatherhood, unlock the tools and inspiration you need to thrive in parenting and entrepreneurship. Together, let’s redefine modern fatherhood and build a community of involved dads.
Gabriel Thomas Spartan:
https://firsttimemomdad.com/
https://www.gabrielspartan.com/
https://www.facebook.com/the.archangel1
https://www.instagram.com/nurturingparentforever/
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https://www.youtube.com/@1hardlife
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Dad’s Guide: Navigating Fatherhood
Fatherhood Forward: Empowering Dads
Dad’s Corner: A Podcast for Involved Fathers
The Engaged Dad: Stories and Strategies for Fatherhood
Dad Talk: Building Stronger Bonds with Your Kids
Papa’s Playbook: Tips for Thriving in Fatherhood
The Active Dad Podcast: Making Memories with Your Kids
Daddy Diaries: Sharing the Journey of Fatherhood
Parenting Pioneers: Dads Edition
Dad’s Impact: Making a Difference in Your Child’s Life
Fathers United: Support and Guidance for Dads
The Modern Dad’s Manual: Nurturing Relationships with Your Children
Fatherhood Foundations: Strengthening Family Bonds
Dad Life Chronicles: Tales from the Fatherhood Frontier
The Involved Dad: Encouraging Fatherly Presence
Raising Champions: Insights from Dads in the Trenches
Fatherhood Frontiers: Exploring the Boundaries of Parenting
Dad’s Evolution: Growing with Your Kids
The Dad Connection: Strengthening Parent-Child Relationships
Parenting Partners: Dads Edition
Show Notes
00:00:00
Hey y’all this is your host, Elyse Robinson with the nobody wants to work through podcast season 2. I hope the stories inspire you to switch careers. I have done all kinds of interesting things in my life and I’m.
00:00:12
A firm believer if.
00:00:13
You only live once. Sit back and.
00:00:19
We are switched into the.
00:00:22
Tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology. Monthly classes on tech topics we offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to meet courses, free events, free boot camps, and more. You can find us at www.switchintotech.
00:00:41
Dot org.
00:00:46
Hey, yeah, my name is Elyse Robinson with the nobody wants to work though podcast. Today I have Gabriel, Thomas Spartan and go ahead and introduce yourself, Gabriel.
00:00:57
Thank you for inviting me today. I was really looking forward to meeting you. My name is Gabriel. Thank you for the warm introduction. I am a 20 year veteran teacher of multiple subjects. I’ve taught in the United States and in China for 11 years.
00:01:15
You said your story was that you bought a one way ticket to Mexico for just a couple of weeks. It turned into six years. Mine turned into 11.
00:01:26
I’ve talked from kindergarten to 12th Grade, College, University and beyond, both in the United States and China as well.
00:01:37
I’ve I have a beautiful family.
00:01:41
I am a.
00:01:42
Father to a 20 month old little girl. Her name is Charlotte.
00:01:46
She is every bit as adventurous as my.
00:01:49
Wife and I.
00:01:50
I mean, she loves the the unpaved roads, the the gravel, the sand, sand dunes, the water. But you put it on a paved road and she will be very disappointed. So. But I do have a company which was inspired by my daughter.
00:02:07
From the moment that we thought about her.
00:02:10
When I thought can be so powerful that she changed my life for the better, she has challenged me. The company is called first time parent.
00:02:20
I coach parents to raise happy, healthy and self-sufficient children without added stress. It isn’t just for first time parents. I also help parents who are Co parenting as well.
00:02:33
In that company, so that is another branch of what we do on at first time parent.
00:02:39
That’s about. That’s about it. And then I’ll let you ask me.
00:02:43
All the questions.
00:02:44
All right. What city? Well, you probably were in multiple cities. What cities in China? Because I was in Minyong Minyong in Sichuan province.
00:02:56
Well, I lived in Beijing for over 7 years and then I moved to Guangzhou, which is closer to home.
00:03:06
And then I moved to fourchan for another two years, where Bruce Lee’s teacher comes from City of Faux shop. So there you’ll never forget that.
00:03:17
All right, then. Yeah, I, I mean, I don’t want to say like I hated China or I enjoy China. It’s it’s, I don’t. I don’t even know how to describe it.
00:03:28
Well I this is what I did in 2008. I moved there towards the end of 2008. In 2009, I took my bicycle and I did a bike ride from Beijing all the way up north to all the way West, which is Tibet.
00:03:46
That is, 2000 miles in 43 days. That means, well, 37 days of writing 55 or so days of resting with a calf injury that I sustained in Sichuan province. So.
00:04:04
To this day, some of the best soup I ever had was in Beijing, and the food, the spicy food, the the hot pot is delicious.
00:04:16
Yeah, we had that last night. My wife is Chinese, and so we actually had hot pot last night. Hot pot for your viewers. If they don’t know, it’s just the pot divided into two halves. One side is very spicy sauce, which is soup. Right. And the other side is it could be chicken soup, chicken broth.
00:04:20
OK, OK.
00:04:35
And you just dip whatever you want inside of it and then eat it as you go. It’s the the longest lunch or dinner you’ll ever have because it’s endless.
00:04:48
What did you want to be when you?
00:04:50
When you grew up.
00:04:53
That is a great question. I remember at age 4.
00:04:59
Something came over me that all I wanted to be was a teacher because my grandmother set the standard so high for for me that she was respected by whether there were politicians in our family or doctors, writers, you name it.
00:05:19
She was respected the most because she was a math teacher of 37 years.
00:05:26
And to me, she was a giant in our family because of the the level of respect she received because of the love that she gave to so many people.
00:05:38
She had a smile on her face all the time. She took care of her family, a rather large family, never complaining once and loving her students as if they were their children or her.
00:05:53
That’s how much she loved people, her students life in general, and all I wanted to do was to be like her. I don’t think it was me being wanting to become a teacher, but to be the person that she was that had so much power, just as a math teacher.
00:06:12
That people would just bring her gifts. They would tell her how much they loved her, how much they respected her. That is all I wanted. I think it was the the traits that I wanted more than the profession. And then I learned that once you’re in that profession, profession, you, you receive those traits.
00:06:32
Because it comes with the territory.
00:06:36
And so, being a teacher of 20 years in two different countries in the US and in China, teaching from K through 12, college, university and beyond, being a writer, I’ve published 10 books in the past twenty months. Since my daughter has been with us opening our company.
00:06:56
All of this it was because of that one little thought. Because of that one rather tiny person.
00:07:05
Who had the the world in?
00:07:06
The palm of her hand.
00:07:09
So let me ask you this. This isn’t on the sheet, but.
00:07:14
It’s OK do you think?
00:07:17
That you being a teacher helped you in your entrepreneurial process and helped you come with, with, with, with the idea outside of outside of your daughter.
00:07:29
If not for being a teacher, I wouldn’t be here talking to you and be so proud of first time parent. The company that I helped create, the inspiration that was given to me by my daughter. It took three almost 3 1/2 years of hard work.
00:07:48
Had I not been a teacher.
00:07:50
I would have never cared this much about humanity as I do right now.
00:07:56
I don’t just love myself and my fame. My my wife and my daughter, that’s my family. But everything that I know I give.
00:08:06
If you go to my website first time Mom.
00:08:09
Dad.com.
00:08:10
Which leads you to first time parent.
00:08:12
You will receive probably over 100 hours.
00:08:16
Of different types of education about raising happy, healthy and self-sufficient children without added stress, both for first time parents and those who are Co parenting. Because I am working with the court system, I’m working with a family lawyer and so it’s with their help that I am able to do the things that I do because.
00:08:38
I love.
00:08:40
I love humanity. I love people, I love diversity and I love it when people need help and I am there to give them the assistance that they need because that brings.
00:08:52
Joy into my life when I see that they’ve accomplished the goal that they wanted so badly and all I had to do was steer them in the right direction had I not.
00:09:01
Been a teacher.
00:09:03
Had I been something else, or someone else, I would have never.
00:09:07
Brought this company to a fruition like I have today.
00:09:11
Where the company stands for caring for people, loving people, accepting people, teaching them everything that I know because the knowledge gained, the knowledge learned isn’t mine. I have it for a short time.
00:09:27
But I have to give it before it’s too late and I’m no longer here to serve people.
00:09:34
Therefore, I have to give it to people to make sure that they continue where I live off or just begin where I am.
00:09:45
So had I not been a teacher, no, I would. I wouldn’t be here.
00:09:47
Talking to you about it.
00:09:51
I hope it was deep enough.
00:09:52
I mean I I I like that question because it’s like, you know, I I told you about my all my detours in life. And you know, I’m wondering, you know, would I ever have ended up in Mexico?
00:10:04
So you know, if it wasn’t for you know, the catalysts in my life.
00:10:12
And so yeah, I always, I always wonder about that stuff. You know, people’s life story, you know, would that have happened if that didn’t happen, you know, or whatever. So.
00:10:21
I think about that a lot. Let me just add this in 2008 when I decided to purchase a one way ticket to move to China for five years.
00:10:32
It was because I wanted to expand.
00:10:36
My horizons not only as a human being, not only as a son, but as a teacher.
00:10:43
To test my my ability as a teacher, I taught here for four years. It just wasn’t. I felt like I I could give more.
00:10:54
But all I had to do was leave my comfort zone and to be tested to see if I can give more to go to a place with no family, no career, not even Chinese money or a Chinese phone. Nothing. I just purchased a one way ticket. 3 weeks later I’m in Jinjiang China for a couple of weeks that I was there. I just wanted to get lost.
00:11:16
Learn the culture. Be among people. Let them make me into a better person.
00:11:22
Had I not been a teacher, had I been in in tech or something?
00:11:26
I would have never ended up.
00:11:30
Well, that’s good that you know for a.
00:11:31
Fact I’ve been playing that a lot in my head.
00:11:38
I I guess I kind of asked that question. What was the callous that made?
00:11:41
You change your your career.
00:11:45
But let me ask you this why China, though? That’s that’s the question.
00:11:50
First of all.
00:11:52
I needed a way out of Las Vegas in 2008. Our city was still small. It’s not as big now, but it was small. I went as far as Texas Tech, where I was in the Masters program I received.
00:12:06
The art scholarship and one or two others. I spent an amazing amount of time becoming a better artist, a better person.
00:12:17
It wasn’t enough. I come back to Las Vegas and I’m teaching at Bonanza High School at Cheyenne High School, teaching creative writing, teaching physical education, teaching bodybuilding. It just wasn’t enough. There was something missing.
00:12:32
Believe it or not, I was at the time I was doing a friend a favor at Gold’s Gym. I was working there because they had just opened their juice bar.
00:12:43
So I’m there with my laptop and.
00:12:46
And I’m about to like explode because I know I want something, but I don’t know what it is and I go on there and I write teaching jobs for teach or or teaching jobs for teachers or something like that. And then I see teaching jobs in Montana. I’m thinking, oh, man, Cowboy town, I’m going.
00:13:07
Right. So I’ve heard good things about Montana. Never been there. Let’s go there. And then at the bottom, there’s a little ad that says teaching jobs in China.
00:13:16
I called the number, the lady says yeah, you can actually do that. I didn’t know I could do something like that. She says you can do that. Can I help you? I said no. I called for my passport, had just expired. So I called for my passport. And then I think it was. I called another person or department for my visa. I know nothing about any of these things.
00:13:37
She says what kind of visa do you want? I don’t think I said, I don’t know. She goes. How about a visitors visa? OK, sounds good. And then she says, how about 30 days? OK, that sounds good too.
00:13:50
That moment I knew that I I needed to get out and I just expanded my horizons by just writing teaching jobs for teachers.
00:14:01
I came home and I told everyone that I will be going to China as soon as I receive my passport and visa and they they said for how long. They said well for five years and at the time my my sister was pregnant. She was she was due. So I waited for three weeks. I delayed everything and once the little baby was born.
00:14:21
Few days later, I’m in. Jiang Jiang, China. The most crowded place that you could never even find me. It was a 15 hour flight, I believe to Guangzhou and then to Jinjiang. I I had to find my hotel, my own taxi, my own job and everything else all on my own.
00:14:40
But being lost is how I found my own happiness was that I needed to expand my horizons to get away from the comfort zone, get away from the noise and people and everything that I know in order to find me. And then I do it. It didn’t take five years. It took eleven years.
00:15:00
I knew that I would still be a teacher, but can I be better? Can I be a better human? Can I be a better teacher, a better, better son? A better brother? Yeah. Yeah. I just gave myself room to do that.
00:15:17
I know I I asked that question because, you know, people always like, why Mexico? You know, to me and then outside of that I I know tons of teachers that have taught overseas and that’s kind of.
00:15:30
But peaked my interest on moving overseas. I’m like, oh, you can teach overseas, you know, like, you know, at the time I’m an auditor and I and I knew that auditor, you know, auditing accounting is all over the world. But I’m like, teaching, like, you know, teach over there so that that kind of piqued my interest, too.
00:15:51
And yeah, like I said, I I’ve. I’ve known people that have taught in Egypt and Iran, Iraq and Germany and China, of course. Japan, like literally probably every country. I I know somebody that that’s been the.
00:16:06
So yeah, you know, and I I get all the information about. Ohh, don’t go here. Don’t.
00:16:11
Go there. Yeah.
00:16:15
But yeah, no, I I I always thought that was fascinating to to be able to do some stuff like that when I left though I and I ain’t had no job. I took my little, my little funky savings that I had and I got some unemployed.
00:16:30
And I I hey, I made the best of it and.
00:16:33
Stayed for six years.
00:16:35
I did the same thing. I didn’t have a.
00:16:37
Job work for you. I didn’t have anything.
00:16:41
You and I. But the The thing is, I’ve never worked in Mexico, though I’ve never worked, I said I I refused to work in Mexico with the little.
00:16:49
Thing so that they pay. I guess if I if I was a teacher cause I did know teachers that taught there. But yeah, the teaching license, right. I’m not going back to the states to to do the student teaching and get my student license.
00:17:04
Teaching license so that that was just never an option. So I had to figure out what the other thing was and that was entrepreneurship. So. But yeah, teachers in Mexico, if you’re a licensed teacher, they they get get it really good. Probably the same as China. You know, they get the little food house and all that stuff.
00:17:24
Oh yeah.
00:17:24
Pretty much everything is is paid for. So. So yeah, there’s that. But let me ask you this.
00:17:34
Do you feel like you missed out on a lot being gone?
00:17:40
That’s a great question. I’m going to answer it this way. When I came back.
00:17:49
So many people had gotten so old.
00:17:58
I lost while I was there.
00:18:02
All three of my grandparents, my fathers mom, had passed years before, but then I lost the grandmother, who was a teacher, and her husband, my grandfather. And that and my father’s father as well.
00:18:17
And I miss them dearly. Every single day.
00:18:23
That’s that was probably the one thing that I.
00:18:28
I regret is still believing the people that I should believe that people get old and people die.
00:18:39
But not these people, you.
00:18:41
Know I loved them so much and when I came back.
00:18:45
They’re they have their chairs, are still here, but there is no way anyone can sit in them.
00:18:51
Because to me they were kings and Queens and I loved and respected every single one of them. Because of them. I am the man that I am today.
00:19:01
Will contribute to society 100% every single day because these are the traits that they instilled within me.
00:19:11
Along with my father, of course.
00:19:14
But that’s the one thing that I missed.
00:19:17
Could you repeat that question? Maybe I missed a part.
00:19:20
I was going some other.
00:19:21
Oh, I asked you do you? Do you feel like you missed out on anything you did? Answer It and you know one reason why I did go further than Mexico is because, you know, I didn’t want to be that far from home. I could have easily went to Germany or some other place, you know.
00:19:26
Just just that, yeah.
00:19:38
And and and you know.
00:19:40
Became a permanent resident and all that stuff, but I didn’t want to be that far away from home.
00:19:46
Yeah. So, yes, I I fully fully understand you on that part of it.
00:19:54
Because, yeah, and outside of that, I don’t. I don’t know if I would have been able.
00:19:57
To learn like German or something like.
00:20:01
So this is.
00:20:02
What happened with me? OK, this is funny. My.
00:20:07
Abysmal Spanish mixed with Cantonese Chinese, which is the oldest version of Chinese that they speak in Guangzhou and Taiwan, and Hong Kong mixed with Mandarin that they speak. It’s like the English version.
00:20:23
Of what we speak here.
00:20:25
I basically invented a dialect.
00:20:29
That nobody wants to claim me for. We don’t want this guy, so I I don’t speak Spanish anymore. Or Cantonese or Mandarin, because when I speak one, the other two come out.
00:20:45
Yeah, my my neighbors are are Mexican and I I had the handyman come to my house and fix some.
00:20:53
Yeah, yeah.
00:20:53
And we were speaking Spanish. And then, yeah, my my brain just kind of switched on. And I’m like, oh, God, here we go, you know, so it’s it’s, it’s rough. It gets really rough. And I’ll I’ll just be walking around the house and I’ll I’ll just start speaking Spanish. So you know, it’s it’s it’s.
00:21:13
Really rough, I I fully understand. I don’t wanna keep talking about being abroad though, because I’ll be here all day talking. Yeah. Yeah, of course. Let’s move on. Let’s.
00:21:25
See, I guess I kind of you kind of answered this question, but this is more so towards your business all things come.
00:21:32
At a cost.
00:21:33
What did it cost you along the way? And, you know, did you have support from, you know, your family or friends? Did they think you were insane when you wanted to start this business and not be a teacher anymore?
00:21:46
I actually I had tears in my eyes and I saw this question. I said, what a beautiful question. This is because I started reflecting.
00:21:57
And I’ve got goosebumps right now.
00:22:01
It cost me so much, but it rewarded me so much more.
00:22:09
I didn’t switch careers. I have to tell you now that I am a coach. At the same time, I’m still a teacher. I teach life skills to special needs children in public.
00:22:20
School because I feel that my profession as a teacher, it should never be on hold because I’m doing something else. Why can’t I do two things at once? Right? I’m not booked all the time. I’m not teaching all the time, but I can do both of them at the same time, the same day. The day is 24 hours.
00:22:42
There are children who need my help. They are first time parents who need my help. There are those who are Co parenting. They have it really tough.
00:22:51
And I know a lawyer who helps me. I know the court system that helps me with my questions to to help these people. And I have to be there for everybody. Now I have to go back to the very beginning. At age 4, when I wanted to become a teacher, that’s always been in my life. And it will always be that way. And I’ve been a coach before.
00:23:11
And I’ve been this, this person that I am now, a first time parent coach, a Co parenting coach as well. So am I still.
00:23:22
That I switched careers? No, I just expanded on becoming a teacher. I expanded my horizons towards helping more members of the society who need my help.
00:23:36
What did your your friends and family think about you wanting to to start this business?
00:23:42
They were very skeptical. Is this going to work? How is this going to work? But how much do you know about this? Ohh, I don’t know. Maybe you should stick with teaching only. You know these things. But I didn’t go into building my company a first time.
00:24:02
Parent invest in your family. I didn’t go into this. Uh, sort of Willy nilly.
00:24:10
I went into it 100% fully commit.
00:24:15
Wanting to help people because the knowledge that I have gained just to.
00:24:20
Help my wife. For example, we started planning for our daughters first seven years, two years before she was born.
00:24:30
And I was ready before that.
00:24:34
You see? So I needed to tell somebody I needed to help somebody. And so the only way that I could do that was to build this company in a way that I could reach out to people not only just, just lawyers or the court system.
00:24:48
And but people who are in need of my help that I need, let’s say sometimes I do Uber and I see young kids with kids, and I ask them, hey, how’s it going? What do you need help with? And then I just refer them to, let’s say, my website or.
00:25:03
Or part of.
00:25:03
It and they immediately open, they learn something and I see the joy in their faces.
00:25:10
That I am of service to people.
00:25:13
What better way to be a teacher and to be a coach than to combine both professions together and to give to society?
00:25:24
No, definitely.
00:25:28
Do you think you could have started this business before your daughter was born? Like, did this give you St. credit?
00:25:37
Definitely not, because my building of my company was going parallel.
00:25:45
With how we went from thinking about having our daughter, and by the way, when I say our daughter, I was fully committed.
00:25:55
With to my daughter, my spirit was connected with my daughter. I told everybody I’m having a daughter.
00:26:02
Before just she was.
00:26:05
Nothing but a thought in my mind, and I didn’t care about the naysayers. No one really supported this idea. My wife thought I was a bit crazy, I said.
00:26:15
I am absolutely crazy because all I want is a daughter.
00:26:20
And I want her to name her Charlotte. Then she and my wife. She agreed. She’s like Charlotte. It’s a beautiful name. OK, that’s it. She is. Charlotte. OK, now we’re definitely having a daughter. And then we opened the envelope. It says you’re having a a girl. I knew I was because when I was making.
00:26:41
This YouTube channel called finally exclamation mark. Finally, I’m a dad.
00:26:46
My goal was to make 50 videos that are life lessons for my daughter teaching her everything that I know. I would go to the middle schools, the high schools, the places that I attended my first job and all these places, and I would tell her stories and I was connecting with her by speaking to the camera.
00:27:06
But to me that camera, the camera lens was showing she was there. She was across from me. She was listening to me.
00:27:14
I mean, I was in the gym, I was working out, I had my own goals before she was born. What I wanted to do, and every time I finished a set, I would squat down and I would open my arms and then she would come into my arms and I.
00:27:28
Would get up and.
00:27:29
Hold her every single time. It was my daughter, Charlotte.
00:27:34
And my wife thought I was a bit too obsessive and crazy. She laughed about it. But you know what? And we wanted her to be born before summer. She was born before summer. Her name is Charlotte, and she’s exactly the way we are an outdoors person.
00:27:52
It’s funny, you mentioned the the videos. I don’t have kids yet. If ever. I don’t know. I’ll see what the universe holds for me. But I do have a nephew and.
00:28:05
You know, I guess it’s just supposed to line of divine intervention. Let me know that I’m on the right path because I started doing these voice recordings for my nephew.
00:28:16
And you know, I’m like, well, I have a, you know, I’ve I’ve lived a a life and I, you know, I know so much. And so I started recording these things usually in the morning when I when I first wake up and stuff and I have an idea on my head and you know, I’ll either tell him a crazy story or give him some advice.
00:28:36
You know, this is what you should do or not do.
00:28:39
And then I I try to have always a lesson at the end and tell them, hey, you know this, you know, I effed it up. But, you know, this is what you’re.
00:28:47
Supposed to do?
00:28:50
So yeah, but I mean, I find that fascinating because I said I was going to try to do it for 365 days. You know, a whole.
00:28:58
So yeah, I think I’m.
00:29:00
Like 7 episodes in at this point, so I’ve really probably been doing it for like a week and 1/2 at.
00:29:05
This point but.
00:29:08
But yeah, that just lets me know I’m doing the right things.
00:29:12
Well, now people.
00:29:13
OK, now people think I’m crazy because before they thought I was crazy, my daughter wasn’t born yet and and we were still planning for our baby and all this because I I prepared my wife well before physically, emotionally and and just spiritually.
00:29:28
The whole thing.
00:29:30
I invested a lot of time and effort into preparing.
00:29:32
My wife, before to make sure that everything goes OK and it didn’t.
00:29:39
And my daughter was born six weeks early. Uh, my wife had a C-section, but every little step that I took to make sure that we have our daughter and that my wife is healthy.
00:29:52
Every single thing that I did contributed towards their their health.
00:29:59
And their happiness and their recovery as of I think 2 weeks ago, that 50 videos turned into 190 of the most educational, the most informative videos. Because I share it with with the world. I want them to see what it’s like to take a baby to a pediatrician, what it’s like.
00:30:20
What it’s like for her to go from a thought to almost two years old today.
00:30:27
And so it’s been a blessing. But she has taught me more than I will ever teach her about being a parent. I I’ve learned way more, and that is why our careers are going in parallels where she’s growing up. But my company is growing with her.
00:30:45
And we’re helping people because of that one thought.
00:30:48
In my mind.
00:30:51
Yeah. No, it’s. I try to keep it under like 10 minutes or so. There’s there’s a couple of stories where, you know, I have to tell the whole story.
00:31:00
But you know something? He can listen to, you know, on the way to school or, you know, whatever. I don’t know what age he started listening to him because he’s he’s 11 now. But I’m like, I’ll just upload it to the cloud and you know, here you go and maybe.
00:31:19
One day you’ll listen to it and I, you know, I and I, my very first message. I tell them, you know, if you wanna publish it, you know, as a book one day and you know, a memoir, bibliography, whatever, you biography, not bibliography, whatever you know.
00:31:33
You can do that cause yeah, you know, interest in life, you know, I got all kinds of crazy stories. So. So there’s that but.
00:31:42
You move to Mexico for six years. Of course you have crazy stories.
00:31:46
Yeah, I got all kinds of crazy stories, but no, they, I mean, they were. They were all good stories though.
00:31:46
OK.
00:31:57
Let’s see what was the process on switching your your career, you know, outside of, you know, getting a, you know, LLC Corp or whatever. So prior, how did you prepare?
00:32:14
My career as an entrepreneur started in China. When I opened my my own online school English school.
00:32:24
It was called englishspeaker.com or something. I forget this was a very long time ago, but I had to build my own website with the help of my wife and back then it was a lot harder than it is now. Where through Wix you can do that. Just you can build your own. So for me to build a course from.
00:32:44
From scratch for grades one to 12.
00:32:48
And then a branch for college students.
00:32:52
It took me about a year.
00:32:55
And around 10,000 ramen bees. The Chinese money is called renminbi.
00:33:02
And then marketing it, it was very hard because I didn’t know anything about any of this, about marketing, about making a website about making a business. But I started, I committed.
00:33:15
To building a business.
00:33:18
Not knowing what the next step would be.
00:33:21
I took the the first step in faith, knowing that it’s going to work now as a first time parent company.
00:33:32
To build this business was sort of I needed that foundation as as an entrepreneur who started making his own English school way back in 2010 in China.
00:33:47
And I learned from my mistakes, from my failures. I learned how to read the market, what people need.
00:33:55
Versus what I want them to have.
00:33:59
Like here first time parents, they need guidance especially from a father’s perspective. There is no such thing that exists today where a father who has spent this much time and effort into building a business where he’s giving over 100 hours of of educational content.
00:34:21
For absolutely free through Facebook, Instagram, two different YouTube channels, one is finally, I’m a dad. The other one is life is hard for parents. Also a newsletter that I write every month. Power.
00:34:36
That’s that’s another one parenting newsletter, power parenting newsletter that’s on my Facebook.
00:34:41
But to learn different softwares to learn how to differentiate the two different YouTube channels to have a different type of content for Instagram versus Facebook.
00:34:56
This is all because of the experience that I have in China that I failed quite a bit because I didn’t know how to read the market. I didn’t know what market research was until I did it, and I realized most of the stuff that I’m doing is what I want for people, but not what they want.
00:35:15
And so I have to switch things up.
00:35:18
And years later, when I was working for a long time to learn different softwares, different everything from a thumb making a thumbnail OK to making a video to embedding text and music and sound effects. That is the art part of me. The artist in me, where I I have 4 college degrees and.
00:35:39
So that was necessary to bring some charisma into this website called First time Mom Dad.
00:35:48
Bring color, bring hope and love and joy when people are looking at it. The very first thing they see, it should just bring smiles to their faces, right? Had it not been for, for me, being a teacher, an artist, a writer, an entrepreneur who failed so much trying his first business.
00:36:12
Online back in like 2010, when things were not as great as they are right now, it taught me so much how to be better in Business Today.
00:36:26
Every day I thought I was getting closer with first time parent, 3 1/2 years of hard work went by until I finally had a product where I thought people would believe in. They would come to me for help.
00:36:40
And then not charge them the the crazy, outrageous prices where they’re scared out of their wits.
00:36:47
But to be inviting enough to say, well, yes, you do have to pay for the services that you require or you would like to have towards becoming a first time parent or learning how to Co parent. But I will never charge you near what a lawyer would charge you. A mediator would charge you.
00:37:08
If that’s what the court ordered for you to have as a, let’s say, a Co parent.
00:37:12
Or or, or even a psychologist or a therapist or anything, somewhere where uncomfortable, where you’re comfortable. Where I’m giving you the services you require in return. You pay me what I deserve to get paid for. But making it affordable so that no matter who you are and and what.
00:37:32
Type of financial.
00:37:35
Problems, we should say today, you may be going through, you can still.
00:37:39
Afford my help.
00:37:41
And that’s what I did.
00:37:43
Right. I mean I could charge somebody. It’s a $2000 or an hour and that something outrageous. I would never do that. The humanity in me wouldn’t allow me to do something like this, because if I’m to help people, then I should be 1 where they come to and go. You know what I like? What you’re asking for? I like the knowledge you have and the the free information that you give us.
00:38:06
We trust you with it, so here’s what I need.
00:38:11
Where do we go from here?
00:38:17
You touched on so much because I mean, outside of my mother, passing away being an entrepreneur has to have been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. It’s it was harder than moving to Mexico hard and learning Spanish.
00:38:31
All, all that stuff.
00:38:33
Just combined. Because you’re right, you don’t know where to go. A lot of times, you know, in between technology and I mean.
00:38:45
Rules and regulations constantly changing, I mean is you need you need 10 of you.
00:38:53
Yeah. And there’s only one of you. How do you notify yourself, right.
00:38:55
And there’s only one there’s only one, and then a lot of times you start to feel guilty because you just want to chill. I want to take, you know, 3 hours out the day and chill when you really should probably be working on this over here.
00:39:15
So you know it’s it’s really, really rough and.
00:39:20
You know entrepreneurship, you know, I I always want to be entrepreneur. Ever since I was a kid, but I I fully understand now why people say entrepreneurs are like, crazy insane because you you have to be you, you. You literally have to be. I mean to put yourself out there and try to push your idea onto people and have them buy it.
00:39:43
I mean, that alone is insane. Most people don’t have the ability to get out there and and and sell themselves. Cause I mean, to an extent, you’re selling yourself, right?
00:39:55
So you know people like ohh you, you did that I want.
00:39:59
My money.
00:40:03
So you know, closed mouths don’t get fat. That’s that’s how it is, you know? So, yeah, I’m preneurship takes you to a whole another level of of.
00:40:14
Stuff you didn’t even know you could do.
00:40:18
I I absolutely agree. You know this is this is how things work. First of all, not only do I teach full time and put full time.
00:40:28
Time hours to my business and I’m a full time family man. I think I I wrote that for you and I’m a full time writer. While the 10 books were written in three different categories for my daughter. But.
00:40:45
Giving it to people in the 20 months that she’s been with us.
00:40:51
Every two months I have a new book.
00:40:53
That’s coming out.
00:40:55
And that requires knowledge of a lot of different types of software, like for example the one where I I set. I didn’t raise my daughter standards, I set her standards from Earth to another planetary system. It’s in our Milky Way called Proxima Centauri B.
00:41:14
Where she has found a way to learn her to land her spaceship, A Starship hope on on the surface and to to help humanity to to move there, which is actually a real planet and seven times the size of Earth. But for me to actually illustrate that while I’m feeding her and she’s an infant and taking care of my wife.
00:41:35
Going to Costco, go shopping for baby formula, putting the the dishes away and trying to build this business and trying to get clients.
00:41:46
It can be so overwhelming that sometimes I don’t even have a minute to breathe.
00:41:53
It is that crazy. Like last night I slept 2 hours on the couch right after we had our hot pot Chinese dish. You know all about that? Two hours on the couch, I get up at 11:00. I’m working until 3:00 in the morning.
00:42:07
Then I go to the shower and then shave and everything I to read the questions you sent me to make sure that I give you my absolute best. And then at 6:00 I had to be up and then go and teach.
00:42:20
At the school.
00:42:21
And then I come home. I take my my family to. They went to Caesar’s Palace today.
00:42:27
So the Super Bowl is here, you know, in Las Vegas that that’s where I am, by the way. Yeah. So that I had to come back, make.
00:42:36
Sure that I’m.
00:42:36
Here 5 minutes before, but not one minute.
00:42:38
Too late for you?
00:42:40
This is how crazy life is and people think that being an entrepreneur is an easy thing. You can do whatever you want, when you want to. No, you’re.
00:42:47
Doing it all the.
00:42:48
Time all the time. If I have 30 seconds, it takes me 5 seconds to open my computer to log in and to get on on line and I’ve got 25 seconds. I better give it my 25 best seconds ever.
00:43:00
Before I close it, because my daughter is about to destroy something over there.
00:43:06
And that’s all the time I have in 20.
00:43:07
Four hours and that’s all I got.
00:43:10
Yeah. No, I like, you know, I used to read stories of of entrepreneurs, you know, not not watching them, but and stuff like that, you know, going days without, you know, maybe eating. And I, you know, you know, I fully understand now, you know, you you take a nap, you know, and then you get back up and you stay up till three 4:00 in.
00:43:29
The morning and.
00:43:30
Just repeat, you know, because you don’t. You don’t have a team, you have to do it by yourself and you don’t have enough money to pay, you know somebody, even one off, a one off time.
00:43:44
So you know I’m. I’ve never been a proponent of telling people, hey, go be an entrepreneur, cause not it’s not. It’s probably 99.9% of people that cannot do it. It’s it’s I really, truly believe it’s it’s that high.
00:44:03
Because The thing is people saying.
00:44:05
Being an entrepreneur is easy because that’s all you do.
00:44:09
Not unless you’re super rich.
00:44:13
Otherwise, like a person like me, I have to invest my time in my family as much as I do in my entrepreneurial duties every day, and my students every day and making sure that they’re safe, my families fed and and my business has taken care of.
00:44:30
Right. It’s never. I sit in front of the computer and I do my work. And you know, you know about that as an entrepreneur is sometimes, excuse me if I I’m being a little abrupt here, but sometimes I have to pee and I’m holding it for like, an hour because I’ve got work to do and I don’t. I can’t.
00:44:49
Me. Because when I come back, I know.
00:44:51
It’s the energy will be there.
00:44:54
And I have to give it all I.
00:44:55
Got until I.
00:44:56
Can’t anymore. And then I have to excuse myself.
00:44:59
And that’s that’s how.
00:45:00
It is sometimes I have to wake up.
00:45:02
In the middle of the night, because I’ve got an idea.
00:45:04
But then the next morning I do have to go to work. I.
00:45:07
Have to be.
00:45:07
On time, I can’t tell my administrators. Ohh I’m two hours late because I needed to sleep.
00:45:13
I’m going off of like 4 1/2 hours of sleep a night, maybe 5 the last time.
00:45:18
I slept for 8:00.
00:45:18
Hours I don’t even remember. It was before my wife was pregnant.
00:45:24
And that’s that’s the life of an entrepreneur is because you have other responsibilities.
00:45:30
And you know, in my family, I am the the Uber driver driver of my family.
00:45:35
I take my wife to work, bring her home. I take my daughter to daycare if they need me to pick her up because she needs to go see a pediatrician. Then I have to go do that, and then we go shopping. I come home, I cook, pick up my wife, bring her back, and sometimes I just need to go in.
00:45:50
My vehicle and just take a breath.
00:45:55
No, I I fully understand why, you know entrepreneurs.
00:46:00
Is miss out on healthcare and a bad diet and I’m lucky that you know, I started my my real entrepreneurship journey in Mexico because the food’s not, you know, bad because it’s all, you know, made from scratch or whatever. And I always eat lots of fruits and vegetables.
00:46:20
But I I couldn’t imagine living in America being entrepreneur and, you know, eating Chipotle or something like that. You know, McDonald’s, you know, not to say that McDonald’s doesn’t exist in Mexico, but it’s not on every corner like in in America. Like most eat it.
00:46:38
Because it’s super expensive like I can go to the corner and get tacos for like, you know, 10 cents or something like that. And McDonald’s would be like, 3-4 dollars. So, you know, which one I’m gonna eat.
00:46:52
But yeah, entrepreneurship is is it’s, it’s bad. It’s really, really bad. And then outside of that I mean.
00:47:02
You have to really want it.
00:47:05
I mainly believe that it’s going to work and you have to put in the the the just so much work and you still don’t know if it’s going to work, but you can’t let doubt take over. I think this is where people fail is when they let doubt take over and when they’re truly not 100%.
00:47:25
Admitted to doing that and you know what? If you don’t identify what your why is?
00:47:33
You will never be committed.
00:47:36
Right with me.
00:47:38
Why is very clear I need to help first time parents because I know what it’s like to be a first time parent. Had I not been prepared, I could have lost my daughter or my wife or both of them and I would have crazy. But I prepared I over prepared. I prepared my wife first a year before making sure that her eye is.
00:47:59
On that target.
00:48:01
Just pregnancy and that’s it. And then giving birth and recovery, that is all I took everything else out.
00:48:09
You see, it was necessary for me to do something like that, but at the same time, being an entrepreneur writing.
00:48:17
It’s so overwhelming, but my why was so strong? Because I wanted to give all that experience to to the person that needs it the most, because not everybody should. And and I think we shouldn’t always give.
00:48:34
OK. As Matt, I’m going to be very clear with you here. As as men we the only thing we contribute to is is we make our significant other pregnant. The woman has to go through nine months.
00:48:47
Of of life changing experience.
00:48:51
You know you can’t just wait for the gender reveal. What if?
00:48:54
You don’t get to that point.
00:48:56
What if you lose your baby? What if after your happy gender reveal thing, your baby is deformed, your baby is?
00:49:05
God forbid, just doesn’t make it.
00:49:10
Or maybe makes it for a little while has cancer. Whatever, because that all that is true as a man, as a husband, as a teacher, as a person that wanted to contribute to society. I said I.
00:49:23
Am all in.
00:49:25
I need to take care of my wife first.
00:49:28
All the happiness will come later, but let’s do the work first. Let’s put in all of the energy towards my wife’s recovery and her mental health, because postpartum does exist and I prepared for that.
00:49:42
Because I set her up with a a circle of amazing people, she never experienced it.
00:49:49
You know, she didn’t have one morning sickness day, not even one, because I made sure her diet a year before was on point. Every single time stress was 0, happiness was at 100%. Like going to comedy clubs and letting comedians pick on me like that. Funny.
00:50:09
You know, but it was necessary to to do those things because I feel as men, that is all we do. And then, OK, if the first seven years of a child’s life is the blueprint for the rest of his or her.
00:50:21
Life. Then we should start two years before like I did, to prepare for her first seven years. Because The thing is, and I know your audience is watching that when the child is born and you’ve got 2 grandmothers and a mom, you as a father, you’re not going to be in the picture for very long because you’re the breadwinner. You’re the hunter, and you’re the gatherer.
00:50:44
I didn’t miss a single single.
00:50:49
Milestone of my daughter. As busy as I am, I didn’t miss a single one.
00:50:55
Because I scheduled my life around her milestones and I captured everyone of those on video.
00:51:03
And I practiced the whole taking out the camera and capturing that moment, telling a story. It was necessary that our father steps forward and says I’m going to be a father. I’m going to raise my family. I’m going to take over. My wife is going to be next to me. She’s not going to bear the burden of raising our child all by herself.
00:51:23
Going to work dealing with work issues. Maybe, maybe not.
00:51:26
And then postpartum depression, will she ever even want a second?
00:51:31
You know, and and I. I’m gonna toot my horn here, but it’s a testament to me because at three months, my wife said, hey, we should have another one.
00:51:40
I said yes, I’ve done it right, you know. But yeah, she gave birth six weeks early. It was an emergency C-section during the end of pandemic at the beginning of formula shortage. But you know what we had hoped we had safe.
00:51:54
The very best friend that I have who is within our vicinity. He found it just by accident in Dallas, TX and brought it to us. Or we could.
00:52:05
Have lost our baby.
00:52:07
You know, as men, I think we should see the the bigger picture, not just think of. OK. Wife pregnant. Let’s see if I’m gonna have a boy. Ohh. And then I’m gonna wait till we lift weights together. That’s not how things work. Your wife or your girlfriend or your significant other is the priority and then the.
00:52:28
And then being an entrepreneur.
00:52:29
You really don’t matter, but your wife will.
00:52:31
Tell you that you.
00:52:32
Do matter you.
00:52:33
You they do love you, they they care about you. They love you. And that’s what makes it all better.
00:52:39
And that’s my 8 hours of sleep. That’s it. That’s all I need.
00:52:45
Oh, so like my father. I was planned and I wasn’t oopsie. And I I was made out of love because I’m a Scorpio, so my parents, they were on on Valentine’s Day.
00:52:58
Ohh, but it’s it’s funny you say that you’re very involved because my father was it was very involved. I mean, I guess he’s still involved now, but my mother didn’t want to be at home. She wanted to go to work. So my father raised us when we were little.
00:53:02
I’m sorry.
00:53:17
Ah, wonderful.
00:53:20
So you know, you know, I don’t, I don’t have this image of, you know, women are supposed to do this. And men are supposed to do this. And, you know, I guess that’s that’s kind of rare, you know, even nowadays. But no, my father was at the house, you know, and all all that stuff. And our our all our first because my mom was like I don’t want to do it.
00:53:42
My mother was funny because my father was there when we were little, and then my mother was there when we were like teenagers to, to grown or whatever. So. So yeah, I mean.
00:53:54
I mean, I get it. Get it from that perspective and stuff like that. Let’s see, what are some traits that would make you successful? And I mean, well, I guess we we we talked about that deeply, let’s skip that one cause word and talked about that.
00:54:13
Like we, we persistence and you know perseverance and you know.
00:54:14
OK.
00:54:19
We can’t one that you mentioned that I really loved is that you can’t go off of what you want. You have to go off what your buyers want.
00:54:32
And you said, you know one other.
00:54:33
Thing you mentioned this consistency and perseverance.
00:54:39
You have to be as an entrepreneur just of course, in in life in general, you just have to be consistent with everything. But when, like for example, to all the men watching us.
00:54:51
When you become a father, you can’t take on a big project.
00:54:58
You can take it on.
00:55:00
And with like little bites, consistency is key to finishing that giant task, right?
00:55:09
And you will hit stumbling blocks like you’re ready to go, and then your wife is calling you because your daughter’s throwing up.
00:55:17
And you better put that on hold because the priority is your ladies and you got to go.
00:55:22
Over there and.
00:55:23
When you or if you have the time to go back to it, you better go back to it with that same passion you had before you were interrupted.
00:55:33
Right.
00:55:36
It it it kind of reminds me of, you know, one of my questions are some of the traits that you need and you know, we kind of talked about it, but you know being embarrassed, I mean a perfect example would be Tesla.
00:55:52
I don’t know if you if you saw it, but they they were supposed to come out with this truck that was supposed to be in, not be in. If I say the word impenetrable.
00:56:03
And they shot at it and like it went through. And it’s like, OK, well, did you test it? Did you do this, this and that, you know? And so you’ll run into all these type of things as an entrepreneur and it can be very embarrassing. And most people would just give up.
00:56:22
You know I.
00:56:23
Have to tell you that I don’t think entrepreneurs really show themselves as vulnerable.
00:56:30
They show themselves as almost superhero like people.
00:56:34
With, when you go to my website firsttimemomdad.com you see first time parent and Co parenting.
00:56:41
You see a vulnerable side of a man.
00:56:44
Who is confident?
00:56:47
But he is vulnerable.
00:56:49
That, that he life can break him.
00:56:52
But he looks happy.
00:56:55
He may look tired, but there’s love in his eyes.
00:57:00
And that’s what I wanted to show is the reality of what it’s like to be that entrepreneur is that you are breakable and you will break a lot.
00:57:10
But you just have to persevere with through consistency.
00:57:15
And and good daily habits to just when you open your eyes, it’s go time.
00:57:22
Like for me, I can’t wait to fall asleep so I can get up so I can do better than I did the day before.
00:57:29
Like for me sleep is secondary. It’s not even tertiary to to all the things that I do, it’s just to shut my brain off for a little bit because it needs to be and I just black out sometimes right here where I’m sitting at the dining table.
00:57:44
I just black out.
00:57:46
Because I’m so dead tired and it’s a Friday.
00:57:49
Right, But that’s what it takes and that’s what entrepreneurs don’t share is that you’re breakable, you’re vulnerable, and you are. You’re soft sometimes and you you can’t. You can’t be the person that says I’m an entrepreneur and I make millions of dollars every year. No, there is so much.
00:58:08
Work to be done.
00:58:09
You have to care for people. You have to love people. The service that you’re in, whatever service that maybe it’s about people.
00:58:18
Not about your pockets. And that’s what we forget as entrepreneurs is. It’s not about us. Money will come to you. But first you gotta give. That is the law of the universe.
00:58:30
The more you give, the more you will receive. Just be patient.
00:58:35
You mentioned another one, patients.
00:58:40
It’s hard sometimes.
00:58:41
I’m not a very patient person. It got it. Gotta come right now. So, you know, I’ve had to learn to be to be very, very patient. And I I guess to an extent that comes with age. But you know when you’re 20s, you definitely ain’t nowhere near being patient. But.
00:58:57
But yeah, you definitely gotta have patience there.
00:59:03
UM.
00:59:05
I don’t. I guess I don’t have any more questions. I mean, I I really enjoy the talking you got anything?
00:59:11
Else to add.
00:59:12
I am beyond grateful that you gave me the opportunity to come here and speak with you and for us to share this with our audiences.
00:59:23
That because I have this beautiful product.
00:59:28
That I am sharing with the world which is my company first time parent again. I will plug this in as my website which is first time momdad.com not mom and Dad momdad.com which leads you to a plethora of information.
00:59:49
From a father’s perspective, from an entrepreneurs perspective, from a husband’s perspective that you may you will never read anything like it before any of my books. I made sure that nothing like that in the industry of parenting ever existed.
01:00:09
Because I wanted to help people, not by copying someone else, but being the first me, not the next.
01:00:16
John, somebody I wanted to be the first me to show you that being an entrepreneur and being a father and being a husband they run parallel.
01:00:28
And to be of service to people. So if you have those people within your audience that need my help.
01:00:38
First of all, reach out. Don’t think that you’re going to be judged because you need help and 2nd ask for help because there will be a time that it’s too late.
01:00:52
You know, as men especially, you can’t. I’m going to say this again. You can’t just make a baby and then wait for the gender reveal and then may may be disappointed, may be proud. And then who knows what’s going to happen when by the time you’re your significant other gives birth, learn what I know.
01:01:12
Learn how I planned two years before.
01:01:16
For my daughter’s first seven years.
01:01:21
But it started with a thought and then I applied everything that I know within science and psychology, which is another obviously subject of science.
01:01:33
Towards my wife and her well-being.
01:01:37
Because she lost placenta within three days, she lost like 5% or something. That’s that’s baby’s life. That’s energy. That that’s her. That’s everything.
01:01:49
She could have died.
01:01:52
Had I not taken care of my wife the way that I did, and the very first newsletter that you will.
01:01:58
Read on my Facebook.
01:02:01
Go on there on to firsttimemomdad.com and you will see that go to it and you’ll see that I manifested the very daughter that I have today.
01:02:11
The very wife that I have today, I manifested that with my mind. I got what I wanted because I wanted it so bad and this company, I I wanted it so bad to give it.
01:02:23
To all of you.
01:02:24
Reach out to me. Don’t assume that all man this guy is going to be expensive because he knows so much.
01:02:31
Because I know so much, you can afford me.
01:02:36
Learn from me as much as possible. Look at the 100 hours of free content.
01:02:42
That will last you for a lifetime.
01:02:46
Use that if you don’t trust.
01:02:48
Me if you don’t believe.
01:02:49
Me. Let’s build trust there.
01:02:51
Ask me for my help. Start today. Don’t wait for tomorrow. I’ll do it tomorrow. Don’t procrastinate. As an entrepreneur, a husband as as a father, as a son. I don’t procrastinate it. If I have the idea, it is now. If I need to do something, it’s now because tomorrow.
01:03:10
May not come.
01:03:12
Had I procrastinated on any part of my wife’s entire journey of pregnancy?
01:03:19
Two years before my daughter was born, had I procrastinated even with a meal, a drink, or I’ll do it later. I’ll feed you later. I’ll give you the oranges later. I could have lost my baby. She could have had some sort of problem.
01:03:35
But I did my best to give that that little baby that was about to be born. Everything that she could to give her the tools to succeed in society and to drive our society forward.
01:03:52
Not I don’t give my daughter an Apple product. She has an apple in her hand.
01:03:59
Then I’m hoping that I inspire all of you.
01:04:04
To not be like me, but to be better than me. But you got to learn from me with 20 plus years of education, nearly four years of doing this first time parent thing.
01:04:18
Reach out to me, those of you that are Co parenting your life is tough. When I sit at the dining table and I’m eating, believe me, you come to mind.
01:04:29
And I I want to reach out.
01:04:30
And help you.
01:04:32
But you gotta reach out and help yourself and say I want to ask this guy some questions. I want help. I need help. What do I do with my kids? And we have two separate households. How do we put it all together? How do we keep it all together? How do me and my ex, how do we communicate?
01:04:52
What do we talk about?
01:04:54
What do we have in common?
01:04:56
What makes us united?
01:05:00
I talked to the court system, I talked to the lawyer, come and talk to me, get some help, because you can only when you ask for help, you can only make things better.
01:05:10
From a person that cares, they will give you more. I will give you way more than what you pay me for because the cost of what you learn from me is way less than the price you will pay for not knowing.
01:05:24
Does that make sense?
01:05:26
And I didn’t make this company so that I can buy my mansion, but I wanted to make sure that this company lives on forever, toward through my daughter and her children and their children and their children, so that we can continue to contribute to this beautiful society.
01:05:45
That is all.
01:05:47
All right, y’all y’all heard it first from Gabriel. Thank you, Gabriel, for coming on. Nobody wants to work, though. Podcast again. My name is Elyse Robinson. And.
01:05:59
Until next time.
About
We delve into the incredible journey of Cathy Nesbitt who once shunned worms but returned to champion them as allies in the fight against food waste. Join us as we uncover her inspiring story of transformation from fear to fervor, from hesitation to heroism. Through her entrepreneurial spirit and dedication, she has not only built a successful business but also sparked a movement towards sustainability.
Cathy Nesbitt – https://www.cathyscomposters.com/
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
Subscribe To The Newsletter – https://www.switchintotech.com
Podcast Host: Elyse Y. Robinson – https://www.data.gal/about
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Worm Aversion to World-Changer: The Composting Crusade
Turning Trash into Treasure: The Journey of a Food Waste Warrior
Compost Queen: How One Woman Transformed Her Fear into a Sustainable Business
Breaking Ground: The Story of a Woman Who Dug Deep to Revolutionize Food Waste
Dirt to Dinner: The Inspiring Story of Composting Entrepreneurship
Reaping What She Sowed: A Woman’s Mission to Conquer Food Waste
Soil Sisters: Empowering Women to Lead the Fight Against Food Waste
Composting Comeback: How One Woman’s Journey Changed the Game
Turning the Earth: A Podcast about the Woman Who Made Composting Cool
Waste Not, Want Not: The Rise of a Food Waste Reduction Champion
The Compost Chronicles: A Story of Transformation and Impact
From Garbage to Garden: How Composting Can Change the World
Turning Scraps into Soil: The Remarkable Story of a Composting Pioneer
Compost Revolution: How One Woman’s Vision Is Reshaping Sustainability
The Green Crusade: Fighting Food Waste with Composting Innovation
Growing Greener: Inspiring Tales of Sustainable Solutions
The Compost Catalyst: How One Woman Sparked a Movement
Breaking the Mold: A Podcast Celebrating Women in Environmental Entrepreneurship
Sustainability Stories: Unearthing the Impact of Composting
Show Notes
00:00:01
Hey y’all this is your host, Elyse Robinson with the nobody wants to work through podcast season 2. I hope the stories inspire you to switch careers. I have done all kinds of interesting things in my life and I’m a.
00:00:12
Currently for if.
00:00:13
You all live once, sit back and.
00:00:19
We are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology. Monthly classes on tech.
00:00:28
Topics we offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships, free you to meet courses, free events, free boot camps, and more. You can find us at www.switchintotech.org.
00:00:45
Hey y’all, my name is Elyse Robinson with the nobody wants to work though podcast. Today we have Kathy Nesbitt and she’s going to introduce herself and tell us where she began and where she’s at now.
00:00:58
Yeah. At least thank you for having me. I’m excited. Yeah. So my working title is Kathy Crawley, laughing. Bean queen.
00:01:05
I’ll break it down. It’s simple solutions for today’s challenges. Worms for amending the soil, sprouts for eating, grow your own and laughter for overall health and Wellness. It’s the 22nd anniversary of my worm composting business.
00:01:19
Wow, I’m located just north of Toronto in Canada, and in 2002 the landfill for the Greater Toronto area closed and we started to export our garbage to the United States 1000 trucks a week.
00:01:36
Like, Can you imagine like how? Oh, I do, I I do education, though, and talk about worms in schools and put worms in schools. And it’s just like, wow, like, who are we as Canadians to ship our garbage out of the country?
00:01:52
You know, like it’s just seems not and I don’t mean the people. I’m not shaming the people. It’s so we were talking about government. But it’s the like, whoever the decision makers who decides that how things are going to work. And I had a solution. So rather than keep us down I’m going to bring us up you Hallelujah.
00:02:09
So it’s in the Greater Toronto Area, 6 million people, half live in condos or townhouses without space for outdoor composting.
00:02:18
So this is.
00:02:18
A way to manage our organic matter, our food waste, our pay. Some of our paper waste. And then we get nutrient rich soil so we can grow more nutrient rich food. In North America, we’ve just stored the soil. So this is really big. Our mission that I have with with that part.
00:02:39
That’s why I want to interview because I was like she deals with worms and I told my sister all the time I.
00:02:43
Want to get a chicken?
00:02:48
What the hell are you gonna do with a chicken like make eggs?
00:02:53
Yeah. Delicious omelette.
00:02:57
But I was thinking about also doing like like mushrooms. I I don’t think you do worms with mushrooms but.
00:03:05
But but yeah, I I’ve I’ve grown basil and radishes and arugula before, and the difference between what you buy in the store and what you grow yourself.
00:03:17
Is, is, is is amazing.
00:03:22
Can’t compare. Yeah, it it can’t compare. I had another question for you, Toronto.
00:03:31
It’s probably it’s a. It’s in the major city in Canada, right? So it’s like a concrete jungle kind of comparable to maybe, probably New York.
00:03:40
Yes, miniature in New York, yes.
00:03:44
Uh-huh. Uh huh. Gotcha. I’m have to make my way up there. Especially since I’m on the the border now of of Canada. So.
00:03:50
That’s on my on my list.
00:03:51
Yes. Yeah. Welcome. Yes. Come anytime. Well, not.
00:03:57
Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, we’ve had a mild winter here in Ohio, though. It was like almost 60° and on Christmas, which is they tell me it’s abnormal. So I don’t know but, but yes, I will definitely come in the spring or the summer time. What did you want to be when you grew up?
00:04:16
Oh, you know that it that’s a great question. I think that when I grew up, I grew I’m I’m 61 now when I grew up, the message that I received as a young girl was there was kind of five things you could do. You could be a teacher, secretary, nurse, stewardess.
00:04:35
Waitress, did I say waitress? Anyway, it seemed limited, so I didn’t. To be honest, I never really thought about what I what I wanted to be because it seemed like it was already.
00:04:44
Decided for me.
00:04:47
So I told secretarial and and I was really good secretary.
00:04:52
As a people pleaser, it was a great a great thing for me and and you know, not to diminish it. Working in the office was a great a great gig because it was we talked about this, you know, you have regular hours, you have regular pay, you have weekends off, you kind of work 9:00 to 5:00 or at least at that time it was kind of that. I think it’s more flexible.
00:05:12
Well now.
00:05:14
And it’s beautiful, you know, you except you. You know you have your holidays when they tell you they dictate a lot of stuff. But if you have a life outside of an office job, it’s it’s a beautiful thing because you have that money piece looked after.
00:05:28
I mean, it gave me a lot of skills. It gave me a ton of skills that that are so valuable as an entrepreneur.
00:05:35
You know, people are like, oh, I want to have my own business. It’s like, have you ever had a job?
00:05:41
And and you know not to diminish it like I I I applaud people that want to be entrepreneurs. If you have a job and you see what the boss does, like the boss treats his employees like crap and so they perform like crap because they’re like, what do I care? And they they come in right at the last minute and they leave right at the right on time.
00:06:01
Because why would they give?
00:06:03
Because that guy’s gal, guy or gal, that person doesn’t. So then it’s like if I as an entrepreneur, I don’t want to do that. I want to respect my people so they respect me. It’s about respect it that’s life, you know. So you get a lot of skills of working places. Oh, definitely.
00:06:24
Yeah, you know, I’ve. I’ve moved around a lot and you know.
00:06:30
As someone had that reviews my resume, they probably consider me crazy and insane and I’ve had little slight comments before, but you know, it’s given me so many things to be able to talk about. You know, I can talk about all kinds of things. I have all this experience that I take with me, so I don’t.
00:06:50
See it as a negative and like you’re saying, as a entrepreneur, you hire your own people. Then you can set your own rules, and I don’t see it as a negative. It’s like, OK, you worked here and here and here. Oh, you got all kinds of experience that I can use, you know, instead of staying at one place for.
00:07:06
Ten years or whatever, you know? So I don’t. I don’t see it as a con, but.
00:07:13
Circling back around to what she said, being a woman in your generation, my my mother was a or she was a boomer. My father’s a boomer. And of course I’m a millennial. So you know different generations. And yeah, I mean, you grew up during the time where women still couldn’t do a lot of things.
00:07:34
You know it, it saddens me and it’s it’s interesting that you say that you never thought about what you wanted to do cuz I have opportunity to do.
00:07:40
Do it and that’s why I do all the things that I do, because I knew that my mother didn’t have the opportunities that I did. Just being being a woman, not even entering in race, you know? So I take every opportunity and do everything scared, anxious and Sir word here.
00:08:00
Because, you know, I know that people before me didn’t have those opportunities and I’m happy to see that you you are able to do what you want to do. Now whether it’s, you know, 10 years ago, 20 years ago and it’s and it’s it’s now you know so yeah.
00:08:20
UM, let’s see what else?
00:08:22
You know, I would say at least not for people not to discount their resume. Like all of these things, entrepreneurs love those things that, like you said, I got a job once because I put had on my resume that I played baseball and the company had a baseball team.
00:08:39
And they needed a first baseman, and I played first base.
00:08:44
Right. So they’re like, OK, it was between me and the other person. So the baseball tipped it over the edge. Like we all have, like, all these skills, we can all keyboard, and we can do all these things. What are the extra things that are going to, you know, when when, when you’re working in a space with other people? It’s it’s not just about the.
00:09:03
Job. It’s about the collective, like it’s about the.
00:09:07
The community that you’re building, you know, if there’s one person that you don’t get along with and that causes some trouble with with everybody, they, they, they’re counterproductive.
00:09:20
I think nowadays that that doesn’t matter. I it’s to the point where companies don’t want to train even a little bit and they want someone that can just slide into a position. So you know, if you don’t have up tenth years of experience doing this, this and this.
00:09:39
And you know it, it just really doesn’t matter anymore. And it’s and that’s another reason why I started the podcast. It’s it’s really scary out here. It’s really scary.
00:09:51
And that’s another reason why it’s out working for the government because they they’re one of the few employers that’s still training. So you know, if and especially if you wanna do like a career switch or, you know, do something adjacent to what you wanna do. So for example, you know I used.
00:10:10
To be an auditor.
00:10:11
Most people wouldn’t even give me a chance. As an accountant, you know, because I didn’t do it before, even though I studied the same thing.
00:10:21
Yeah, right. So you know it’s it’s a rock and a hard place. And you know, I always wanted to be an entrepreneur ever since I ever could read and write. So yeah. No. And I, of course, I’ve tried all different types of things. I’m I’m curious to know how many times.
00:10:41
How many businesses have you started to be?
00:10:43
Oh my gosh, I I had a handwriting analysis business. I had a little magnet before they had magnets and.
00:10:43
An option.
00:10:52
Words my brother-in-law worked at a company that had the peel off, and then the the magnet. So you stick your business card and then you have a something to hand out that had. So it was called. The right impression was my business like with the magnets RI GHT and we had right impression handwriting analysis WRITE.
00:11:12
Your handwriting? That was my husband and I we went. We traveled in Africa and Asia for 20 for 13 months and we started a business of voyage exports. Voyages. Yeah. So lots. Yeah. Lots of little things, you know.
00:11:30
This is what stuck stuck and you know what’s really interesting? Elyse is I don’t even have repeat customers. Not many repeat customers with the worms because they breed more than rabbits.
00:11:40
So if if if there if it’s working out if if people are managing managing the worm bin properly, they breed a lot and then they you know I meet people they’re like oh, I gave some to my kids school and I to my neighbor I’m like yeah stop giving your worms away it’s bad for my business.
00:11:57
But I’ve left.
00:11:57
And flowed like I do. A lot. I’ve realized that people didn’t understand what this is that I’m doing. Like what? Why would I have worms in the house? What’s the point?
00:12:07
Paint. You know, I can just throw the stuff in the garbage and and it gets taken care of. That’s true. But not in the proper way, right? It’s then it’s mixed with anyway, so it’s just manage better management of of what? The resources we have and turning it like North America, we’ve destroyed the soil. So the worms are creating this black gold that we can apply.
00:12:27
Back on the land so we can grow more nutrient rich food with less chemicals.
00:12:33
So, you know, we’re kind of saving all around. We’re not hauling the stuff away. The waste management, we’re using it on site. Yeah, it’s it’s really beautiful. It’s.
00:12:44
Ah, it’s like the Infinity sign. You know, we eat the food, we give the scraps to the worms, they can their poop is the soil. And then we grow more food. And you know, when you grow your own food, it tastes better. You don’t want to waste it because you you tended to it, you watered it. You weed it around it, you know, so it tastes delicious. It’s super fresh.
00:13:06
Yeah, it’s and. And you can’t be on your technology when you’re in the soil, like when you’re gardening. Your technology has to be put away so you’re more present because you’re.
00:13:17
Connected to the earth.
00:13:20
You know, I know you’re in the tech world, but I, you know, we really need to have boundaries. I think technology came on so fast. It’s such a even though it’s, you know, whatever, I know it’s here decades now, but really in the span of of humanity, technology is kind of a small window and I don’t. It’s the Wild West.
00:13:40
And we’re on it all the time. And now we have wearables and we have all these things, so they’re just with us all the time. So we’re always on. So when we’re gardening, at least we’re connected to the land and we’re we can slow down and just think for a bit.
00:13:57
No, I have to agree with that because I I won’t even lie. When I was growing my my basil and my arugula. And what else is arugula?
00:14:10
Yeah, it was. It was fun. I’m, you know, I’m digging in there and stuff. And and once you see it sprouting, you can actually use it. I mean, it’s amazing. It’s amazing. And Basil never die. It’s it’s just I left it there for a whole, like, month, month and 1/2 and.
00:14:25
You can’t cut it.
00:14:28
Didn’t water and it was. I came back home and.
00:14:30
It was still.
00:14:32
You got a great song, basil. Is it? Like it never dies?
00:14:38
Right. And it’s such a beautiful thing in the herbs.
00:14:41
Like the the lettuces and all the vegetables are are food that like they’re medicine as well or like they’re vitamins and stuff. But they’re herbs are really that’s the medicine because it’s really concentrated. So the herbs have even more power like for our health than.
00:15:00
Regular vegetables.
00:15:02
Yeah. And then we smell it because even the stuff in the store like it doesn’t really have a smell like it should.
00:15:10
How old is it right with you?
00:15:11
Ridiculous. But you touched on another thing about destroying the the soil and the environment and you know as a kid.
00:15:21
They were always talking about destroying the forests and things like that, and I just never understood if you were going to cut down something, why didn’t you replant it? You know, like.
00:15:31
There’s this movie called Ferngully I’m I’m showing my age, but ferngully and it’s a cartoon.
00:15:40
And it they’re basically in their cutting down the forest and the machine is is like the the criminal of the story. And you can see all the animals running and all this other kind of stuff. And there’s a a fairy and she’s all like, why don’t we replant the trees?
00:16:00
You know, like it it did make sense to me, so.
00:16:05
I mean, I guess now we kind of have like campaigns and stuff to replant, but it just never made sense to me to cut something down.
00:16:10
And not replant it.
00:16:13
Right. I it’s it’s. Yeah, it seems obvious.
00:16:17
That you can’t just keep taking, but that seems to be like we’re so smart. It’s this piece that gets in in the way.
00:16:24
It’s this frontal lobe that we think we’re superior to the planet.
00:16:29
You know, we just think we’re above everything and we can just do what we want cause we’re so smart and we are smart.
00:16:36
I don’t, I don’t know. Let’s see. What was the catalyst that got you into into the worms? Cause I mean, nobody wakes up one day and say, hey, you know.
00:16:46
When do worms?
00:16:48
Yeah, definitely not. No, no. So oh, yeah, thank you. So I worked as a secretary for 20 years, all the while getting my psych.
00:16:55
The last 10 years I worked as a temporary secretary for a temporary agency.
00:17:00
And you have to be pretty independent to to do that. It’s kind of like that today with the gig economy, I guess, but where you’re just doing like a couple of days here and there or holidays or Matt leave or whatever. And I loved it. So I was getting my psych degree. It was like I I was getting paid to go to university.
00:17:20
Because when you work well, at least at that time when when you worked as a temporary worker, the impression was that you must not be very smart because you can’t hold a full time job.
00:17:32
Right, so I didn’t get any hard jobs. It would just, you know, I was off in reception or whatever, just doing not and not menial jobs. Those are important jobs as well. You need the gate. The gatekeeper is pretty important job actually. So I was able to. I would answer the phone if people came in I would greet them. But I was doing my homework. I was reading, I was writing my essays.
00:17:53
So I was getting paid to. It was awesome. It took me 15 years to get my psych degree because I didn’t care about going to school. I didn’t care about the paper. I just loved learning and meeting the people. You. When you go at night, you meet different people because you’re there. You’re motivated to be there. OK, so I I graduated in 2000 and I sound so young.
00:18:14
Anyway, having graduated in 2000.
00:18:18
And I got a job at a group home working with challenged adults, and I thought I had come home ohh. First of all, I moved out of Toronto in 93 and bought a house and a teacher. Friend asked me to look after her work.
00:18:31
That was my first introduction to the worms, so that was the first seed 93.
00:18:37
And I didn’t want to have worms in my house, but I think that we should try things for ourselves, like don’t allow someone to go ohh you won’t like that. Ohh good. Thanks for saving me the time, right? Yeah. So I took on the challenge as an avid gardener and Composter had worms in my house. I didn’t want to have worms in my house when I fed them. I’d open the lid, throw the food in.
00:18:58
So it was a bit of a disaster in that I had a I was a.
00:19:00
Fruit fly, farmer.
00:19:03
And the fruit fruit flies. They don’t cause any trouble for for people, they just bug us, right? They don’t carry disease and they’re decomposers. They just worked nicely with the worms. So I kept the worms alive. But when it was time to separate, I put on big gloves. I wanted the black gold for my garden.
00:19:21
OK, so I so then I said I’m never going to do worm composting again.
00:19:25
Fast forward to 2000, I get my this job at the group home. They had a 10 homes and a farm and they didn’t compost and I was like, wow, why don’t they compost? And I talked to, they had a vocational programme where their clients would go to the farm, they would work and they would do like, different jobs. They even have a, like, a greenhouse.
00:19:45
But they didn’t.
00:19:46
Compost. So when I questioned them about composting, they said we don’t need fertilizer because we have cows so they had manure.
00:19:55
And I thought, wow, this that’s when I realized people don’t connect what they’re doing. They’re creating all this food waste and then paying all this money over here to get rid of it. Like, that money could be better spent on programming or something else, a party.
00:20:10
You know? Then just bye bye in the truck.
00:20:14
So I proposed A composting program and the greenhouse manager said what about worm composting?
00:20:22
Have you ever done anything where you’re like ohh, so excited about it and then it?
00:20:25
Doesn’t work. When I was introduced to worm composting and I was like, Oh no, never again. Now, seven years later, it’s being introduced again. Hey, what about worm composting? I’m like, ah, that feeling in the pit of the stomach. No, I don’t want to do that again.
00:20:41
But it was an institution. They weren’t getting worms anytime soon. So I came home from work that day. I started to do some research and discovered the magic of the red wigglers. I’d already had my introduction, like my ucross my my experience with the worms, and now I’m looking them up.
00:21:00
And I discovered, like the red wigglers, they eat half their weight per day in food scraps. They’re the original alchemists. They turned garbage into gold for like their plant food. Wow, we don’t need to truck it around. So I I had this huge epiphany. I went from uh. Worms are gross. Yuck. Not again to.
00:21:19
Oh my gosh. And we need this.
00:21:22
And yeah, and well, so that was kind of how that happened. And then and then I got into that work.
00:21:30
And well, kind of speeding up that part of the story. I came home from work. There was an article in the paper. It said, are you a woman? Do you have a business idea? And I was like, yes, yes. I turned to my husband. I said I’m quitting my job. I’m taking this course. I’m going to start a word business.
00:21:50
Areas, because that’s that’s really how it happens. If there’s like signs and symbols.
00:21:56
We got to pay attention.
00:21:57
At the right time, then you have to circle back around.
00:22:01
And it just it just grabs you and catches you.
00:22:05
That’s it. Yeah, but we gotta be aware, like, right 93. I I would never would have said, you know, I’m doing I’m gonna be have a worm business. What? No way. So we’re you know I’m divinely guided everybody. Well we all are but we don’t all pay attention.
00:22:22
And I I I believe that I’m I like I I get all these messages looking back.
00:22:26
Back without like I don’t. I didn’t know about being an entrepreneur. I just had a great idea.
00:22:32
And so I sent forth. I sent forth. You know, I I yeah. That’s it.
00:22:37
So what did your family and friends say? Did they think you were insane? They’d be playing around with Worms.
00:22:42
Yeah, yeah, like, just get a job and and be safe. And you know, just tow the line. Come on, don’t be ridiculous.
00:22:52
No, I’m.
00:22:52
They thought they had diseases.
00:22:56
Ohh man so.
00:22:57
You know? Yeah, you know, it’s like I’m an overnight success here. It is 22 years, 22 years, a lot of businesses don’t make it more than.
00:23:06
A year?
00:23:07
You know, if you make it five years, you made it. And here I am, 22 years. I’m here, you know. Was it easy? No way. Not at all. Like 2002.
00:23:17
So my partner was gainfully employed. I I kind of had a safety net in that he was he was working.
00:23:24
And won’t this be fun? I’ll have this little worm business. That’ll be fun. And then 2002, there was a garbage strike in Toronto, in Toronto. So we’re already shipping our garbage out of the country now. There’s a garbage strike. We’re not shipping anything anywhere, and it’s just piling up in the summer. Of course, when it’s hot.
00:23:43
And I watching the news, people were lining up for hours to drop off their garbage.
00:23:48
And I went, I wrote. I went on a road trip, but not not before sending out press releases to the Toronto outlets. And I got my first article in the Toronto Star in uh, July 18th, 2002, and I called up my husband. And I’m like, yeah, I got an article in the Toronto Star, right. Largest paper for Canada.
00:24:07
And with all those condos, that’s my people. Those are the ones I need to reach. And he said that’s nice or something. I’m on my way home. I just got downsized.
00:24:18
Like he lost his job the same day that I had my article in the star. Now I joke and I’m like, couldn’t have just got downsized tomorrow so I could celebrate.
00:24:25
My article in the.
00:24:26
Star then I’m like, like, holy crap, we don’t. We don’t have any income now and we sell worms by the pound and nobody wants what we have. Oh oh.
00:24:36
Yikes. The universe is a funny place. If it happened six months earlier that he got downsized. I don’t think I would have had the courage.
00:24:46
Fascinating, right? Ohh yeah. No, you don’t have to tell me because I know how the universe works. I’m playing it all the time. Let’s see.
00:25:02
You you talked about a lot already. I can’t even ask you these chatty Cathy. No, no, no, it’s good. It’s good. That means that, you know, you already you’re already tapped in and tuned in.
00:25:17
There was a question I wanted to ask you.
00:25:20
About because I I’ve read about composting and from what I read you can’t do meat. So or can you do meat? Because I I read that you’re not supposed to compost meat.
00:25:32
Yeah. So if you’re composting outside.
00:25:36
Meat is you. You want to leave the meat out meat and anything processed, anything with spices or any.
00:25:43
Thing, because I owe the meat, particularly will attract rodents and wildlife, will be attracted to your composter. They’re not attracted to the fruit and veg, they’re carnivores for the most part, so that’s why I mean, you can put meat in a worm bin. You can even compost meat. I mean, it’s not that.
00:26:03
Everything is going to happen. It’s just that you might get critter.
00:26:07
The meat will compost. The meat will break down eventually, right? It’s it’s organic matter too. But you don’t want the rodents and and same in a worm bin indoor. You wouldn’t want to put meat even though I just said you could. The worms would eat meat. It’s not that they’re they are not vegetarian, but the meat has a tendency to lot faster than the worms can keep up. So you may get a rotting.
00:26:26
Smelling, you don’t want that. It’s in the house, yeah.
00:26:30
OK, that’s good to know then because, yeah, everything already like you can’t do me and I’m.
00:26:34
Like, well, I don’t have time to be separating meat from everything you know. And I guess that’s that’s my next question. How do you convince people to compost? Cause you know, people like me, I’m like.
00:26:50
I don’t have time be sitting if they’re separating the meat from the noodles from.
00:26:54
The the fruits and vegetables that I eat and yeah, now how do you convince people?
00:27:01
Yeah, it’s it’s it really comes down to education. When people understand why we’re doing this, the benefit of doing this, it’s an easier buy and and at the beginning, I did try to convince people I was like, no, no, you need this.
00:27:17
I I think it’s it’s more educating about now like just kind of wooing them in because if you know.
00:27:24
I have a psych degree, so I’m really fascinated by people and I love.
00:27:29
Asking these quite like I’m curious about why people do what they do, and I I learned early on that in my business that people were.
00:27:38
Traumatized as children by worms like after after a rainy day, you know, in the schoolyard, A sibling, maybe a fishing incident. So if you were traumatized as a child, that’s down there. That’s in your belly. That’s in your DNA now. So as an adult, you might not be looking as worms as the solution you might.
00:27:58
Like, let’s worm invite the worms in the house. So. So there’s breaking through that barrier. And I was doing like a lot of.
00:28:05
Sitting and people would come up or what you’ve got here and I’d say worms and then they’d say, ohh, Jimmy, get back. It’s dirty because they had. Now they’re putting their fear on their children and you know I. So I was like, Oh my gosh. If people are afraid of worms, there’s it’s kind of another barrier because they’re not even hearing my message.
00:28:26
They’re just like shutting off. Oh, let’s get to the next booth. Let’s get away from here.
00:28:31
Without hearing like I don’t, I don’t care if you buy or you don’t buy. If you have worms or you don’t. But if you don’t know about it, you can’t do it.
00:28:40
Without awareness.
00:28:41
Action is impossible. Is my favorite expression one of my favorite expressions, and it had to do with my worms. I was like, oh, if I keep meeting people that don’t know about this, that means they’re not doing it bad for the planet. And and here’s why, you know, the the word I started my business as a waste management tool. We were exporting our garbage to the US and I wanted to stop.
00:29:01
That because that meant our tax dollars were going for transporting our garbage out of the country. There’s a better use for all that money and for the planet, like all that, the exhaust from the trucks, like the whole thing is ridiculous when when there’s a better way. So I I I really did set forth and thought.
00:29:23
Everybody needs this as I was trying to browbeat people into doing it convincing.
00:29:28
Them. I was pushing them away. They’re like, there’s no way in hell I’m doing this. But I had a lot of cheerleaders. Yay. Good for you. Do you have worms? No, I’m. I don’t want to get worms, but good for you.
00:29:41
And I realized I needed to get to the children because the adults were already set. They’ve already they’re already in their safety net. So I I took on school workshops and now over 75,000 students have seen my present.
00:29:57
I love that piece. I still, it’s still one of my favorite things going into the classroom, standing in front of a group of I I would say like grade two or Grade 3 is my favorite because they’re still open to possibilities and they’re still like, they’re they’re not too cool to get, get their hands dirty and get in there and be curious.
00:30:18
And I’ve met children. I’ve met children that I was in their grade three class or elementary class, and now they’ve graduated from college and they became environmental lawyers or environmental advocates because they had worms in their grade free class.
00:30:35
So it’s, you know, we are making, I know you know, but we’re making a difference every single day in people’s lives. We don’t know. We don’t always know the impact that we you know saying hello to somebody on the street noticing somebody. Hey can I give you a hand you know like just seeing somebody we we could be changing their life we don’t know.
00:30:56
And we never know. We sometimes never get that privilege. I have had the honor more than once knowing that I’ve made an impact, so I want to inspire people to to think about how they can serve more, how they can live a bigger life by helping other people. The more we serve, the more we deserve.
00:31:16
You know, and and and it’s it’s not living that safe, you know, following the path it’s it’s it’s forging your own path. Like who knew that I could have a worm business and sell spro it’s like I’m a true entrepreneur I’m I’m hustling everywhere I go I’m talking about what I’m doing.
00:31:35
Because of people without awareness and it’s not like I’m trying to push it on them, I just want them to know. And then if they’re looking for that or they know somebody that’s looking for that, then they know, oh, that, that that’s out there it exists.
00:31:50
No, I love that. I do. I do.
00:31:53
I never even.
00:31:54
Thought about the fear factor of it, but you brought it up, I guess because I used to go fishing as a kid and so I wasn’t really too scared of the worms I put on the hook in and straws for me and stuff. The big old Nightcrawler ones.
00:32:08
So that didn’t cross my mind of being scared of it. But you’re so right that some people are are terrified of worms. And and I get it because I was, I guess I’m scared. I was scared as a kid. Of the ones that just crinkled up into nothing on the sidewalk after rain. But you know, I.
00:32:22
Guess fishing kind of cured that.
00:32:24
As an adult now, I don’t know if I want to touch worms, but I, you know, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t back away.
00:32:30
From it but.
00:32:32
But yeah, I guess I guess getting the kids would be would be the King cause once you set in your ways of my age, you ain’t, you ain’t going back to that. So I I get it.
00:32:43
I guess my other question would be.
00:32:46
If you think that it should be something that should be like a enforced program to kind of force people, especially people that live in big cities, to to compost. I mean I I just moved and I I furnished up my upstairs apartment and now I’m furnishing my downstairs apartment.
00:33:08
And I had a room full of garbage and not to say that worms would help with that, but it was ridiculous how much garbage I had. And I’m, you know, it’s it’s just ridiculous. So I don’t even know what to say. It’s, it’s ridiculous. So.
00:33:28
So yeah, I mean there has to be something to to force this because I mean, I don’t know how true it is that there’s, you know, 8 billion people on the Earth now. But at a certain point some.
00:33:39
Something has to give you know.
00:33:43
Yes. Yeah, I I don’t know. I’m not sure about enforcement. I’m not sure about.
00:33:50
Like government being the one enforcing it because there’s holes in that, like I don’t know what kind of recycling program you have in Ohio.
00:34:00
But we’ve got recycling in each province, each municipality, each little town. They’re recycling program is different. And so if you move from one place to another, you might have been able to put Styrofoam in.
00:34:14
Box, but you moved to another town and they’re like, no, there’s no aftermarket. We can’t take Styrofoam. So we don’t take it just for optics like no point in taking it if it just goes.
00:34:23
In landfill anyway.
00:34:25
Right. So there’s so much confusion with those programs and and now when we in in Canada when when our landfill closed for Toronto area, we didn’t have a a green bin. So now we have we have the blue bin, we have a green bin, a green bin program is our organic waste.
00:34:44
So that program the the recycling program is really contaminated. It’s it’s awful. Most of that stuff ends up in landfill. It does. I’m really immersed in the industry, so I’m I’m glad you mentioned the the waste from your, you know your renovations and yeah, cleaning, tidying things up, getting stuff ready.
00:35:03
So with the food waste program, now that they take the organic matter, so there’s a separate bin for that. The problem with that is if people don’t care, how do we teach care?
00:35:15
If it’s and, I mean those, you can’t put your batteries in there. You can’t put your household waste in there. You can’t put your old paint in there or trip and time or bleach or whatever liquid that you have leftover that’s toxic. You can’t just put it in there, but if you don’t care, you might be like, I’m not going to the household hazardous waste deep. Oh, I gotta drive there.
00:35:36
And that’s a nuisance. I’m I I don’t care. So I’m going to throw my batteries in that green bin. Now we’ve got Mercury and cadmium in with our composting program.
00:35:48
Not cool, because we’re growing our food in that compost.
00:35:52
That means the.
00:35:53
Roots are in that compost and so that’s a problem when we expect.
00:36:00
It has to come from the individual. I think we do need regulations, otherwise people aren’t going to do anything. I get that we do need some structure. I’m just not sure it it needs to come from the grassroots up and then have the people say government. This is what we want and then the government can create programs based on what the people have asked for.
00:36:21
If that makes sense and and there are people with construction, there’s really incredible, wonderful things doing with recycling construction ways they take apart, like take all the steel, all the concrete, all the, you know, the particle board, whatever, all the wood and and it’s separated out. If it’s usable they.
00:36:41
They use it. It’s not. They grind it down and they make roads out of it, old tires and stuff. They’re doing the same, you know, making shoes and making.
00:36:52
You know, so we’re so we are I and we do need to get there because we are running out of resources. There is a lot of us now and and we are so smart. We can’t just keep on slashing and burning.
00:37:06
Because we’ve shown that, you know, the planets heating up, whatever people think of it, that the climate is changing, some of it is natural cycle of how things go. But come on now people, some of it, if we look at if we really pay attention to the sun.
00:37:21
Since the world is heating up faster than it has in in past and we need to do something.
00:37:28
The planet will survive the planet. I believe the planet will survive, but humanity may not in this.
00:37:34
In our current state.
00:37:36
No, I I totally agree with you on that. And I’m so glad we’re having this conversation because yeah, I look at.
00:37:45
Like Earth ships where the you know the houses are made out of bottles and.
00:37:49
And things like that and I, you know, I’m.
00:37:52
Like oh, it’s.
00:37:52
So cute, you know, but it’s it’s saving the environment at the same time, so it’s like, OK, what do we do when, you know, they’re taking, like you said, rubber and making all kinds of stuff out of it. So I don’t know. I think I think the word needs to get out and.
00:38:11
I I think I I don’t know what to say forest. But like you’re saying about the kids, it has to start at a younger age and you know, we get to a point where, you know, it’s just ingrained. And I also have to say I’ve lived in lots of places. So yes, like you’re saying every place has a different program. I’m born and raised in California. All I’ve ever known is.
00:38:31
Is a recycle bin and a green waste bin, you know.
00:38:34
Yeah. So that was ingrained in me from from basically birth. That’s what we did. And when I moved to somewhere else and they didn’t have that. And I’m like, oh, my God, they’re just throwing everything in the garbage. And you know what? In some places, if you live in an old city like, say, Boston, they don’t have garbage disposal. So it’s not even going.
00:38:54
You know, down everything’s going into the garbage can.
00:38:59
I know places in Texas that don’t have, you know, a recycle program and stuff, and I was and when I got to Ohio, I’m like, oh, they have.
00:39:07
A recycle program so.
00:39:09
You know, putting everything in the recycle bin. So yeah, I guess, I guess the the first thing is get everybody just in on one accord and can we?
00:39:19
Weariness. I again back to without awareness. Action is impossible if we don’t know. So California. I didn’t know you came from California. Of course. California is very progress.
00:39:30
In all of these environmental ways and and yeah, if only we could share our not like what are what’s working, what isn’t you know.
00:39:40
Like why? Why are all this? Each state, each province and each area is separate? If only we could share our best practices. What are you guys doing for water? What are you doing with your organic matter? You know, and I know there’s there’s conferences. I’m not. I’m not suggesting that they don’t talk at all. It just seems.
00:39:59
Like governments, often it feels like, you know, whoever’s in power wants their ideas to come to, to come, to pass, right? So they have a three or four year window, three or four year window versus looking at 7 generations back and forth like the indigenous do.
00:40:20
Yeah, it’s. It’s funny because like, the government will have like a, you know, 5-10 fifteen, 2030 year, 40 year plan.
00:40:28
And and then like you’re saying, somebody will get in there, whether it’s the governor or Mayor, City Council and another elected official of a of a government organization. And you know, they’ll, they’ll push their ideas. So it’s it’s just.
00:40:45
It’s about. It’s a whole mess. So but again, something something has to give because yeah, it just it it really. I don’t want to say open my eyes because my eyes have always been open to the mess that garbage is.
00:41:03
And destroying the environment is, but I’m just like I had a a huge room full of nothing but boxes and I’m just like.
00:41:12
This is a this is a mess.
00:41:18
And I literally had to have junk removal come and remove it because there’s no way I could have recycled all that. Just, you know, just in a little bin by myself. So yeah.
00:41:28
Well, those companies, I don’t, I’m not sure in the states, but we’ve got companies that come junk removal and then they will take care of the recycling things and they do.
00:41:38
Separate it out.
00:41:39
I don’t know what they do, but it cost me a pretty.
00:41:41
Penny, I do know that. Yeah.
00:41:44
Yeah, it’s not cheap.
00:41:46
Ohh, so there’s that. Let’s see what are some positives and negatives of your entrepreneurship journey?
00:41:57
Positives first, why not?
00:42:01
Oh, so many. Oh my gosh, so many one, I will say I chose media as my marketing strategy after having that article in the star I was like, oh, it’s, this is really great having somebody, somebody write about you for free versus paying for an advertiser.
00:42:18
Right.
00:42:19
Like first of all, it has much more St. cred when somebody else is saying it than you, as the business owner is saying, put this in and I’ll give you money for it. So in 20/20/12.
00:42:34
I was on Twitter and because that’s where the journalists used to hang out because that was real time news. I don’t know where the news is now.
00:42:45
And five minutes after sending out my oh, I sent out a A what did I do? It was an organization in Guatemala doing a worm composting. And I just sent out a link to their website and said what a cool organization. Red wiggler, red wiggler worms all the way or something. Some such and 5 minutes after sending my.
00:43:05
That tweet out, the executive director wrote me and said when can you come to Guatemala? We need to.
00:43:14
Like I was like what?
00:43:16
And so I I was like, Oh my gosh, that was so exciting. I was telling everyone, Oh my gosh. And Guatemala wants me to come. And then my next thought is, like, it’s a poor country. How can they? They can’t pay for me to come and I’m not independently wealthy. So how am I going to get there? And you gotta tell people what? What happens, the cool things in your life. Like, I was telling one friend.
00:43:36
And she said, I said I don’t know how I’m going to get there, but how?
00:43:39
Cool that Guatemala.
00:43:40
Wants me to come to to, to work with Worms and Guatemala. How fun.
00:43:44
And she said, I’m going to host a fundraiser. So in one night we raised $3000. We screened a movie. I have a documentary. We we screened dirt. The movie, which is all about the, you know, the little topsoil that we that our food grows in. It’s a very thin layer of.
00:44:04
Right at the top.
00:44:06
Yeah. And so people donated, we had five works of art, 5 paintings, local businesses donated. You know, whatever bids and bobs and, yeah, $3000. So I got to Guatemala and back. I got to leave some money there. I met six different women’s group women’s groups.
00:44:25
Around the country, that was like what a positive. I never would have had that opportunity if I wasn’t in my own business like setting my own hours. I mean another one was.
00:44:37
I just got an idea. We talked about being. I finally guided. I was walking in the forest. I got this idea. My husband and I were talking, and I had a thought and it just dropped in. And I say what comes in my head. He he knows that, though. And I I said.
00:44:52
I want to go to PEI, one of our provinces. I want to go to PEI and do a workshop.
00:44:58
And then I just got on the, you know, talking about what we were talking about two days later, I came home and he said guess who called? And I said, I don’t know. And he said PEI called and they want you to come and do a workshop. I was like.
00:45:09
No, like my exact words.
00:45:12
You know, so, so these cool experiences have happened. I’ve I’ve spoken at things because I say yes.
00:45:19
When people say, can you do this, I don’t think. Oh, can I do that? I just say yes. And then I figure it out.
00:45:29
And what are the?
00:45:30
Negatives negative, I guess. Would I I would, I wouldn’t call them negatives so much as maybe just learning curves or like things that I might do different if I was starting all over again and that is you know, I chose something that is really kind of word. The word worm is even.
00:45:49
Not so pleasant. People kind of freak out by the word, you know can of worms. It’s not usually a good expression like now you open a.
00:45:56
Can of worms.
00:45:58
Tape worm, you know? Or it’s a parasite. Like just worm is a negative connotation.
00:46:06
Yes, I think I I think.
00:46:10
That was one of the pieces that I didn’t consider was having to educate about or like get getting over that piece. It’s like again, it’s not really a negative, but just something that I didn’t consider when I jumped into this.
00:46:25
Yeah, that makes that makes perfect sense.
00:46:30
And I I learned Spanish in Guatemala, so I have I have. I was in Antigua to learn Spanish for a couple of months and I have a teacher and I keep telling myself I have to go back to go visit my teacher. But yeah. But Guatemala is beautiful.
00:46:47
So beautiful. Oh my gosh.
00:46:49
Beyond beautiful and I got a chance to go up the volcano and and and all that stuff and ohh the chocolates to die for. I don’t know if.
00:46:58
You got a copy?
00:47:00
I I don’t do coffee, but I I’ll I that chocolate man. I’ve never had chocolate that good. I brought back like like a big case full like this and ate on it for months.
00:47:07
Right off.
00:47:14
Yeah, goodnight.
00:47:14
I thought I was going to say.
00:47:15
You gave it away. Probably should have.
00:47:18
Sold it. But I mean it was.
00:47:20
I’m good. And then I learned that. I mean, when they make the hot chocolate, all they’re doing is dropping a piece of chocolate in there and pouring hot water on them. Like, that’s all you do. There’s no powder.
00:47:31
Right.
00:47:32
So so simple.
00:47:33
Ohh man, but yes, Guatemala has a special place in my heart and that’s.
00:47:39
Where I learned Spanish.
00:47:42
Let’s see what are some traits that would make someone successful in this career.
00:47:50
Ah, that’s that’s a great question. Not taking yourself serious too. Seriously. We get all in our head.
00:48:01
Yeah, some good traits are take action like knowledge is power, they say, but not without action. Action is required.
00:48:10
So you know, we get these thoughts like pour into our head and we get all fired up. Oh, that’s so great. I’m going to do that. If we don’t take action, either by writing it down or taking a step to make it come to life, it gets lost. Or that voice in our head will talk us out of it, or we might talk to someone and they’re.
00:48:29
They talk us out of it. Like remember last time because people don’t want, like, we don’t like change and our network doesn’t like us to change because if we change, they have to change. Like if we have a bad habit and they have a bad habit and we do this bad habit together and then we want to stop the bad.
00:48:48
Of it, they’re they’re going to do what they can to keep us in that bad habit so they can not have to change their bad habit.
00:48:55
You know and and not to get into any any specifics but you know what I mean just so yeah, take action. Don’t take yourself too seriously. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And that’s a fact that that’s really a fact. You talked about having to go to so many interviews.
00:49:15
If you could have worked your way in to find somebody that could have referred.
00:49:19
Do like that’s. That’s because then you you need to prove yourself. You need to know stuff. It’s not like you can BS your way all the way in. You got you gotta know stuff. But it. But it’s if you can get an introduction in.
00:49:32
To whatever it is you want to do or where you want to go, or who you want to meet. Then it it just makes it easier cause then then they kind of they give you a, you know, a warm bleed like they they might, you know, they might give you a recommendation. They might give you just introduce you by e-mail or you know by TikTok or however you do it today.
00:49:54
I’ve I’ve never even really been on.
00:49:56
To talk like that.
00:49:57
So that ain’t that ain’t me. That’s. I guess that’s the the next generation behind me below me. But but no, I did. I did have introductions and referrals. That’s the sick part. But I I think that are the reason was, you know, the the economy just started to decline.
00:50:13
Around that time, because around that same time.
00:50:16
Name and I used to have all types of recruiters in my inbox and that just that just fell off a damn Cliff. So I think hiring just, you know, they’re silently freezing and not really saying anything about it because yeah, I know plenty of people that work in the in the industry and, you know, got referrals.
00:50:36
Introductions and that that did nothing. So umm.
00:50:41
Is that since 2020?
00:50:42
Or maybe even the fire.
00:50:43
That was in that was the end part of 2022.
00:50:48
Yeah, I think COVID did a big number on on all industries. And yeah, I I I think everything.
00:50:55
Thing. Everything shifted in that time.
00:50:58
Yeah, I think you know the money was flowing. You know, all types of money was flowing and then it just did it. And then, yeah, it’s that’s just what it is, you know, interest rates started going up and, you know, and that that was pretty much less less. Let’s freeze it.
00:51:18
Let’s let’s cut it.
00:51:19
So since that happened, I was like, well, let me go back to the other part that I know and that’s that’s what I did. And that’s another reason why I started this podcast. Because you have to have skills on top of skills on top of skills. So you can pivot cuz when one thing is not doing good, then another will be doing good.
00:51:39
And you don’t.
00:51:40
Want to be stuck?
00:51:43
You know, just having this one skill and that’s that’s all you can do. So you’re you’re a perfect example of that. And I’m so happy that, you know, you love what you do. And you finally got to, you can finally say this is what I wanted to.
00:52:00
Be when I grow.
00:52:00
Up right.
00:52:03
No, I’m not even there yet, though. You know, I’ve really, I said my working title weren’t weren’t. What is it, Kathy? Carly, laughing being queen. So we talked about the crawly part worms.
00:52:14
Being queen, that’s the sprouting part and laughter. Laughter is what I’m really bringing now because since 2020, like we have this global mental health tsunami and it was here before 20/20, it was here, just in 2020. It was way more apparent because it was bigger.
00:52:33
Because, like, how do you torture people, you keep them isolated. And we were all, you know, anyone that lived on lives on their own.
00:52:42
Or, you know, in long term care, folks with dementia, like, how do they understand? Why is my family outside? Why can’t they come in? What’s happening like they? Why is everyone wearing masks, like really scary and and I think a lot of people are still in that trauma. I think a lot of people were really traumatized during.
00:53:01
Like the last three years, it mean.
00:53:03
Like it was divisive ideologies, people were, you know, on both sides.
00:53:10
And and cherry picking even facts like, oh, I believe that bunk into my belief basket. Oh, like, I mean, left and right. It doesn’t matter which side. It just seemed if things were believable. And, you know, with AI and.
00:53:25
So much like deception like, we don’t even know what’s real and what’s imagined anymore. So yeah, I think I think that since 2020 we’ve we’ve we’re in this global mental health tsunami. So now I’m I’m really focused on laughter Wellness because.
00:53:45
Laughter’s the fastest happiness hack. It’s not. So laughter. Yoga’s not doing yoga and laughing. It’s the it’s not jokes or comedy. It’s laughing as an exercise. The yoga part is the deep dive. Formatic breathing and the practice of the laughter. It is a pro.
00:54:01
Practice. And it’s not just laughing at a, you know, a sitcom or something for haha. And then you if you keep laughing, you miss the next joke. It’s laughing. Ha ha ha with, you know, with intention and and yeah, so that’s that’s where I’m really focused right now because I want people to care about the planet so I can sell them worms.
00:54:23
Or the so they get worms.
00:54:24
But when we’re in a mental crisis, we really can’t care about anything else. Except how do I get out of this feeling?
00:54:31
And and you know the stress part of the brain. I’ve learned so much over the last, I would say, four years. Ah, I took a deep dive. Like lots of time to learn. Right during the first two years at least. Yeah. On like, why do people say laughter is the best medicine? What does that mean?
00:54:51
And it’s a global expression.
00:54:53
And it’s not. Laughter is not. There’s no language laughter is the the language. Laughter is universal. Everybody laughs.
00:55:01
And yeah, so, so laughter is the best medicine. We just need to laugh. And then our problems are lessened.
00:55:10
Because when we’re laughing, we’re fully present. Our brain is fully oxygenated. We’re secreting the love drugs, dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins versus cortisol and adrenaline. When we’re stressed, like there’s so many, so many things, our frequency gets raised when we laugh. It’s like when we sing or when we dance.
00:55:33
Or when we do anything that that brings us joy.
00:55:36
We just feel good. We we just feel enlightened or when we’re having fun with friends, you know, we’re. Yeah, we’re engaged. We’re alive versus. You know, when we’re thinking about, Oh my God, I don’t have enough money. I don’t have a job. I can’t feed my kids.
00:55:53
You know, all all these like ohh there’s war like.
00:55:57
There’s so many things going on right now. How are we even still standing? There’s so much going on. That’s why laughter. We don’t need to know. We don’t need to talk about all the stuff, because that’s going on at nauseam. We see that we hear it on the news. We see it on social, it’s everywhere. We don’t need to.
00:56:18
Talk about that anymore. We need to laugh and release. It’s like the pressure cooker going off. This just releases the this the tension, the pressure.
00:56:29
No, definitely. I told my sister my next career is going to be psychiatry psychiatrist cause.
00:56:36
Yeah, I mean it did. It definitely did a number on people. I mean, shoot it did a number on me. I was. I was stuck in another country. I didn’t know if I ever see my family ever again. So I mean, that was amazing.
00:56:48
Yeah. No. So luckily, you know, I had my adoptive family that called my adoptive family my Mexican family. Yes. But, but yeah, I mean, it was. It was very, very scary. Luckily though, I my my sibling, my sister is in, is in healthcare.
00:57:06
So I I knew what was going on on the inside because she was.
00:57:13
She was on the front lines and she she traveled during that time. So when I eventually did get back in the states, I would travel with her sometimes and go to the the different places that she was in. So, you know, I had. I had a lot of insider knowledge. So that kind of calmed me down.
00:57:32
A lot, but for those that didn’t, I I.
00:57:37
I can’t even. I can’t even imagine.
00:57:41
But yeah, I mean.
00:57:44
It’s it. Yeah, it’s, you know, it’s definitely definitely needed.
00:57:50
I don’t know, at least here in Canada, to where.
00:57:52
Healthcare isn’t tied to to employment.
00:57:58
And you can be an entrepreneur and you know, get get the help that you need it. But.
00:58:04
But that’s a whole nother subject in itself and in America. But last question, what would you tell someone that wanted to?
00:58:15
To career switch.
00:58:18
I would say write down a list of things that you love to do. Another part of being successful, honest, being on.
00:58:26
A success track is to do stuff that you love to do. Of course, if you have a business.
00:58:35
You need to. You’re going to be doing several jobs, especially at the beginning and things that you don’t like. But if if the most of most of the things that you do during your day.
00:58:44
Are enjoyable or you like doing those tasks tasks? It’s you’re it’s going to be better, so write a list of things. What do I like to do? What are my skills? Because you know, I think we forget that the skills that we’ve always had the same type of job.
00:59:02
We might not realize that skills that we have that we use in that position are transferable. We can use those skills over here. For example, I was a secretary for for 20 years. I didn’t even know it. It seems sounds ridiculous. Saying it out loud.
00:59:20
But I didn’t know at the time that my skills as a secretary would be applicable in the marketing department or customer service, you know? Oh, there’s a job in customer service. So I don’t know anything about that. Are you kidding? It was the president. Secretary. I will I will. It was customer service at the top level, right. I mean, once they couldn’t get.
00:59:40
What they wanted from customer service, they came to the president. If I let them in.
00:59:45
You know, so I think that we need to look at what we’ve got and get confident, like build up your confidence, whatever you have to do.
00:59:54
Because it it you know, the the employers will hire people that are confident, even though they might be the pain in the *** employees because they’re going to stand up for themselves.
01:00:05
But if you’re sitting, you know when often if you go in person for interviews, their desk is higher than yours. So they’re kind of looking over you. So they already have the power dynamic where they’re superior to you, so you need to rather than be small in your chair and definitely don’t be looking on your cell phone just before because.
01:00:25
When you’re on your cell phone, you have the Physiology of depression.
01:00:31
So before you for to be success successful when you’re going to have any business meetings or you’re going to have an interview, do some power posing like stand with your hips, hands on your hips, look in the mirror. You know, do your hands over your head the victory pose and and look at yourself in the mirror and and think.
01:00:52
Got this? You’re you’re like, and. And it matters like it does work. It really does work, because we just need to override that part of our brain that wants to keep us safe, conserve energy, keep you safe. You don’t want to look ridiculous. That’s your ego.
01:01:09
So we need to override that by being confident, and if your brain is, you know, you have that monkey chatter going on, you can literally command your brain to, you know, thank you. Thank you for sharing. I know you have opinions. I’ve got this. I’m the adult thing in the room.
01:01:27
Just go and take a rest for a moment and let me just focus on this and you can really talk to your brain and ask it to take a breath. Like to go look up, focus on breathing for now.
01:01:40
OK, that’s that’s all the questions I.
01:01:44
Got for you.
01:01:46
I I really enjoyed this conversation because I never, I never in my life thought I ever talked to somebody that that love worms and sowed worms for.
01:01:54
I mean and and and. You know, we’re trying to sell people on the idea of composting. Now I’m have to look deeper into it and get me.
01:02:01
A bin and and microphone.
01:02:04
It’s really, you know, it’s really transformative because you see the worms like the idea maybe at the beginning, it’s like, oh, but then it’s like, wow, you see the worms. So they’re in food scraps and.
01:02:14
Vapor it’s aerobic, meaning with oxygen it doesn’t smell like running food, and then the worms convert that paper and that those banana peels and whatnot into soil, and you can.
01:02:25
You can’t watch it happen because they don’t like the light, but you know, overtime, three to five months, the worms convert all that material. Then you have this super rich like you can look at that and it looks like beautiful rich soil versus dirt.
01:02:39
You know, that’s kind of like they’re growing stuff in it that’s on the fields, but it’s like.
01:02:45
That’s where my food comes from.
01:02:47
When you look at that black hole, it’s like, wow, that looks it. Even just looking at it side by side, you can see that you would want your food to. It’s like, yeah, I won’t get into the whole thing. You said you had.
01:02:58
No more questions. No, no.
01:03:01
I’m now I’m curious. Like who was like, who thought of like, hey, let’s take some worm poop and you know and.
01:03:09
Put it on our plants and see if it grows. You know, like I’m I’m that type of person. Like, I gotta get deeper into it. Like, who thought that girl?
01:03:16
Oh, this is old. This this goes way, way back. This is way, way back.
01:03:20
I know, I know. Probably you know, since the beginning of of freaking time, but it’s like.
01:03:26
Who thought that? I mean, I’m gonna get this little worm poop and add it to my plants and then see. See what it does.
01:03:32
You know, like, no, you know what it was? It’s probably a a compost pile and then the worms came and then they found the worms. And they’re like, hey, look at the.
01:03:41
Worms in here, right?
01:03:44
Maybe we can harness that. I don’t. Maybe.
01:03:48
You know, I’m the one that looks at weird stuff like there’s there’s these things called rambutans in in Mexico. It’s it’s one of my favorite fruits. Ohh. I can eat a whole bunch of them and get sick.
01:04:00
And they’re like hot pink with spiky things on them, and it’s like, who was the first person to say, hey, I’m gonna go up on this tree and grab it and see, see if I can eat it. Cause, you know, you know, I’ll be like, I’m scared to eat it. I’m who wants to eat this.
01:04:15
Look at that thing. It looks like an alien. It looks poisonous, you know? So you know, it’s just it’s just stupid stuff like.
01:04:21
That that I think about.
01:04:24
I do too. I love that. I think that’s that’s the entrepreneur brain where you’re thinking about, well, how did that? How did that come about?
01:04:30
It it never ends, it never freaking ends and yeah.
01:04:34
That’s awesome. It’s awesome.
01:04:37
All right, Kathy, tell people where they can find you.
01:04:42
So my worm.
01:04:42
Website is Kathy’s composters.com Cathy with a C and my laughter page is kathysclub.com and I actually have a free laughter Club every Tuesday at 9:30 AM Eastern, 30 minutes of super fun self-care.
01:04:58
There I incorporate tapping brain gym chicone all kinds of energy modalities just to help people get out of stress and into joy. They come experience the magic of laugh, laughing for the health of it.
01:05:12
Yeah, yeah, that sounds that sounds really exciting. Alright, y’all. Thank you for listening or watching. My name is Elyse Robinson with the nobody wants to work through podcast and until next time.
About
Meet Annie, a resilient woman who spent years toiling in low-paying jobs, struggling to make ends meet. Despite lacking formal accounting education, Sarah’s determination led her to pivot her career towards accountancy. Through self-study and dedication, she mastered the intricacies of financial management, transforming her life and finances. Sarah’s journey didn’t stop there; she leveraged her newfound expertise to become a YouTube sensation, sharing practical tips on saving money and achieving financial independence. Her channel garnered a massive following, inspiring countless individuals to take control of their finances and pursue their dreams, proving that with grit and determination, anything is possible.
Annie Margarita Yang – https://www.annieyangfinancial.com
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
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Podcast Host: Elyse Y. Robinson – https://www.data.gal/about
Listen On:
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Checkout to CPA: A Journey of Career Reinvention
Dime to Dollar: The Accountant’s Tale
Balancing the Books: A Woman’s Leap from Low Wages to Accounting
Penny Pincher to Profit: A Story of Accounting Ambition
Breaking the Cycle: From Minimum Wage to Certified Accountant
Numbers Game: The Unlikely Path to Accounting Success
The Ledger Leap: One Woman’s Rise from Service to Numbers
Turning the Tables: A Story of Economic Empowerment Through Accounting
Counting Her Blessings: A Journey from Menial Labor to Accounting Mastery
Dollars and Sense: How I Transformed from Low-Paying Jobs to Accountancy
The Audit Trail: Following the Path to Professional Accounting
Minimum Wage to Maximum Knowledge: A Tale of Accounting Transformation
Beyond the Payslip: A Woman’s Voyage to Accounting Expertise
The Profit Pivot: A Journey from Service Industry to Financial Mastery
Dusting Off the Receipts: From Humble Beginnings to Accounting Brilliance
The Salary Story: How I Escaped Minimum Wage through Accounting
Numbers from the Ground Up: A Woman’s Odyssey to Accounting Excellence
Balance Sheet Breakthrough: Escaping Low-Paying Jobs through Accounting
Paying Her Dues: A Woman’s Climb from Low Wages to Accountancy Acumen
Show Notes
[00:00:00.720]
Hey, you all.
This is your host,
[00:00:02.270]
Elyse Robinson with the Nobody Wants
to Work, though podcast, season 2.
[00:00:06.390]
I hope the stories inspire
you to switch careers.
[00:00:09.030]
I have done all kinds of interesting
[00:00:11.070]
things in my life, and I’m a firm
believer if you only live once.
[00:00:14.430]
Sit back and enjoy.
[00:00:19.240]
We are Switch into Tech.
[00:00:22.760]
Tech resources to accelerate your
career in information technology.
[00:00:27.850]
Monthly classes on tech topics.
[00:00:29.850]
We We offer free or discounted exam
vouchers, scholarships,
[00:00:33.640]
free Udemy courses, free events,
free boot camps, and more.
[00:00:38.170]
You can find us at www.
[00:00:42.120]
Switchintotech.
Org.
[00:00:44.320]
Hey, you all.
[00:00:47.640]
My name is Elyse Robinson with the
Nobody Wants to Work, though podcast.
[00:00:51.110]
Today, I got you with
Annie Margarita Yang.
[00:00:55.320]
Let me just jump right into it.
[00:00:56.530]
Go ahead and introduce yourself, Annie.
[00:00:58.610]
Hey, Elyse.
Thanks for having me on today.
[00:01:01.210]
So a little bit about myself.
[00:01:03.080]
I didn’t go straight to college,
so I went straight into the work world
[00:01:06.430]
after high school and just worked
a whole string of minimum wage jobs.
[00:01:11.080]
And then after a few years of doing that,
[00:01:15.770]
I met this self-made millionaire
who asked me, What are you doing here?
[00:01:19.720]
You’re so smart, but you’re
working at a minimum wage job.
[00:01:22.560]
And she told me to go
to community college.
[00:01:24.410]
So I followed her advice.
[00:01:26.320]
And then after that, I got a
[00:01:29.290]
bachelor’s and an online bachelor’s
degree in communications.
[00:01:32.720]
But then coming out,
I was working at Domino’s Pizza.
[00:01:34.880]
So back into the old minimum wage stuff.
[00:01:38.810]
And I was just like, it’s not
what people were promising me.
[00:01:42.000]
They were telling me, oh,
[00:01:43.120]
if you just get your degree, everything
will work out and you’ll make more money.
[00:01:46.170]
And it wasn’t the case when I lived
[00:01:48.730]
in Lubic, Texas, where there was
very few opportunities.
[00:01:51.930]
So when I moved from Lubic, Texas
to Boston, I said, I have a new life here.
[00:01:56.800]
Nobody knows who I am.
[00:01:57.550]
I’m going to make my life
what I want it to be.
[00:02:02.010]
And because I lived on minimum wage for so
long, I could really budget my money well.
[00:02:07.210]
And I saved 25 % of our household
income on minimum wage.
[00:02:10.970]
So I said, If I can do this for myself,
[00:02:14.090]
why don’t I work in accounting
for a small business owner who needs help
[00:02:18.720]
with their cash flow,
who needs to make sure they’re not getting
[00:02:21.760]
ripped off by their vendors
and things like that.
[00:02:24.200]
And so I managed to get
an accounting job in seven days.
[00:02:30.630]
And then two months later, it turns
out that that guy was a bit toxic.
[00:02:35.400]
So I got another accounting job
in six days in my next search.
[00:02:39.680]
And then a year after that,
I decided, you know what?
[00:02:41.750]
I want to buy a house, but we could
save for the down payment, no problem.
[00:02:46.840]
If I just follow the budget,
we can save for that.
[00:02:49.190]
But then I realized to qualify
for a mortgage, you need a certain income.
[00:02:54.200]
And I was just like, wow,
[00:02:56.490]
I need to make 70,000 to qualify
for on a mortgage on a $300,000 property.
[00:03:03.490]
So I was making $45,000 at that time,
and I needed to get a new job because how
[00:03:09.550]
can I go to my employer
to ask for $25,000 more?
[00:03:13.010]
So I got a new job, and in that process,
I got that job in only five days.
[00:03:21.010]
But in those five days as well,
I also had recruiters calling me to tell
[00:03:24.850]
me I’m totally unqualified
to work in accounting.
[00:03:28.680]
So, yeah, basically, that’s my story.
[00:03:30.550]
I landed an accounting job with no
accounting degree in only five days.
[00:03:39.520]
You’re muted.
Oh, no.
[00:03:41.880]
Okay.
I was trying to talk.
[00:03:43.480]
My back, I thought you
were trying to talk.
[00:03:45.310]
I’m like, I don’t hear her anymore.
Yeah, no.
[00:03:48.470]
As an accountant, I don’t
say you’re unqualified.
[00:03:50.960]
I mean, I’ve seen definitely accounting
jobs out there where they only request
[00:03:54.190]
financial managerial,
but they’re not pure accounting jobs.
[00:03:59.640]
There’s also that.
[00:04:02.810]
But accounting is funny is that you can
[00:04:05.430]
literally have a communications degree,
and you could go be an accountant.
[00:04:11.120]
You’re the first one to tell me
that because all the recruiters
[00:04:13.950]
in accounting were just like,
We need that qualification.
[00:04:17.240]
You’re not going to go
work for the Big Four.
[00:04:19.100]
No.
[00:04:19.750]
For a small business or something,
they’re not really going to care.
[00:04:26.760]
Sometimes government sometimes.
[00:04:31.780]
But like I said, they’re
not pure accounting roles.
[00:04:36.320]
For example, there might be one in a state
[00:04:40.720]
working for the state,
and they want you to have two credits
[00:04:45.540]
in accounting, but it’s like a budget
analyst or something like that.
[00:04:50.540]
That’s what I mean.
[00:04:52.220]
But no, you’re not going to go work
for a KPMG without an accounting degree.
[00:04:57.770]
No.
[00:05:00.250]
It’s funny that you talk about Boston
because I did three years in Boston.
[00:05:05.450]
I don’t know what year that was,
but when you moved there.
[00:05:10.470]
But I moved there in 2010.
[00:05:13.410]
Yeah, The economy was booming.
[00:05:15.840]
I mean, I had a job because
I worked for the government.
[00:05:18.600]
That was my first government job,
and I moved there for it.
[00:05:22.800]
Then I had a boo.
[00:05:26.210]
I had a boo, and he was looking
for a and he found one within two weeks.
[00:05:33.330]
So, yeah, I don’t know if
that’s still possible anymore.
[00:05:36.650]
I don’t even want to know what
a house costs in Boston right now.
[00:05:46.960]
Next question is, what did you
want to be when you grew up?
[00:05:51.890]
When I wanted to grow up,
[00:05:54.330]
for several years, I wanted
to be an actress, actually.
[00:05:57.420]
There was this
very famous Chinese actress in China.
[00:06:03.730]
And I grew up watching those TV shows,
and I wanted to be just like her.
[00:06:07.420]
But then my parents really
beat that dream out of me.
[00:06:10.600]
They’re just like, no,
you cannot be an actress.
[00:06:13.090]
If you want to be an actress,
[00:06:14.880]
to become successful,
you’re going to have sex with everybody.
[00:06:17.090]
You have to have sex with the director,
the producer, the cast.
[00:06:21.830]
It’s just like everyone’s
in bed together, basically.
[00:06:25.750]
And so, yeah, all
[00:06:28.360]
the way up until 12 years old,
my mom was telling me stuff like that.
[00:06:32.120]
I was like, what is sex?
I don’t even know what that is.
[00:06:35.730]
So for a very long time,
[00:06:37.830]
I didn’t know what I wanted to do
because they told me not to do acting.
[00:06:41.480]
But what I do today, I mean,
I’m still in the spotlight, right?
[00:06:45.270]
Like, right now, I’m in front of you with
[00:06:47.440]
the podcasting,
and then I’m also on YouTube.
[00:06:49.530]
I have YouTube videos, so I’m still out
there, basically, in front of the camera.
[00:06:54.330]
So it’s not acting, but it’s
more like just being myself.
[00:06:57.850]
That is hilarious.
[00:07:00.570]
Oh, man.
[00:07:04.190]
One of my favorite
movies is Joy, Love Club.
[00:07:06.790]
And there’s another movie that I
watched that was ridiculously good.
[00:07:11.680]
But yeah, I’m all into international
films and things like that.
[00:07:14.750]
I don’t know what they call it in China
[00:07:16.970]
because I actually spent time
in China for a little bit, too.
[00:07:21.420]
Because I know they have Bollywood
and Nollywood and stuff like that.
[00:07:26.270]
I’m getting all into those
movies all the time.
[00:07:29.450]
But But outside of that,
I was like, My mother.
[00:07:35.290]
At a certain point,
I wanted to be a dentist.
[00:07:38.040]
And she was like, Yeah,
you’re not going to be a woman dentist?
[00:07:41.030]
And I’m like, What?
What?
[00:07:42.880]
That’s more prestigious than acting.
Yeah.
[00:07:45.590]
I was like, A woman dentist?
[00:07:47.350]
I mean, they have them.
[00:07:48.710]
I mean, it’s probably ridiculously hard,
but that’s what I wanted to do.
[00:07:52.790]
But then I realized my eye-hand
coordination is all not that great.
[00:07:58.330]
So I probably shouldn’t be
playing in people’s mouths.
[00:08:02.800]
But you talked about where your career
began and what your first career was.
[00:08:12.160]
You did talk about the catalyst
of what How did you change your career?
[00:08:17.450]
Why Boston?
Let me ask you that.
[00:08:19.540]
Why Boston, of all places?
[00:08:20.980]
Because, I mean, Lubic to Boston,
that’s a huge change.
[00:08:24.560]
Well, I’m actually originally
from New York City.
[00:08:26.920]
I had gone from New York City to Lubic,
Texas, to Boston.
[00:08:31.360]
But even when I was in New York City,
I remember when I was a kid,
[00:08:35.670]
we went on a school trip,
a three-day school trip to Boston.
[00:08:38.930]
And every year in middle school,
we went to a different city.
[00:08:42.890]
So I remember specifically when I went
to Faneu Hall and Quincy Market and all
[00:08:47.700]
that stuff, I was like,
Wow, Boston is so cool.
[00:08:50.550]
I want to live here.
[00:08:52.530]
But I never actually knew
that would come true.
[00:08:55.130]
That was just a seventh-grade wish.
[00:08:58.080]
And then I still also visited Boston
twice after that to visit friends.
[00:09:02.800]
And I was just like, I love it so much.
[00:09:04.690]
I want to live here.
[00:09:06.130]
And then when my husband and I,
[00:09:07.990]
we moved to Texas because he
was doing his master’s degree.
[00:09:11.050]
Then after the master’s,
he has to do a PhD.
[00:09:13.410]
And he was like, Okay,
[00:09:15.060]
I’m going to apply to 10 different
programs or something like that.
[00:09:18.790]
And so you can imagine
application fees are 100 each, right?
[00:09:24.440]
Ten of them.
[00:09:25.200]
I’d have to save a thousand just
for him to apply to PhD programs.
[00:09:28.350]
So I was pressuring him.
[00:09:30.170]
I said, Can you not apply to 10?
[00:09:32.550]
I mean, what if you only
apply to less than 10?
[00:09:35.640]
So we save money on the application fee,
[00:09:37.310]
but really the programs
you really want to do.
[00:09:40.610]
And then he reached out to
[00:09:43.010]
a professor at BU
before he even applied and spoke
[00:09:47.350]
to a professor and the professor
is like, you’re in.
[00:09:50.080]
Just apply, right?
[00:09:52.130]
And I’m going to push your application
through and make sure you get in.
[00:09:55.810]
So he just only applied
to Boston University.
[00:09:58.290]
So here I am.
I’m in Boston.
[00:10:00.240]
It
[00:10:01.160]
just will happen that the one program he
wanted to apply to was also the
[00:10:05.720]
same city I always wanted to live in,
but he didn’t know that.
[00:10:08.560]
He never knew that.
[00:10:10.320]
That’s hilarious because
I’m in Ohio now, and it’s funny that you
[00:10:16.370]
say that because
me and my sister have been discussing
[00:10:20.320]
for maybe two or three years,
even when I was living in Mexico,
[00:10:24.050]
these little ads would pop up about
moving to Ohio and stuff like that.
[00:10:28.550]
My grandparents are from Ohio,
but I told her, I’m going to move to Ohio.
[00:10:33.240]
And she was like, You ain’t
going to go in no damn Ohio.
[00:10:35.990]
What the hell is in Ohio?
[00:10:40.530]
And when I was searching for a house,
it just worked out that way because
[00:10:45.250]
Since I work remote,
I can live in multiple cities.
[00:10:47.940]
So I had a couple of cities on my list,
and Ohio just worked out that way.
[00:10:52.250]
I don’t know what the hell
is in store for me in Ohio.
[00:10:56.130]
So what city in Ohio are you?
[00:10:58.010]
I am in Cleveland.
[00:10:59.410]
I’m in Cleveland.
[00:11:01.960]
So I guess I’ll figure out what’s here.
[00:11:03.690]
But I guess at a certain point,
[00:11:05.830]
I could probably just rent it
out and move somewhere else, too.
[00:11:10.850]
Me and my sister, she was like,
You ain’t going to know damn Ohio.
[00:11:15.510]
And here I am.
[00:11:16.430]
And it, I guess, manifested
over two or three years.
[00:11:19.250]
But outside of that, Boston.
[00:11:23.250]
I got fond memories of Boston.
[00:11:25.190]
I have fun in Boston.
[00:11:27.410]
But I lived in Chelsea,
Malden, and Lowell.
[00:11:33.450]
I’m in Chelsea.
[00:11:35.880]
Yeah.
Chelsea.
[00:11:37.630]
Because I used to cross the bridge to go
to work, and it would be so beautiful.
[00:11:45.560]
Let’s see.
[00:11:48.690]
All these things come at a cost.
[00:11:50.830]
I mean, you talked about moving
from Lubic to Boston and all that stuff.
[00:11:55.950]
All things come at a cost.
[00:11:57.810]
And did you have support from your family?
[00:12:00.120]
Did they think you were crazy moving
[00:12:01.390]
to Boston and trying to be an accountant
with a communications degree?
[00:12:07.490]
No, actually.
[00:12:10.760]
I think the way my parents kept responding
[00:12:14.830]
to everything I did, not just moving
and then not going straight to college.
[00:12:19.110]
They were just…
[00:12:20.570]
They had given up on me because I was
really rebellious in my teenage years.
[00:12:25.430]
In my teenage years, I dated a brown boy,
and that’s a big no-no.
[00:12:31.470]
Interracial is a big
no-no in my parents’ eyes.
[00:12:34.950]
So they convinced me for a whole year when
[00:12:37.550]
I was 14 to break up with this guy,
and I was just like, no, I love this guy.
[00:12:42.070]
So
it really caused a rip in our relationship
[00:12:47.410]
and the whole breakdown in
communication, basically.
[00:12:51.370]
And so their attitude
was basically all throughout my high
[00:12:54.950]
school years is, well, after she turns 18,
we’re not responsible for her.
[00:12:59.450]
And whatever decision she makes after
[00:13:01.710]
she’s 18, she’ll have to suffer
the consequences of her own decisions.
[00:13:07.170]
And so
even when they heard from my guidance
[00:13:10.690]
counselor that I wasn’t going to go
to college, they were just like, okay.
[00:13:14.930]
So the whole reaction I got
from my parents all throughout after I was
[00:13:18.580]
18 was basically
a lack of reaction, I have to say.
[00:13:23.850]
Maybe a few put-downs as well.
[00:13:25.710]
For example,
[00:13:26.850]
when I first started my YouTube channel
and my My first video that I posted when I
[00:13:32.080]
started the channel,
it actually went viral.
[00:13:35.930]
It blew up and it got a million views.
[00:13:38.560]
It’s like those one-hit wonders.
[00:13:39.850]
It’s not like I posted 100
and then one went viral.
[00:13:42.390]
It was like the first one just went viral.
[00:13:45.050]
And then so I immediately got
in the YouTube partner program
[00:13:49.040]
and I started getting ad revenue
from all my videos after that.
[00:13:53.010]
And I was getting about 200 a month,
which to me was nice.
[00:13:58.240]
Ad revenue, that’s money that I
don’t have to keep producing.
[00:14:02.800]
It just comes into my bank account.
[00:14:04.560]
It’s more passive.
[00:14:06.360]
And considering that when I first started
[00:14:10.150]
doing that, I had been
working minimum wage jobs.
[00:14:12.890]
So that’s maybe three whole days
[00:14:14.930]
of working minimum wage that I
didn’t have to do anymore.
[00:14:19.130]
That was nice.
I liked it a lot.
[00:14:21.450]
And when my mom asked me how much I was
[00:14:23.490]
making from just the YouTube ad revenue,
I said, Oh, 200 or 250 a month.
[00:14:28.810]
She goes like, Oh, that’s play money.
[00:14:30.690]
That’s child’s play.
[00:14:32.110]
I was like, What?
[00:14:33.630]
And I was actually very offended.
[00:14:36.080]
I’m very, very offended by what she said.
[00:14:38.110]
I was like, How dare she tell me that?
[00:14:40.650]
But now, actually, today, I make 80,000
on the side on top of my full-time job.
[00:14:46.790]
So it went from 250 to a month
to being an 80K just on the side alone.
[00:14:53.210]
So this is nice.
[00:14:56.130]
Yeah, that’s a story.
[00:14:57.670]
And I could just hear my mother
[00:15:02.720]
My parents probably quit caring around
’16 because I’m smart, obviously.
[00:15:11.030]
I didn’t live in other countries
and learn languages and all that stuff.
[00:15:14.870]
I’m not stupid.
[00:15:16.110]
It’s just I’m lazy and
shit is boring sometimes.
[00:15:20.360]
I don’t want to sit up in class with these
[00:15:21.910]
other dumb people in class
and we just going super slow.
[00:15:25.970]
So one thing I learned about myself when I
lived in Guatemala and learning learning
[00:15:30.850]
Spanish because I had a private teacher,
is that I need to go at my own pace.
[00:15:36.050]
My parents gave up on me at 16,
[00:15:39.150]
and they were like, Well,
you’re getting Bs and Cs and some As here
[00:15:43.750]
and there, but Once you hit 18,
you better figure it out.
[00:15:48.670]
You’re either going to be an entrepreneur,
you have to work, or you go to college.
[00:15:54.610]
I did all three while at the house.
[00:15:56.870]
I had a web development business.
[00:16:00.760]
I went to college part-time, I think.
[00:16:04.290]
Then I had a full-time job,
too, at a certain point.
[00:16:10.240]
But they were like, Yeah,
otherwise you’re going to be out working
[00:16:13.270]
at McDonald’s, which I mean, honestly,
ain’t nothing really wrong with it at 18.
[00:16:18.530]
But yeah, I could definitely hear
[00:16:20.770]
my mother like, Yeah, I
mean, hey, you keep out here effing up.
[00:16:25.690]
That’s where you’re going to be at.
[00:16:29.600]
But You ended up just fine.
[00:16:33.210]
Look, I mean- How many people can say,
[00:16:36.470]
I bought a rental property,
a multifamily apartment?
[00:16:40.650]
How many people can say that?
[00:16:42.290]
Yeah, I mean, it’s been a journey,
and I don’t have any regrets at all.
[00:16:49.410]
A lot of twists and turns,
[00:16:51.970]
but I mean, that’s what makes life
fun and interesting.
[00:16:55.710]
And I mean, hey, I could tell you some
[00:16:58.930]
stuff about life, that’s for sure,
and I ain’t even made it to 40 yet.
[00:17:02.410]
So, yeah, it feels really good.
[00:17:06.650]
And throwing it back at you,
how many people can say that I make 80K?
[00:17:11.800]
I mean, posting a video.
[00:17:14.360]
No, it’s all my streams of income.
[00:17:16.770]
I have multiple streams.
[00:17:18.690]
It started with just that.
[00:17:20.970]
Yeah, because we need
to dive deeper into that.
[00:17:24.890]
Let me ask you this,
what was your first video about?
[00:17:29.450]
It was about how to save
money on low income.
[00:17:32.040]
So it was basically literally all those
years when I was living on minimum wage,
[00:17:36.010]
I was like, do you want to save $5,
000 while you’re earning minimum wage?
[00:17:42.410]
Do you want to learn how to save $5,
[00:17:45.430]
000 while living in New York City
making only $10 an hour?
[00:17:48.390]
I’ll tell you how.
[00:17:49.470]
And basically, I just went over
[00:17:51.650]
everything I did when I was living
like that back then.
[00:17:55.430]
I’m going to watch the video now,
because I might need some tips and But I
[00:18:02.600]
guess more so of delayed gratification,
because a lot of people don’t have delayed
[00:18:08.600]
gratification, and that’s
a huge part of the problem.
[00:18:14.480]
Yeah.
So there is that.
[00:18:16.760]
Because I get on my sister’s
ass all the time.
[00:18:18.910]
I’m like, You don’t need that.
[00:18:20.550]
She’s like, Shut up.
[00:18:22.970]
And of course, she gets on my ass.
[00:18:26.530]
But let me see.
[00:18:29.650]
I guess what made you want
to start a YouTube channel?
[00:18:36.110]
And then what was the process in your mind
[00:18:38.710]
of, Hey, this is the first
video that I’m going to post?
[00:18:43.690]
I had actually wanted to start it for four
[00:18:46.120]
years because I had a public
speaking background.
[00:18:48.990]
I went to Toastmasters, right?
[00:18:51.040]
So I learned how to do public speaking
[00:18:52.450]
through Toastmasters,
and I knew I love to talk about money.
[00:18:55.730]
If anyone had a conversation with me,
I could talk about money all day long.
[00:19:00.280]
But I never had the courage to actually
[00:19:02.490]
start the YouTube channel because I was
telling myself, I’m not pretty enough.
[00:19:06.790]
I don’t have the right equipment.
[00:19:08.560]
I don’t know how to do editing.
[00:19:10.390]
I had all these different reasons
and excuses to not start for four years
[00:19:14.890]
until finally, one day, my husband
stumbled upon this hot YouTuber.
[00:19:19.770]
She was this beauty guru on YouTube.
[00:19:23.040]
And she made a video about
her student loan debt.
[00:19:25.750]
She owed $100,000 in student loan debt.
[00:19:29.240]
And she He was talking about
how she’s so stupid with money.
[00:19:31.910]
She doesn’t understand
her student loan debt.
[00:19:34.450]
She doesn’t understand anything.
[00:19:36.360]
And how she had to go to a financial
[00:19:38.080]
advisor and he recommended that she
consolidate her student loan debt.
[00:19:41.400]
She’s like, So I guess that’s the way
to pay off my student loan debt.
[00:19:43.750]
And then I was like, You dumb dumb.
[00:19:46.070]
That’s not how you pay off
your student loan debt.
[00:19:48.930]
It’s not about consolidating
the debt that will pay off your debt.
[00:19:53.120]
It’s about living below your means.
[00:19:56.410]
Whatever you make,
live on as little as possible and then
[00:19:59.790]
throw as much money as you can
at those loans to pay it off.
[00:20:03.070]
There’s just no other way.
[00:20:04.410]
You consolidate, but if you don’t
[00:20:06.600]
make payments after you consolidate,
it won’t pay itself off, right?
[00:20:10.840]
But you read the comments and they
were just talking about how hot she is.
[00:20:17.560]
Wow, you’re so hot.
[00:20:18.950]
And now you’re also giving
us financial advice as well.
[00:20:22.320]
I look up to you so much.
[00:20:24.530]
You’re my role model.
[00:20:25.800]
And I was pissed, right?
[00:20:28.320]
And then she kept I was making videos
[00:20:30.630]
about this because it
was gaining traction.
[00:20:33.320]
And so I watched her later videos as well.
[00:20:36.080]
And then I found out she was making
between $10,000 to $12,000 a month.
[00:20:43.840]
That was her income.
[00:20:45.320]
And I was like, Girl, she makes $10,
[00:20:48.160]
000 to $12,000 a month, and she doesn’t
know how to pay off her student loan debt.
[00:20:51.790]
I can live on $1,500 a month.
[00:20:56.360]
And if I were her,
I would live on $1,500 a month.
[00:21:00.000]
And I would just throw 8,
000 a month toward those student loan
[00:21:02.990]
debt, and I would just be debt free
in maybe a year or a year and a half.
[00:21:08.350]
And so because I was so angry
[00:21:11.890]
with her content, I decided to just
put my iPhone up, sit in my bedroom,
[00:21:18.640]
and I said, Do you want to know
how to save money on low income?
[00:21:21.190]
This is how it’s done.
[00:21:25.640]
Yeah.
[00:21:26.750]
I mean, like I told you before the video,
[00:21:29.770]
the catalyst for me was going through all
these crazy interviews and stuff and
[00:21:34.720]
the media gaslighting you saying,
Nobody wants to work.
[00:21:38.410]
So I’m like, I don’t call it
Nobody wants to work, though.
[00:21:41.360]
And then that spiraled into the career
switching stories and stuff.
[00:21:46.560]
And I’ve definitely had some
interesting guests on here.
[00:21:49.800]
So I love it.
[00:21:53.000]
Let’s see.
[00:21:55.520]
I guess, what are some of the causes
and negatives of your new career?
[00:22:03.200]
I think some of the positives is that
[00:22:06.320]
I get opportunity without even
proactively seeking it.
[00:22:10.970]
And then when I do want something because
[00:22:13.730]
people can look me up online
and they can see I have a following.
[00:22:17.120]
They can see, well, I had a website
until I got suspended yesterday.
[00:22:21.410]
I got suspended for suspicious activity.
[00:22:25.050]
I’ve been getting censored a lot.
[00:22:27.360]
This is my fourth time actually
getting censored for some reason.
[00:22:31.840]
So I get opportunity.
[00:22:34.320]
I know when everything falls apart,
when we’re going to have this big economic
[00:22:38.650]
collapse and we’re going to have more bank
runs, and my boss might even go bankrupt.
[00:22:43.550]
I might lose some streams of income
[00:22:46.040]
because some clients might suddenly
find themselves with no money.
[00:22:49.280]
But
[00:22:50.680]
I know I will still be fine because
my ability to look for new work and land
[00:22:56.490]
a new job or a new client,
it will be there.
[00:23:00.080]
So it’s not…
[00:23:01.170]
I believe the way money is made is like,
it’s not about how secure your job is.
[00:23:08.010]
It’s about your ability
[00:23:10.050]
to get new forms of income quickly
when you lose your current form of income.
[00:23:14.640]
Some people can take six months.
[00:23:16.150]
I could take just a week and I’ll be okay.
[00:23:18.430]
So there is that positive.
[00:23:20.390]
But the negative,
I think, is I work really hard.
[00:23:25.690]
And I wrote the book,
The Five-Day Job Search,
[00:23:29.170]
for people who who want to learn
how to also land a job very quickly.
[00:23:33.320]
And some scathing reviews came back
about how, oh,
[00:23:38.770]
the reason she has everything she wants in
her life is because she’s just so lucky.
[00:23:43.440]
God has just blessed her
and given her so much opportunity.
[00:23:46.350]
She’s just so lucky
and so narcissistic as well because she
[00:23:49.680]
can’t stop talking about all
the great things she’s done.
[00:23:52.210]
So we have some very insecure
and jealous haters in this world.
[00:23:57.750]
So I guess that’s the negative.
[00:24:01.160]
Gosh, I got so much to say on that.
[00:24:06.040]
One of my friends used to tell me,
[00:24:13.650]
Don’t hold back on your accomplishments.
[00:24:17.570]
Being a black woman,
[00:24:19.910]
it’s like a lot of times people don’t
want to hear the things that I’ve done.
[00:24:26.280]
The jealousy comes out.
[00:24:28.640]
I can’t sit up here and tell Oh, yeah.
[00:24:30.240]
I lived in six years in Mexico,
[00:24:31.730]
and I know Spanish, and I became
a Mexican, or I like to call it a Mexican.
[00:24:36.950]
But yeah, the calls come out.
[00:24:42.210]
I want to say, though, before you got
the next question, I love what you do.
[00:24:46.930]
I think what you’re doing is great because
we have so much of these
[00:24:51.630]
Black Lives Matter stuff going on and
the victimization mindset where, Oh, well,
[00:24:58.230]
my grandmother was a slave, therefore
I don’t have opportunity, that thing.
[00:25:02.360]
Or like, Oh, because my grandmother
was a slave, but I have freedom.
[00:25:06.670]
But still because we haven’t been able to
[00:25:08.810]
move up in terms of wealth and social and
everything, we need reparations.
[00:25:14.080]
And I’m just like, Where are the people
in the black community who are standing up
[00:25:19.410]
as role models for what
other people can be?
[00:25:22.750]
And you are it.
You’re it.
[00:25:25.350]
And that’s another reason
why I’m an introvert.
[00:25:28.680]
People think I’m I’m an extrovert,
[00:25:30.240]
and I’m like,
I don’t like to be in a spotlight
[00:25:32.110]
sometimes, and other
times I don’t really care.
[00:25:37.680]
Sometimes I don’t like talking about
[00:25:39.150]
myself because I’m a whole introvert,
and it ain’t none of your business.
[00:25:43.730]
There’s also that.
[00:25:45.010]
But yeah, that’s another reason.
[00:25:47.990]
Sometimes I don’t mind hiding
because people need to know this.
[00:25:58.720]
Ain’t nobody ever gave me Nothing.
[00:26:01.070]
When I decided to move to Mexico,
[00:26:03.470]
I saved my money from work
and then left and booked a ticket.
[00:26:08.210]
Nobody helped me get there.
[00:26:10.840]
When you said people handing you stuff,
ain’t nobody ever handed me nothing.
[00:26:17.110]
I had to go out and get it.
[00:26:21.360]
I fully understand that all the way.
[00:26:26.840]
I’m not bragging.
[00:26:28.310]
It’s just my life story,
and that’s what I did.
[00:26:33.080]
I’m an open book.
[00:26:34.230]
I don’t mind talking
about how I got there.
[00:26:37.040]
If anybody want to sit down with me
[00:26:38.750]
and say, Hey, how did you get
to Mexico and do all this stuff?
[00:26:43.230]
I’ll sit down with you and write a plan.
[00:26:45.430]
Free, free, free all day long.
[00:26:47.400]
But you got to put in the work.
[00:26:48.600]
One thing I find is that people don’t want
[00:26:50.670]
to put in the work, and that’s a
huge part of the problem.
[00:26:55.000]
There is also that.
[00:26:57.840]
But yeah, The whole jealousy thing.
[00:27:02.360]
That’s another reason why I don’t want
to come out in the spotlight because
[00:27:06.010]
people get jealous and they’ll
try to take it from me.
[00:27:10.360]
So there’s that.
[00:27:13.640]
Let me see.
[00:27:15.510]
Next question.
[00:27:18.400]
What are some traits that you believe
people need in what you got going on?
[00:27:26.480]
Oh, my gosh.
I think the biggest trait is persistence.
[00:27:31.290]
That is really it.
[00:27:32.730]
I think it’s the failure
of people to show up.
[00:27:35.210]
That’s why this is a Nobody Wants
to Work, though podcast.
[00:27:38.840]
People, literally, they don’t show up for
the things that they want in their life.
[00:27:44.570]
The only difference between me and someone
else is like, Hey, I want this.
[00:27:49.650]
I want to be on shows.
I will show up.
[00:27:52.480]
That’s it.
I will show up for the interview.
[00:27:55.200]
Some people, they don’t even
show up for the interview.
[00:27:57.290]
It’s just crazy.
[00:27:59.440]
So So when I tell people on my YouTube
[00:28:01.520]
channel, You want to land
a job offer in five days?
[00:28:03.760]
Let me tell you how it’s done.
[00:28:05.080]
You apply to 50 jobs a day,
not three jobs a day, 50 jobs a day.
[00:28:09.680]
Because if you apply to three a day,
[00:28:11.470]
then you’ll have applied to maybe
300 over six months.
[00:28:14.530]
That’s why it takes you
six months to get a job.
[00:28:17.170]
But if you apply to 50 a day,
you’ll have applied to 300 in a week.
[00:28:22.600]
So you do the same amount of work
that someone else is going to do over six
[00:28:25.530]
months, but you’re just
shortening that to a week.
[00:28:28.800]
And then you’re going to get
a a job offer after just a week.
[00:28:31.450]
And some people are like, you’re crazy.
[00:28:33.510]
That’s too much.
[00:28:34.600]
But I had this immigrant.
[00:28:37.650]
An immigrant from El Salvador
moved here to the United States.
[00:28:42.270]
He lives in California seven years ago.
[00:28:45.410]
And apparently, he is a subscriber,
but he never left comments, right?
[00:28:51.240]
On January 12th, he left his job,
and then he started freaking out.
[00:28:55.800]
He was just like, oh, my gosh,
how am I going to pay the bills?
[00:28:58.930]
He applied to three jobs,
[00:29:00.840]
and then he said, Well, the job
posting says, For hire immediately.
[00:29:06.490]
I can work immediately.
[00:29:08.320]
Why aren’t they calling me back?
[00:29:09.810]
And he got upset,
and he felt like a loser.
[00:29:13.770]
And he was just like,
why aren’t they calling me back?
[00:29:16.810]
And then he goes on YouTube
[00:29:19.360]
to look for videos on job search, couldn’t
find anything helpful or relevant.
[00:29:24.120]
Of course, my videos weren’t showing
up because I’m getting censored.
[00:29:27.570]
And then because And because of that,
[00:29:30.630]
he goes to fast food restaurants nearby
in his desperation to try to work in fast
[00:29:35.750]
food, comes back with nothing and also
feels totally terrible and desperate.
[00:29:42.890]
And then he goes to his Subscriptions tab
[00:29:45.070]
on YouTube and he saw that I’ve actually
been posting, but he didn’t realize.
[00:29:49.040]
And so he started watching one of those
[00:29:50.680]
videos and he realized, oh, my gosh,
she’s been posting every day about jobs.
[00:29:54.490]
So he went back and watched everything.
[00:29:56.730]
And then he said, and then I saw that
video about applying to 50 jobs a day.
[00:30:00.590]
He said, I’m going to follow her advice.
[00:30:04.650]
I’m going to apply to 500 jobs.
[00:30:06.270]
He applied to 500 jobs.
[00:30:08.310]
He said to me, Anything and everything,
I hit the easy apply button.
[00:30:12.320]
I spent all day for five days applying
to jobs, and I got a job in two weeks.
[00:30:18.010]
He got a job offer in two weeks.
[00:30:19.730]
And he said, It was thanks to you.
[00:30:22.170]
So people like him.
[00:30:25.290]
It turns out also because immigrant,
spoke very poor English.
[00:30:30.480]
When he was texting me,
[00:30:31.390]
it actually was a little difficult
for me to understand his English.
[00:30:35.240]
And his highest education was a GED.
[00:30:39.040]
So that’s somebody who has
not the right qualifications,
[00:30:43.800]
the right education, doesn’t speak English
as a native language here in our country,
[00:30:48.490]
but because of his persistence,
he is successful in what he wants.
[00:30:53.840]
So I think that is really
what makes a difference in someone’s
[00:30:59.360]
career, your persistence
and not giving up.
[00:31:02.070]
Because I remember trying to help
a mentor of mine get a bookkeeper.
[00:31:08.600]
So I can do bookkeeping,
but she didn’t want me to do it.
[00:31:10.950]
She wanted someone local in Florida
to help her because she’s in her late
[00:31:15.830]
’70s, so she struggles with technology,
so she needs someone in person.
[00:31:20.290]
And she asked me to find someone.
[00:31:22.690]
So I called all 50 bookkeeping
companies in Fort Lauderdale.
[00:31:27.240]
I e-mailed all of them, all 50 of them.
[00:31:29.730]
And And then
only five out of 50 emailed me back.
[00:31:34.770]
So basically, 45 didn’t even have
[00:31:37.290]
the courtesy to say,
We don’t want this client.
[00:31:40.570]
And then out of the five, two of them
had the courtesy to say, We’re full.
[00:31:46.730]
We can’t take on any more clients.
We’re busy.
[00:31:49.170]
It’s also tax season.
[00:31:50.760]
So only three left.
[00:31:52.450]
Only three got on a phone call with me
to talk for the consultation.
[00:31:58.240]
So that’s a lack of
people’s ability to show up.
[00:32:02.120]
It’s not just their inability to show up
[00:32:04.950]
for construction jobs,
the jobs nobody wants.
[00:32:08.080]
This is literally accounting.
[00:32:10.120]
So it’s in all fields.
[00:32:11.930]
It’s not just those low level jobs,
the inability to show up.
[00:32:17.320]
I believe it.
[00:32:18.910]
I believe it because, yeah, I got stories.
[00:32:23.840]
But circling back to the immigrant stuff.
[00:32:27.730]
I’m an immigrant.
[00:32:29.390]
I’m an immigrant to Mexico.
[00:32:30.890]
But I remember days where I
did have to talk to 50 people.
[00:32:35.910]
I had to talk to 50 people to
[00:32:40.200]
connect the dots because one person would
tell me one thing,
[00:32:43.810]
another person would tell me another,
and then I would have to gather
[00:32:47.390]
the information and then put it
together and, Oh, here’s the answer.
[00:32:52.050]
Then
you can say you’re fluent all day long,
[00:32:57.190]
but there’s just certain types of language
that you’re never going to get.
[00:33:02.490]
I didn’t know business
or medicine and Spanish.
[00:33:07.990]
I can have a whole conversation with you,
but when it comes to- Technical.
[00:33:13.840]
Yeah, technical Which I didn’t study that.
[00:33:16.750]
I didn’t practice that.
[00:33:19.840]
Where would I get the practice for that?
[00:33:25.480]
Doing lots of research and talking to 50
[00:33:27.950]
different people, that’s how
I would get the information.
[00:33:31.120]
That takes time.
[00:33:33.290]
People, like you said,
don’t want to take the time.
[00:33:36.710]
It’s sad and it’s crazy.
[00:33:40.730]
When people like me and you come about,
that’s when the craziness starts.
[00:33:48.450]
They’re like, Why you?
[00:33:50.690]
It’s like, Because I put in the work.
[00:33:52.870]
I put in the dedication,
the perseverance, like you said.
[00:33:57.170]
One of my favorite phrases
is closed Don’t get fed.
[00:34:00.950]
You got to open your damn mouth.
[00:34:04.250]
You might get a lot of nos.
[00:34:09.240]
You might get a couple of yeses,
[00:34:10.830]
but that’s the process,
and you can’t let it beat you down.
[00:34:14.200]
That’s the other thing I find.
[00:34:17.330]
When I was on my job search
[00:34:20.280]
in tech, and I eventually gave up and went
back to the accounting,
[00:34:23.490]
one of my friends was like,
I don’t know how you keep doing it.
[00:34:27.590]
They keep telling you no.
[00:34:29.790]
I’m telling her these crazy
recruiters and giving me hell.
[00:34:36.680]
She’s like, I don’t know how you do it.
[00:34:39.120]
I was like, I got to do it.
I got to eat.
[00:34:41.390]
I mean, what else is for her to do?
[00:34:46.720]
I don’t know.
[00:34:49.510]
I think a big part of it,
too, is education.
[00:34:52.050]
People don’t know what the process is.
[00:34:56.000]
But we’re in the time of all this
[00:34:59.990]
information, and I get
on my nephew’s ass all the time.
[00:35:05.070]
I’m like, You can come ask me,
but you got a computer right there.
[00:35:11.110]
Look it up.
[00:35:12.240]
I didn’t have that when I was a kid.
[00:35:14.870]
I didn’t have that.
[00:35:16.090]
I grew up with the internet,
[00:35:18.600]
but we didn’t have all this
information that we have now.
[00:35:20.910]
We have YouTube and stuff like that.
[00:35:23.290]
We have instant information.
[00:35:26.130]
To me, there is no reason not to know
[00:35:30.070]
a lot of things, but they sure know
when that new Beyoncé song comes out.
[00:35:40.200]
Let’s see.
[00:35:43.760]
What tips and tricks would you give
someone that wanted to be in this career?
[00:35:49.560]
I would say you have to be really
attentive to detail.
[00:35:55.450]
Like your ability to pay attention
[00:35:57.990]
to small little details
in the numbers really matters because it’s
[00:36:02.710]
so easy to just put the decimal
in the wrong place and things like that.
[00:36:07.130]
But also funny things
because I don’t like getting ripped off.
[00:36:12.970]
So I do this for everyone I to look for.
[00:36:16.330]
My tips are to just double check
everything, make sure bills are not paid
[00:36:20.130]
twice, especially don’t
pay the same bill twice.
[00:36:23.610]
I see this happening so often.
[00:36:25.150]
I don’t know how people mess this up.
[00:36:28.010]
So set up a system
[00:36:30.160]
Where you can automate everything
in the accounting department,
[00:36:33.610]
but then also set it up such that,
for example, when you pay bills,
[00:36:37.000]
it has to be based on reference numbers
instead, because I see other people when
[00:36:40.800]
they enter bills,
I’ve looked at other people’s work.
[00:36:42.550]
I see they enter bills in the system as
instead of the reference number,
[00:36:46.720]
they’ll type in first payment,
first 50 % deposit or final payment.
[00:36:52.390]
I’m just like,
this is the reason why you can pay the
[00:36:56.160]
same thing twice because you don’t even
know if you’re paying the same bill twice
[00:36:58.190]
or not, whether you’ve
already entered before.
[00:37:01.130]
So I started making everyone,
if they do my job for me,
[00:37:04.550]
they have to enter reference numbers
because there’s no mistaking.
[00:37:08.850]
You typed in invoice number 1010.
[00:37:11.880]
If you’ve entered it in the past, well,
[00:37:13.760]
clearly you’ve entered it
again by accident, right?
[00:37:15.830]
So you don’t pay the same one twice.
[00:37:17.680]
But I see this mistake happen so
many times over and over again.
[00:37:22.030]
For example, the HOA for the condo
[00:37:24.640]
building that I live in,
we just fired the property management
[00:37:27.720]
company, but I was auditing all of their
books to find out where they were
[00:37:32.830]
embezzling money from, where they
overpaid things and everything like that.
[00:37:37.530]
And I saw that they paid
the Intercom bill twice, $720.
[00:37:42.960]
They paid it twice.
[00:37:44.000]
They paid the snow removal bill twice.
[00:37:45.590]
So they paid an extra $1,800 there.
[00:37:49.680]
I was finding things like that, right?
[00:37:52.550]
So be careful when you’re doing this job,
don’t pay the same bill twice.
[00:37:57.570]
That’s my advice.
[00:37:59.640]
That’s crazy because I’m an accountant,
[00:38:03.830]
too, and I have to input
the transactions and things like that.
[00:38:12.120]
Sometimes it gets double booked.
[00:38:17.720]
Of course, I work for the government,
[00:38:20.030]
so the system is older than me,
so it becomes a whole mess.
[00:38:26.090]
They’re trying to modernize it, but yeah.
[00:38:29.610]
There’s not a lot of checks and balances
when it comes to inputting stuff,
[00:38:35.840]
which is where
I guess I come in because I have a tech
[00:38:40.150]
background, so I’m trying
to automate a lot of stuff.
[00:38:43.090]
But yeah, Yeah.
[00:38:46.600]
That’s why I never wanted
to be an accountant.
[00:38:49.070]
Audit was cool.
[00:38:50.200]
Audit was fun, but accounting, I’m like…
[00:38:53.760]
Well, in audit, you just point
out where things went wrong.
[00:38:56.830]
You have a lot more
attention to I know that.
[00:39:00.810]
It’s different to point out a problem than
it is to be the one to solve the problem.
[00:39:07.330]
Yeah.
[00:39:08.430]
I’m like, But it’s cool.
[00:39:11.450]
I guess I gave up audit because
I didn’t care to travel anymore.
[00:39:15.870]
I like sitting at the house now.
[00:39:18.600]
That’s fun.
[00:39:20.520]
I suck it up and I tried
to pay a lot more attention.
[00:39:27.280]
Let’s see, what do you wish you knew
about career before you got into it?
[00:39:33.840]
I wish I knew I could have done it
before I did it at the time that I did.
[00:39:38.850]
I didn’t have to wait
until I was so upset that…
[00:39:44.880]
Well, what really happened was when I was
[00:39:46.810]
leaving Texas and I had to train my
replacement,
[00:39:49.610]
she lied to my ex-boss and said, Oh,
yeah, I know how to use Quickbooks.
[00:39:55.570]
And then I was making
13 an hour at that time.
[00:39:58.770]
And so my boss, because that woman was
more confident, paid her 17 an hour.
[00:40:05.090]
And I was very upset when I had
to train her and teach her things.
[00:40:09.000]
And then I realized, wait a minute,
she’s never used Quickbooks at all.
[00:40:12.410]
But she’s saying that she used it before,
but she I don’t know how to use,
[00:40:16.200]
how to do certain things in Quickbooks
that were really, really basic.
[00:40:20.010]
So when I moved to Boston,
it’s because of that woman
[00:40:24.970]
that finally triggered me to go like,
why am I not more confident?
[00:40:29.130]
She goes after the things she wants,
even though she’s not competent at it.
[00:40:33.890]
But I am competent,
[00:40:36.290]
but I’m not going after
the things that I want.
[00:40:38.770]
So I just wish I knew earlier.
[00:40:41.270]
That’s the only thing I would have done
different to have applied to the things I
[00:40:46.370]
wanted to do,
even when I didn’t feel so confident.
[00:40:50.650]
I just wish I had done that earlier.
[00:40:52.890]
I would have saved so much heartache.
[00:40:57.480]
That’s funny.
Yeah.
[00:41:00.360]
I mean, at least she could have watched
[00:41:01.870]
a little YouTube video on it
right quick or something.
[00:41:04.970]
Intuit has all types of replacements.
[00:41:07.190]
I didn’t want to offend
because I’m the person…
[00:41:11.290]
Maybe I could be really direct
with people, but I also don’t want…
[00:41:14.990]
I don’t like offending people.
[00:41:16.720]
I like to be very kind
and polite when I can.
[00:41:20.330]
So what I did was when
[00:41:22.450]
I trained her for three days,
it was after the third day, I realized.
[00:41:26.680]
So I said, I recommend you pay $10 for
this Udemy Quickbooks online course.
[00:41:33.890]
It’s only $10.
[00:41:35.850]
And then I even told her,
I learned Quickbooks by going
[00:41:39.630]
to the library to get Quickbooks
for dummies and bookkeeping for dummies.
[00:41:44.280]
So you can go I’m going to go to the same
[00:41:45.390]
library I went to and borrow those two
books, and you will learn the software.
[00:41:50.570]
And her response was, I don’t need that.
[00:41:53.710]
I know what I’m doing.
[00:41:55.880]
So she wasn’t open to learning.
[00:41:58.360]
She wasn’t open to it.
[00:41:59.920]
She said, Oh, I know what I’m doing.
[00:42:02.090]
And then a year later, actually, she
[00:42:05.160]
messaged me on Facebook,
and she was like, I just wanted to talk
[00:42:10.110]
to you about my boss,
so my ex-boss, her boss, right?
[00:42:13.610]
And she was complaining about
her being a micromanager.
[00:42:16.830]
And did I have experience
of my ex-boss being a micromanager?
[00:42:20.110]
I was like, She never micromanaged me.
[00:42:23.070]
I was like, she was actually
my favorite boss out of all time.
[00:42:26.290]
She was so nice and everything.
[00:42:28.370]
She was very lenient with me
and It gave me a lot of autonomy.
[00:42:31.850]
And she was like, well, she micromanages
me and is so toxic, blah, blah, blah.
[00:42:35.770]
And then I’m thinking,
I think my boss finally caught
[00:42:38.480]
on to the fact that she’s not competent
and didn’t know how to do the job.
[00:42:41.750]
So she started feeling like she had
[00:42:43.590]
to micromanage to make sure
the work was done right.
[00:42:46.480]
I think that’s what ended up happening.
[00:42:47.720]
I don’t really know,
but that’s my best guess.
[00:42:51.320]
Yeah, see, that’s crazy.
[00:42:52.920]
That circles back around what we were
[00:42:54.470]
talking about earlier with the
perseverance and things like that.
[00:42:58.710]
It’s like we She gave you the opportunity.
It’s been a year.
[00:43:02.310]
You still didn’t try to learn anything?
[00:43:05.350]
That’s crazy to me.
[00:43:07.470]
And then she told you to F off when
[00:43:10.890]
you try to give her some help
and books and things like that.
[00:43:14.090]
That’s crazy.
[00:43:15.570]
That’s a perfect example right there.
[00:43:19.200]
Nobody wants to work, though, right?
[00:43:21.650]
Nobody wants to work, though.
[00:43:23.650]
Let me see.
[00:43:30.030]
And what would you tell someone
that wants to be an accountant?
[00:43:36.970]
I guess you did talk about your path.
[00:43:39.710]
Did you ever buckle down and get
[00:43:42.030]
an accounting certificate at the community
college or take the 24 credits?
[00:43:47.120]
No, you never did?
No.
[00:43:48.610]
It’s just whenever I had a problem,
I just went to Google.
[00:43:52.760]
Yeah.
I just went to Google.
[00:43:54.810]
And you know what’s even
better is now we have ChatGPT.
[00:43:57.920]
Wow.
[00:43:58.280]
Now you have a really
specific accounting question.
[00:44:00.550]
You can just ask ChatGPT for the answer.
[00:44:02.890]
I mean, it’s just mind boggling.
[00:44:06.470]
You can literally learn
everything these days.
[00:44:09.410]
I think college had its place
maybe 20 years ago, right?
[00:44:15.030]
It had its place, I agree,
but society has changed,
[00:44:19.360]
and I just feel like the institutions
have not caught up yet.
[00:44:24.400]
I can agree with that.
[00:44:27.730]
Yeah, because one of my little side gigs
[00:44:30.030]
that I’ve done is curriculum development,
and it wasn’t for a college.
[00:44:36.530]
It was for…
[00:44:38.080]
What’s the freaking name of the company?
[00:44:40.080]
I can’t think of it off
the top of my head right now.
[00:44:42.150]
But anyways, it’s a large Code Academy.
That’s what it was.
[00:44:46.640]
Oh, wow.
Code Academy.
[00:44:49.720]
Yeah, curriculum development for that.
[00:44:51.730]
Then I guess coming up,
I have a contract with a college,
[00:44:58.590]
and they want me to sit down and take
an exam for accounting
[00:45:02.850]
for their curriculum development
to see how that goes.
[00:45:06.930]
But yeah, the people that are
in the thick of it, they don’t want.
[00:45:13.070]
It’s like, you have to have a master’s
degree to do all this stuff.
[00:45:17.770]
I’m like, I shouldn’t have a master’s
degree when I’m working as an accountant
[00:45:22.070]
or auditor and I have all
this- You’re the government.
[00:45:25.120]
Yeah.
I have all this crazy experience.
[00:45:28.350]
What the hell do I need a master’s degree
[00:45:30.510]
for when I can help you
with your curriculum.
[00:45:34.240]
So that’s a major hindrance right there.
[00:45:39.000]
I’m actually shocked.
[00:45:40.070]
That’s so funny.
[00:45:45.080]
What’s so funny is if you
are applying for…
[00:45:48.680]
Let’s say you’re the one
who wrote the curriculum.
[00:45:50.810]
You wrote the curriculum and you’re
[00:45:53.030]
the one that came up
with a whole thing, right?
[00:45:56.530]
And then you’re applying for a job
and then they’re asking for something
[00:46:01.840]
like, Oh, did you have
a certificate in this curriculum?
[00:46:04.350]
You’re like, Girl,
I wrote that curriculum.
[00:46:08.030]
It’s just so funny.
[00:46:09.590]
I saw this on Reddit where there was this
company that was hiring and the person
[00:46:13.910]
doing the interview,
asking the interview questions,
[00:46:17.290]
were asking straight from the support
documentation for a different software.
[00:46:22.640]
And it just so happened that the person
who wrote the support documentation
[00:46:26.050]
for that software
was the one being interviewed.
[00:46:30.010]
So when they asked the questions,
[00:46:33.030]
the person gave the answers word for word,
and they were just like,
[00:46:38.840]
you’re not qualified because you
clearly cheated.
[00:46:43.370]
There’s no way you know
the answers word for word.
[00:46:46.290]
And that guy goes, I literally am
the one who wrote the documentation.
[00:46:51.570]
And they were telling them
that he’s not qualified for the job.
[00:46:56.120]
Yeah.
[00:46:57.160]
And I get that at a certain point,
[00:46:58.510]
there should be barriers
to You know what I’m saying?
[00:47:01.790]
Okay, well, this is what
the qualifications are.
[00:47:04.670]
But like I said,
if I’m working in it and I’ve been doing
[00:47:07.990]
it for a number of years,
there’s no reason why I need a…
[00:47:11.610]
Because I don’t have my CPA.
[00:47:13.120]
I don’t know if I ever get it because
I don’t need it for my career.
[00:47:16.390]
I can literally retire
without ever having my CPA.
[00:47:21.720]
I should need a master’s and all the other
stuff in order to do it if I’ve been doing
[00:47:27.390]
it for, I’ll just say five years or
something like that,
[00:47:30.910]
because at that point,
you should be journeyman level, right?
[00:47:34.690]
So I don’t know.
[00:47:36.670]
They’re missing out on so much with these
barriers to entry, and it’s crazy.
[00:47:43.570]
So, yeah, I’ll have to agree.
[00:47:45.160]
Well, they’re missing out.
[00:47:46.410]
Yeah.
[00:47:47.490]
It’s time for you to start your own
education company.
[00:47:50.970]
Look, I definitely thought about it.
[00:47:53.390]
And call out the Elyse Robinson
certification.
[00:47:57.910]
I definitely thought about it, especially
Last year, when I was in the thick of it.
[00:48:02.510]
Because one thing that I do
is I do a monthly seminar.
[00:48:06.770]
Right now, I do live resume
reviews and live LinkedIn reviews.
[00:48:10.730]
I said those will always be free
[00:48:13.090]
because my resume and my LinkedIn
gets a lot of hits, or it did before.
[00:48:16.830]
I guess I did before
I deleted my LinkedIn.
[00:48:21.170]
I had to start all over because I
had to clean off all the tech stuff.
[00:48:27.290]
I didn’t even want it on there anymore.
[00:48:29.610]
But But yeah, no, I do do teaching, and I
thought about starting a whole school.
[00:48:37.000]
And I mean, there’s a hell
of barriers, entries of that.
[00:48:39.510]
I learned, technically,
you’re not even supposed to be doing like,
[00:48:43.410]
seminars and stuff without
a freaking school license.
[00:48:47.030]
It’s really crazy out here.
[00:48:48.750]
You’re not getting paid money
[00:48:50.430]
for that stuff without, without,
you know, registering with the state.
[00:48:54.950]
Like, it’s crazy.
[00:48:56.850]
But really?
Yes.
[00:48:59.970]
Yes.
[00:49:01.440]
Okay.
[00:49:02.800]
There was this person that got in trouble
because they started a boot camp, right?
[00:49:08.770]
And they were getting
money for the boot camp.
[00:49:11.330]
And this circles back around to showing up
[00:49:14.150]
and actually handling your business
because they didn’t do that, right?
[00:49:18.930]
And they got in trouble with the state
for starting an unlicensed boot camp.
[00:49:27.080]
And yeah, it was a whole A mess.
[00:49:30.810]
I think that was in 2020.
[00:49:32.470]
You need to license your boot camp?
[00:49:34.320]
Yes.
[00:49:37.400]
It’s supposed to be licensed with whatever
state that you’re working out of.
[00:49:42.440]
Technically, if you’re getting, let’s say,
[00:49:44.470]
for example, your boot
camp is in Texas, right?
[00:49:48.960]
A coding boot camp.
Yeah.
[00:49:50.950]
And you have students
that come from California.
[00:49:55.130]
You have to be licensed
in Texas and California.
[00:49:59.240]
So It runs a lot deep.
[00:50:01.910]
I read about that.
This doesn’t sound right.
[00:50:04.470]
This sounds like a conspiracy
to make sure people stay poor.
[00:50:08.810]
Look.
I’m sorry.
[00:50:10.410]
This sounds like a state-run mafia
to make sure you can’t just earn money
[00:50:17.410]
doing the things you want
to do and provide value.
[00:50:19.910]
It sounds like highly regulated and
[00:50:22.360]
to make sure to keep certain
people out and certain people in.
[00:50:25.290]
Wow.
That’s exactly what it is.
[00:50:27.590]
The last person I had on on the podcast
[00:50:30.750]
that’s coming out this coming week,
I mentioned that, too, because it’s like,
[00:50:34.810]
not to say there’s regulations in these
other countries, but nobody really cares.
[00:50:44.150]
They have the little food carts and people
[00:50:46.590]
hustling on the streets and stuff, and you
can’t necessarily do that in the States.
[00:50:51.790]
You would get fined.
[00:50:55.170]
So, yeah, it was a big
mess all over Twitter.
[00:50:59.720]
I I don’t know if it was last year
or the year before last, so 2022.
[00:51:02.670]
But yeah, they got her for having
[00:51:05.950]
an unlicensed boot camp because you’re
supposed to register with their state.
[00:51:10.840]
And if you have students that are not
[00:51:12.430]
in that state, you have
to register with each state.
[00:51:15.050]
It’s a whole mess.
[00:51:16.490]
And the fee ain’t cheap.
[00:51:18.120]
The fee is not cheap.
[00:51:19.150]
Well, this makes it such that only a big,
large company with lots of investment
[00:51:23.810]
capital behind their hands is the only
one to succeed in that market.
[00:51:31.240]
Because I believe for Texas,
the licensing fee, when I looked at it,
[00:51:36.830]
was $1,000,
which is cheap enough, but you know.
[00:51:43.600]
But you can’t grow quickly Exactly.
[00:51:45.110]
Unless you have investors
throwing 50,000 at you.
[00:51:49.170]
I mean, you’re just someone who’s like,
I want to make some money.
[00:51:54.120]
I don’t want to do it
with investment capital.
[00:51:56.350]
I just want to start with my own money,
right?
[00:51:59.330]
And grow it so that I have full control
[00:52:02.110]
over my business,
not the bank and not some investor.
[00:52:05.240]
You start with only a thousand and you
[00:52:07.370]
grow it, but then
you have to grow it so slow because then,
[00:52:11.440]
okay, now I can open up to the next day,
pay a thousand.
[00:52:13.880]
Okay, now then I can open up
to the next day.
[00:52:15.950]
It’s so slow, really slow growth.
[00:52:18.490]
And tech is such a fast-paced industry.
Yeah.
[00:52:22.810]
I guess it comes down to all
these YouTube videos and stuff.
[00:52:28.840]
If you’re teaching something Well,
[00:52:30.030]
then I mean, can you potentially
get in trouble for it?
[00:52:33.890]
Because they get ad revenue,
they can get affiliate revenue as well.
[00:52:37.870]
Just not direct revenue.
[00:52:41.610]
It’s really crazy out here.
[00:52:43.910]
But yes, it was a whole
mess with this woman.
[00:52:48.090]
They were like, Yeah,
she’s operating an unlicensed school.
[00:52:52.310]
I believe somebody had turned her
in because like I said, she
[00:52:55.770]
wasn’t doing what she was supposed to do
with following up and things like that,
[00:53:00.150]
going back to the accounting
firms and things like that.
[00:53:03.490]
But yeah, I got deep into it because I was
[00:53:06.160]
like, So what are the rules
and regulations on it?
[00:53:08.350]
And it sounded like to an extent,
[00:53:10.120]
you’re not even supposed to be
having seminars for money.
[00:53:12.830]
You need a license to do it.
[00:53:16.530]
But yeah, anything else
you want to say and give?
[00:53:24.570]
No, I think that was it.
[00:53:26.240]
That was already a lot.
It was.
[00:53:29.030]
It really was.
I enjoyed the conversation.
[00:53:31.690]
Let people know where we can find you.
[00:53:34.930]
The best way to find me
is annayangfinancial.
[00:53:38.520]
Com.
That’s A-N-N-I-E-Y-A-N-G-FINANcial.
[00:53:43.440]
Com.
My site got suspended yesterday
[00:53:46.170]
for suspicious activity, but
I hope to get something figured out
[00:53:50.770]
by tomorrow so that the site is up by the
time this podcast recording is released.
[00:53:57.440]
Okay.
Okay.
[00:53:59.200]
Thank you again, Annie,
for coming on the show.
[00:54:02.290]
You all, my name is Elyse Robinson with
the Nobody Wants to Work, though podcast.
[00:54:06.490]
And until next time.
About
Meet Joshua, a perpetual seeker of fulfillment, who wandered through an array of odd jobs, searching for purpose. Despite the uncertainty, one constant remained—his love for fitness. In the gym, he found solace, a sanctuary where his passion thrived. Joshua took a leap of faith, transitioning into a career as a personal trainer. Guiding others toward their fitness goals became his calling.
Joshua Bachand – https://www.matchmaker.fm/show-guest/joshua-bachand-2d1f7d
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
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Podcast Host: Elyse Y. Robinson – https://www.data.gal/about
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Mind Matters Unleashed
Neuro Natterings
Cerebral Conversations
Brainwaves Unplugged
Synapse Sessions
Mental Musings Podcast
The Cognitive Chat Room
Grey Matters Exchange
Neurology Narratives
Brain Banter Bonanza
Show Notes
[00:00:00.680]
Hey, you all.
This is your host,
[00:00:02.300]
Louise Robinson with the Nobody Wants
to Work, though podcast, season 2.
[00:00:06.430]
I hope the stories inspire
you to switch careers.
[00:00:09.070]
I have done all kinds of interesting
[00:00:11.110]
things in my life, and I’m a firm
believer if you only live once.
[00:00:14.510]
Sit back and enjoy.
[00:00:18.840]
We are Switch into Tech.
[00:00:22.240]
Tech resources to accelerate your
career in information technology.
[00:00:27.330]
Monthly classes on tech topics.
[00:00:29.360]
We offer free or discounted exam vouchers,
[00:00:32.270]
scholarships, free Udemy courses,
free events, free boot camps, and more.
[00:00:37.680]
You can find us at www.
[00:00:40.640]
Switchintotech.
[00:00:41.730]
Org.
[00:00:46.000]
Hey, all.
[00:00:46.600]
This is Elyse Robinson
with Nobody Wants to Work, No.
[00:00:48.310]
Podcast.
[00:00:49.530]
Today, we have Joshua Bunchard.
[00:00:52.490]
And go ahead and introduce
yourself, Joshua.
[00:00:55.410]
Hello.
How are you doing?
[00:00:56.560]
Thank you, Elyse,
for allowing me to introduce myself.
[00:00:58.950]
My name is Joshua Banshaad,
and I’m grateful for this opportunity
[00:01:04.470]
to share why I’ve changed
over to what I’ve…
[00:01:07.730]
From one career to another.
[00:01:09.880]
And I’m actually deep diving
in my purpose, and I’ll share that here.
[00:01:16.680]
Yes, I’m a real believer
of walking in your purpose.
[00:01:20.440]
Absolutely.
[00:01:21.570]
So what did you want
to be when you grew up?
[00:01:26.210]
Or then, grown up?
Yeah.
[00:01:28.520]
So growing up, honestly,
[00:01:31.690]
when my stepdad was alive, God rest
and so I thought about being a plumber.
[00:01:36.170]
And later on,
as I got older, that idea faded away and
[00:01:45.090]
I ended up getting into personal training
because I fell in love with fitness
[00:01:48.960]
and wanting to help people
become healthier versions of themselves.
[00:01:55.000]
I’m curious, though, why did
you not want to be a plumber?
[00:01:58.200]
Because when I was a kid,
I wanted to be a vet.
[00:02:00.440]
But I’m trying to sit here
and think why I didn’t want…
[00:02:02.040]
Oh, why I didn’t want to be a vet anymore?
[00:02:03.440]
Because I learned that they had
to go to school for 15 years.
[00:02:05.790]
And I’m like, That is
going to work for me.
[00:02:08.850]
Well, I’ve always been very active.
[00:02:11.570]
So with me being very active and becoming
[00:02:14.150]
a personal trainer I’m helping others
become a little bit more active and get
[00:02:18.130]
some energy back that they may have lost
from being out of shape and unhealthy.
[00:02:22.570]
So that was more interesting to me.
Got you.
[00:02:27.320]
You got to burn up the energy.
[00:02:28.570]
Okay, I see.
[00:02:30.410]
All right, so where did your career begin?
[00:02:33.890]
What was your very first career
before you got the personal training?
[00:02:38.530]
Before I bounced around.
[00:02:41.830]
I never had a career.
[00:02:43.040]
I became a personal trainer.
[00:02:44.350]
I’ll Honest, my background is
a lot of street, unfortunately.
[00:02:53.410]
But I learned a lot,
and I’m still here and alive and well,
[00:02:56.970]
and again, able to walk in my purpose,
which I’m very I’m grateful for.
[00:03:01.410]
That’s where my path really entailed.
[00:03:05.320]
Okay.
[00:03:08.320]
And what was the catalyst that made
you want to become a personal trainer?
[00:03:11.230]
Did you have this thought of becoming
a personal trainer when you were a kid or
[00:03:17.170]
something happened that made you
want to become a personal trainer?
[00:03:21.130]
Being around people that looked unhealthy
and never being a person that made fun
[00:03:28.750]
of overweight people, but look
at them as a way, how can I help them?
[00:03:32.410]
Because I love people.
[00:03:35.840]
Again, I was always working on training
[00:03:38.550]
in the gym,
and I chose to make a career out of it so
[00:03:42.030]
I could get paid to help
people get healthy.
[00:03:46.240]
That’s funny because as an entrepreneur,
and you hear people talk about, Don’t
[00:03:54.640]
make your love or your passion into a
[00:03:59.790]
career because you end up hating it.
[00:04:07.410]
Do you hate it at any point in time?
[00:04:11.710]
I mean, did you think about that?
[00:04:14.450]
I don’t think The thing with it is because
I love it, it doesn’t feel like work.
[00:04:22.320]
I don’t know because I run into that a
lot of times as I’m an entrepreneur.
[00:04:31.360]
One thing that I created during
COVID was a tech freebie website.
[00:04:38.800]
I launched it.
[00:04:41.300]
I got my first customer,
literally the first day it launched.
[00:04:47.320]
I made it to help myself.
[00:04:50.000]
Then somebody I knew was like,
You should make money off of it.
[00:04:53.000]
I was like, Okay, well, shoot.
Yeah.
[00:04:55.040]
Then once I got into doing it, every day,
[00:04:58.630]
once a week or whatever,
I started to hate it.
[00:05:03.080]
I’m like, This is work,
but maybe I don’t like the work.
[00:05:07.190]
Maybe that’s the problem.
[00:05:08.510]
It could be it.
[00:05:11.890]
I’m not going to say that.
[00:05:15.330]
I’m supposed to be rich.
[00:05:19.040]
Let me see.
[00:05:23.210]
All things come at a cost.
[00:05:25.920]
What did it cost you along the way?
[00:05:27.790]
Not just as in price,
Do you have any certifications?
[00:05:32.570]
Did your family think you were crazy
trying to become a personal trainer
[00:05:36.910]
because you don’t have
big muscles or whatever?
[00:05:43.600]
No, I mean, I
think there is always a cost.
[00:05:49.350]
There’s an investing.
[00:05:51.480]
I went from getting several certifications
[00:05:54.850]
and studying intensely
because I needed that.
[00:05:59.600]
In order to pass.
I’m not the easy.
[00:06:01.320]
I’m not the one that retains well.
[00:06:02.440]
So there was a whole lot of highlighting,
[00:06:04.210]
tutoring, and taking tests several times,
and then finally passing.
[00:06:10.170]
And then being able to humble myself
knowing that I’m not going to get paid
[00:06:14.670]
faith, nor should I deserve to
at a good rate in the beginning.
[00:06:20.850]
So that was a little bit of a
struggle for a short period of time.
[00:06:27.330]
So, yeah, getting paid minimum wage.
[00:06:30.910]
I mean, not just minimum wage,
it was more so like a sales.
[00:06:34.730]
You’re getting bait.
[00:06:36.330]
When you’re starting off in the gym as
[00:06:39.790]
a personal trainer,
as a newbie in that field, you’re
[00:06:43.480]
not getting a wage,
but you’re also not getting clients.
[00:06:47.040]
And getting clients is the only way
[00:06:48.720]
to make money because
it’s based off commission.
[00:06:51.040]
You get a percentage off
of each client that you do get.
[00:06:54.170]
So that was definitely a sacrifice.
[00:06:59.040]
And getting up early in the morning
[00:07:00.790]
to repeat that
day, which would start at 5:00 AM
[00:07:07.570]
and maybe end at 6:00,
7:00 PM and then repeat that.
[00:07:11.640]
Hoping for a better day the next day.
[00:07:13.030]
But I learned a lot.
[00:07:16.360]
Yeah.
[00:07:17.770]
No, I don’t miss those days.
[00:07:22.040]
Don’t miss them at all.
[00:07:23.670]
I remember those days.
[00:07:26.970]
But you have to put the work
in in order to get to where you are.
[00:07:30.630]
I tell people that all the time,
especially the young people.
[00:07:35.360]
I don’t know what’s up with these young
[00:07:36.270]
people that think that they
don’t have to put in no work.
[00:07:39.320]
Then they have this idea in their
head that work is supposed to be fun.
[00:07:42.640]
I’m like, Work ain’t
necessarily supposed to be fun.
[00:07:45.210]
There’s a very small percentage of people
[00:07:47.540]
where they get to live
out the funness of work.
[00:07:52.970]
But I say most people just never get that.
[00:07:57.130]
The whole definition of work is
a negative connotation with it.
[00:08:01.480]
Where do you get off that work
is supposed to be fun?
[00:08:05.210]
They complain about stupid things.
[00:08:07.730]
They’re not being sexually harassed.
[00:08:09.690]
It’s not racial discrimination or gender
discrimination or something like that.
[00:08:14.330]
But they’re, Oh, well,
I don’t have any passion for it.
[00:08:19.150]
I’m like, But you…
[00:08:21.800]
So I’m confused.
[00:08:25.480]
It’s different.
[00:08:30.000]
But my whole idea of work is
so I can live a certain lifestyle,
[00:08:38.250]
and then outside of work, I can pursue
the things that I actually love.
[00:08:43.320]
I don’t want my job stress in me,
and my lifestyle has to be good.
[00:08:49.610]
That’s why I’m an accountant
because it meshes with my lifestyle.
[00:08:55.560]
I don’t really care for accounting 99.
[00:08:58.670]
9% of time, but it pays me bills.
[00:09:05.720]
Let me see what else.
[00:09:07.190]
Let’s see.
[00:09:09.970]
You said that you did other things.
[00:09:12.650]
What was the process on switching
to being a personal trainer?
[00:09:18.150]
Because I understand
that sales is a big thing.
[00:09:23.050]
What type of certifications did you get?
[00:09:25.850]
How did you get someone to take a chance
[00:09:28.990]
on you and say, Hey,
can I be a personal trainer at your gym?
[00:09:35.800]
Yeah.
[00:09:37.640]
And how did you get someone
to take a chance on you?
[00:09:41.600]
Well, to get there,
[00:09:43.470]
I had to work all the nends as
far as jobs to make sure that those are
[00:09:48.310]
getting paid in the meantime because I
wasn’t living with my parents any longer.
[00:09:53.190]
So that waiting on commission,
[00:09:57.600]
money still had to come
from somewhere while doing that.
[00:10:00.700]
But as far as getting a chance,
[00:10:04.080]
I looked around for low-wing gyms
that would just give me an opportunity.
[00:10:10.770]
And I’ve always been in good shape.
[00:10:12.610]
So that helped.
[00:10:14.130]
Did you want to look to Park, too?
[00:10:15.880]
And that was always a big deal to me being
[00:10:17.760]
professional,
being in great shape and being
[00:10:19.430]
knowledgeable,
having experience in those areas.
[00:10:23.560]
And as far as certifications,
I got a national certification,
[00:10:27.700]
and then I also
I also got a certification in nutrition,
[00:10:35.400]
got another one in group training,
and then the rest of it really just came
[00:10:38.750]
with experience because the
certifications don’t give you experience.
[00:10:43.250]
They give you insight and knowledge on how
[00:10:46.190]
to move the body a certain way,
especially in the time.
[00:10:50.390]
Because every individual
client is very unique.
[00:10:54.030]
So whether they have an injury or they’re
trying to gain muscle,
[00:10:58.440]
but they already have muscle,
they want more or they want to lose fat.
[00:11:01.680]
It could be dealing with a woman that just
[00:11:03.670]
had a baby four, five, six months out
from having a baby.
[00:11:08.150]
So it’s always different
dealing with ages as well.
[00:11:13.040]
I never trained teenagers
or anything like athletes.
[00:11:15.150]
I always train men.
[00:11:17.350]
I’m 46 now, but I’ve always trained men
really close to my age.
[00:11:22.070]
So I was always training men older
than me when I was in my 30s.
[00:11:29.920]
Let’s see.
[00:11:30.970]
Yeah, I did physical therapy.
[00:11:35.720]
What year is it?
2022.
[00:11:38.510]
I did six months of physical therapy
because I have tons and tons of injuries.
[00:11:45.520]
You do?
I did.
[00:11:47.210]
What?
Huh?
[00:11:49.250]
Played sports?
[00:11:50.490]
No, I never played sports.
No.
[00:11:52.770]
No?
No.
[00:11:55.080]
One doctor told me that I have
hypermobility.
[00:12:00.050]
So my phalanges and stuff move too much.
[00:12:06.640]
Yoga.
[00:12:08.170]
When I was a kid,
I never did any of that stuff because I
[00:12:14.430]
was always scared that I was going
to hurt myself,
[00:12:17.770]
which I guess as an adult, it probably was
good that I never did any of that stuff.
[00:12:23.190]
I never did too much.
[00:12:25.330]
But yeah, no, I did six months
of physical therapy And I loved it.
[00:12:30.830]
I love water aerobics,
but that’s my thing.
[00:12:40.130]
Water aerobics are good.
Great.
[00:12:42.480]
Yeah, you’re just floating.
[00:12:43.750]
So there’s really no way to really hurt
[00:12:46.910]
yourself because I’m
always scared of that.
[00:12:49.250]
But what are some positives and what
[00:12:57.510]
are some negatives of your career?
How’s it?
[00:13:01.950]
This goes on.
[00:13:04.850]
Changing lives for the long haul
definitely is the number one positive.
[00:13:12.930]
Negatives are I mean, it’s a grind,
especially in the beginning for a while.
[00:13:21.010]
It took me…
[00:13:23.360]
It got me to a place where
I need to make a decision.
[00:13:25.400]
Am I going to keep training in gyms?
[00:13:26.680]
Am I going to get my own gym?
[00:13:27.710]
Am I going to try and scale my own gym,
[00:13:31.710]
start hiring, get a gym and hire
some clients, some other trainers.
[00:13:37.120]
So
that’s probably more of the negative
[00:13:41.190]
because at one point,
you need to make a decision.
[00:13:44.050]
If you find yourself
Training your life away.
[00:13:47.130]
And it was hard.
[00:13:48.970]
It was difficult at times
just trying to have some time for myself
[00:13:52.580]
or even have time for me to go to the gym
because I’m up at 5:00 and I get a little
[00:13:57.270]
break, like early afternoon time,
and then I’m back training again because
[00:14:02.050]
you get the next wave of clients that will
come in and be getting out of work.
[00:14:07.730]
And then you’re training
them all until the evening.
[00:14:12.080]
And that is over and over and over.
[00:14:13.950]
I I get a Sunday off, but Saturdays can
be a day where there’s a lot going on.
[00:14:18.670]
Then you need to write programs and update
or update programs, create new ones.
[00:14:25.290]
So what was your decision?
[00:14:27.070]
Money is always there.
[00:14:28.650]
The money’s I was there.
[00:14:31.130]
But then you can only make
a certain amount of money.
[00:14:34.040]
That’s some child.
How much am I going to charge a client?
[00:14:38.800]
I can only charge a client so
much to where it makes sense.
[00:14:42.970]
And then the other thing is if you’re not
[00:14:46.310]
training a client,
you’re not making money.
[00:14:48.570]
I can get the money ahead of time,
[00:14:50.600]
but if I’m not in front of you,
I’m not making that money.
[00:14:53.430]
And at some point, I need to get
in front of you physically.
[00:14:58.360]
No.
[00:14:59.290]
If someone cancels,
you still get money, right?
[00:15:03.490]
Yeah, you got to hope on a cancel.
[00:15:06.130]
Where I’m from, it snows.
[00:15:13.330]
So we’re used to the snow.
[00:15:14.640]
It’s not like it snows.
It’s too cold.
[00:15:16.580]
I’m not coming out to meet you at the gym.
[00:15:19.170]
I’m like, We’re used to that.
[00:15:20.710]
Bundle up when we go.
Yeah.
[00:15:22.610]
No.
[00:15:23.430]
I’ll call a cancel if it’s
a little drip drop of rain outside.
[00:15:26.790]
I’m not coming.
[00:15:29.920]
I’m not coming out.
[00:15:32.430]
It could be 85 degrees.
[00:15:33.710]
I’m not coming out.
[00:15:38.440]
So what was your decision?
[00:15:40.230]
Did you open up a gym or did
you- I never opened up a gym.
[00:15:43.790]
I would just I would run around.
[00:15:45.830]
As you know, we have
a train back home in Boston.
[00:15:49.050]
So I would go to
[00:15:54.960]
these luxury apartment complexes
where there was already gyms
[00:16:00.000]
in the bottom,
and then you had the apartments up top.
[00:16:02.520]
And I’d meet people,
[00:16:03.480]
they’d come off the elevator,
out of the apartment, whatever,
[00:16:05.520]
and then I’d meet them right in the gym
and then take off, go to the next one.
[00:16:08.810]
And that’s what I did for a while.
[00:16:11.960]
And I forgot about COVID.
[00:16:13.730]
When COVID came, I lost all my clients,
[00:16:17.520]
and that’s when I had to make
a decision of what I was going to do.
[00:16:20.150]
But I was already leaning
into it online training.
[00:16:23.080]
And so I became an online trainer.
[00:16:25.520]
I bought into this program that taught me
how to use this particular software where
[00:16:29.470]
you can create programs,
tons of videos on it.
[00:16:32.670]
I put them together,
[00:16:33.970]
and then I deliver that through an app,
and I still have it to this day.
[00:16:40.520]
So now at that point,
clients can now train on their own.
[00:16:45.610]
I create a program, I send it to them,
I put it on their calendar,
[00:16:49.730]
and they go right into my app
on that particular day and looking
[00:16:53.230]
at whatever they’re doing for that day,
whether it be legs or
[00:16:57.120]
chest or some upper body workout,
high intensity, whatever I
[00:17:02.930]
decided to design their program
or however I decided to design it.
[00:17:09.160]
That’s nice.
So what’s the name of the app?
[00:17:12.080]
It’s Silverback Fit, like the gorilla.
[00:17:14.970]
Silverback fit.
[00:17:16.320]
Silverback fit?
[00:17:17.390]
Okay.
[00:17:20.400]
I train mostly men.
[00:17:22.550]
I trained women in the beginning,
and I chose to get away from that.
[00:17:28.170]
Why?
[00:17:29.560]
I just- put you on the spot.
[00:17:32.930]
Yeah, it’s not.
[00:17:35.310]
I had some relations early
in the beginning until I realized
[00:17:39.080]
that the money wasn’t going
to be made if I took that route.
[00:17:41.230]
And that was part of me being a mature.
[00:17:43.320]
But then also because I
connect very well with women.
[00:17:45.560]
So sometimes sessions were turned into
[00:17:47.960]
a stressed-out crying session
because they’re going through it.
[00:17:50.890]
I trained different people in stressed-out
jobs, especially in the city in Boston.
[00:17:56.560]
There’s a lot of stress.
[00:17:57.890]
It’s a fast-paced city, and
[00:18:00.280]
The money might come with it, but the
stress comes with it times 10 as well.
[00:18:05.230]
And then sometimes people
just can’t handle that.
[00:18:07.690]
A trainer can sometimes be a client’s
[00:18:10.350]
therapist at times, and it ends up being
like, All right, we need to work out.
[00:18:15.160]
We’ve been crying for a half hour.
[00:18:16.710]
We’ve been talking for another 15.
[00:18:18.600]
You have 15 minutes left on this hour.
[00:18:20.390]
What do you want to do?
[00:18:23.000]
So with men,
it’s not so much about being a little bit
[00:18:28.950]
more rough or like a drill sergeant,
but I can shut it down.
[00:18:32.560]
And a lot of times,
men want to get out of it.
[00:18:34.550]
They want to get home from work
and just get right to it.
[00:18:37.650]
I’m not going to have a man
crying on my shoulder.
[00:18:41.880]
And then first thing in the morning,
guys want to just get right to it.
[00:18:44.960]
Like, Hey, get out of here.
Hey, what’s up?
[00:18:46.040]
Let’s get going.
[00:18:46.750]
And then we have a different thing
about it sometimes when it’s man to man.
[00:18:53.440]
Got you.
[00:18:54.120]
No, you’re stereotyping
the hell out of women.
[00:18:55.670]
But I ain’t going to lie,
with all my injuries and issues with my
[00:19:03.250]
body, that’s a soft spot for me,
and I will get to crying.
[00:19:07.930]
I’ll get to crying real quick.
[00:19:10.310]
We can cry, but at some point,
what do we want to do this on another day?
[00:19:16.600]
I’ll cry and then probably go home.
[00:19:22.280]
I’ll be back.
[00:19:27.560]
Because at the end of the day,
I’m getting paid for it.
[00:19:29.110]
So I feel bad.
[00:19:32.010]
I’m not going to…
[00:19:34.070]
We’re taking up an hour out of my day,
[00:19:36.250]
but it’s also your hour,
but you’re off to pay for this hour.
[00:19:39.800]
And if we’re going to cry and be upset
[00:19:41.350]
and talk about things that’s cool,
but I still need to get paid.
[00:19:45.730]
And we can’t reschedule because
you’re having a bad day.
[00:19:48.800]
You showed up.
[00:19:50.080]
You didn’t cancel, you showed up.
[00:19:51.770]
So we got to show up and go and just
get it in, get it over with.
[00:19:58.800]
Oh, yeah.
No, definitely.
[00:20:00.110]
No, I would set a hard line at that.
[00:20:02.110]
If you show up, I’m getting paid.
[00:20:03.870]
I don’t care if we’re having a cry
session, a talk session, whatever.
[00:20:07.390]
I’m getting paid.
[00:20:11.480]
So make sure you put
that in your on track.
[00:20:15.190]
If you show up, and if you don’t cancel,
I’m still going to get paid.
[00:20:20.010]
That’s one thing I don’t play with in
business is I’m going to give me money.
[00:20:28.080]
But Let’s see.
I guess that would be some
[00:20:32.990]
of the negatives is having to be
someone’s counselor all the damn time.
[00:20:41.160]
I know how that can get old.
[00:20:43.970]
Let’s see.
[00:20:46.000]
What are some traits that would make
someone a great personal trainer?
[00:20:53.320]
Having the ability to meet
them where they’re at.
[00:20:59.400]
Maybe Let me say, finding common ground.
[00:21:04.080]
Finding common ground
and being able to just…
[00:21:06.040]
You got to be able
to build a relationship.
[00:21:08.530]
I’ve seen trainers,
which I knew I had the advantage over,
[00:21:11.800]
but I’ve seen trainers where It’s like
straight face, leaning on a machine.
[00:21:19.640]
The whole time you have a client training,
[00:21:21.520]
I see them leaning, looking at their
watch, looking at their phone.
[00:21:23.960]
I’m like, all of that.
[00:21:24.990]
If I’m a client, you’re getting fired.
[00:21:27.360]
I catch you doing that one time.
[00:21:28.710]
You’re not here to engage with me,
motivate me, push me.
[00:21:33.170]
I’m tired and getting ready for work.
[00:21:35.970]
Let me get this momentum going
or I just get out of work.
[00:21:38.840]
I had a long day.
[00:21:39.470]
I need to get a good workout,
and I’m not here to just drag along.
[00:21:44.030]
And meeting them where
they’re at, too, again.
[00:21:47.190]
So it’s like,
for me, energy is going to change,
[00:21:51.070]
but the effort doesn’t,
meaning it’s not a nervous thing for me.
[00:21:54.810]
I might not be able to
[00:21:58.720]
get as many As much of an ab workout,
the ab workout won’t be as intense maybe
[00:22:06.110]
as it was last Wednesday,
but my effort is always going to be there.
[00:22:11.250]
So I’m still going to get results.
[00:22:13.440]
I’m not going to, Okay, I got 12.
[00:22:15.030]
No, That 12 rep, I really felt that.
[00:22:19.320]
So that’s just the thing right there.
[00:22:21.710]
You got to recognize
being able to recognize where that client
[00:22:24.910]
is for that day
and for that particular session.
[00:22:28.120]
So that’s what it is.
[00:22:29.250]
Meeting them where they’re
at and building good relationship.
[00:22:34.400]
Communication.
[00:22:37.440]
What are some tips and tricks you would
[00:22:40.830]
give someone that wanted
to be a personal trainer?
[00:22:43.800]
Is there any shortcuts they can take?
[00:22:45.230]
Start early in life instead
of starting in their 40s?
[00:22:52.890]
Somebody wants to start in their 40s?
[00:22:54.790]
You always want to,
for one, get a certification.
[00:23:00.320]
And get a lot of repetition
as far as starting to train.
[00:23:05.810]
When you’re first, clients should be
friends of yours that you can practice on.
[00:23:14.520]
Bringing them to your house if you have
[00:23:16.430]
a gym in the garage or
going to the gym with them.
[00:23:19.930]
That’s a good thing.
[00:23:21.310]
And having confidence in yourself,
having belief in yourself,
[00:23:24.720]
knowing what you’re doing,
pay attention to what you’re doing,
[00:23:27.450]
knowing how to correct somebody’s form and
understand that.
[00:23:31.990]
Because what you don’t want
[00:23:34.120]
more than anything else is somebody
getting hurt while you’re training them.
[00:23:42.760]
What did you wish you knew
before you started this career?
[00:23:51.040]
That I wish I knew.
[00:23:54.880]
I would say the business side of things.
[00:23:59.800]
Yeah, I would say the business side
[00:24:01.750]
of things, learning more about
getting like an LLC
[00:24:06.530]
and being able to tie all
of that in and getting into tax write offs
[00:24:11.190]
and understanding the business side of it,
the the Panua side of it.
[00:24:16.170]
I did think so much on the fly,
taking cash, literally.
[00:24:20.490]
If I could go back all over and start all
[00:24:25.550]
over, I would treat it just as a business
should be treated on the books,
[00:24:32.480]
get a LOC, and be consistent in that way,
being better with money.
[00:24:41.600]
Just treat it like a business.
[00:24:44.000]
Don’t treat it like a hobby.
[00:24:45.120]
I’m going to the gym today,
train somebody.
[00:24:46.990]
I had that mentality sometime
because clients came to me.
[00:24:51.200]
It was easy for me because
it was home for one.
[00:24:53.510]
It’s not that I always train people I
knew, but you get a lot of clients based
[00:24:57.950]
off of referrals at some point when
you’re doing it for a long period of time.
[00:25:04.880]
I think a lot of people struggle
[00:25:07.590]
with the business side, and that’s one
of the reasons why I studied accounting.
[00:25:12.430]
I took the first accounting class three
[00:25:16.270]
times before I was like, and I would drop
it and be like, I didn’t want to do it.
[00:25:22.960]
I took it three times before I buckled
down and be like, Hey, get it done.
[00:25:27.730]
Then once I started getting into tax
[00:25:30.690]
and audit and things like that,
I started to like it.
[00:25:34.970]
But that has served me well because
accounting is the language of business.
[00:25:43.770]
Everybody wants to know what comes in,
[00:25:46.350]
what comes out,
and then tax is a huge one.
[00:25:48.910]
With the same.
[00:25:50.290]
The only thing guarantee
in life is death and taxes.
[00:25:53.960]
I tell people all the time, at least, at
least, to take an intro to business class.
[00:26:02.320]
Now we have YouTube and Cocera and all
[00:26:06.230]
these other places, Udemy,
where you can take stuff for free.
[00:26:10.770]
So there’s really no reason because
they didn’t have all that when I was
[00:26:15.120]
a kid, and they surely
didn’t have it when you were.
[00:26:21.560]
But I’m showing my age.
[00:26:25.050]
But I told me, Well,
at least if you’re going to start
[00:26:28.320]
a business, at least take a little
intro to in this class, please.
[00:26:31.450]
But outside of that, let’s see.
[00:26:39.400]
Yeah, and last question is,
[00:26:41.350]
what would you tell someone
that wanted to start this career?
[00:26:47.960]
Be ready.
[00:26:50.120]
Bring your energy.
[00:26:51.810]
Be ready for the grind.
[00:26:54.320]
Take care of your body
and make sure that you have some Make
[00:27:02.320]
sure that you have either some money put
away already or you already have a job
[00:27:06.830]
that can pay you the bills
and that you don’t burn yourself out.
[00:27:10.880]
Because what’s going to happen is if you
do have a job that’s paying the bills
[00:27:13.790]
and now you’re trying to squeeze in this
new training career, you need time.
[00:27:18.010]
It’s going to conflict.
[00:27:19.930]
You can’t work a third shift regular job
and get out at…
[00:27:24.600]
When would that?
[00:27:26.680]
Yeah, then get out at, I don’t know,
6:00 in the morning from in that third
[00:27:30.350]
shift job and think that you’re going
to train clients that need you to be there
[00:27:34.810]
early in the morning and think
that you can continue that.
[00:27:39.210]
So you need to find a balance.
[00:27:40.890]
You need to find a balance
and find it quick.
[00:27:43.120]
I would say start off with some savings,
maybe three, four, five months,
[00:27:48.210]
even six months worth of some bills,
bill money already put away
[00:27:53.960]
and then jump into it because you’re
not going to make money right away.
[00:27:56.770]
And I realized that in the beginning,
[00:28:00.120]
Real quick, actually,
that just because I have this reputable,
[00:28:07.450]
highly recognized certification,
doesn’t mean I’m going to put that down
[00:28:11.430]
on the counter or at an interview at a gym
and say, okay, They give me my money.
[00:28:16.490]
They don’t even know me.
[00:28:18.080]
They don’t know me from a hole in a wall,
so I got to show and prove.
[00:28:20.160]
It don’t matter regardless of what you’re
doing in life, you get a certification
[00:28:23.310]
in anything or a degree in something,
you still have to show and prove.
[00:28:27.050]
I thought about being a cook years ago,
and And it was like, you’ll literally come
[00:28:31.870]
out of a culinary school
and you might be prepping,
[00:28:35.520]
you might even be just helping out
around the kitchen, helping out the chef.
[00:28:39.230]
You’re not going to just jump in and start
[00:28:41.670]
grabbing on, like grabbing this
bull by the horns right away.
[00:28:45.670]
You need to earn that spot.
[00:28:48.280]
So be ready.
[00:28:49.600]
Be ready for the grind and be
ready to not get paid right away.
[00:28:54.600]
You mentioned show and prove.
[00:28:56.400]
What does that mean exactly when
it comes to personal training?
[00:28:59.440]
When you went to, I’m just going to name
[00:29:01.310]
a gym, Planet Fitness
or something like that.
[00:29:04.490]
What did they ask you to do in order to
keep your spot instead of giving it to Mr.
[00:29:11.030]
Willy down the street?
Repetition.
[00:29:13.480]
You need to build
a reputation for yourself.
[00:29:15.230]
Your reputation needs to come
with getting clients’ results.
[00:29:23.480]
Putting that together,
like having a portfolio
[00:29:27.570]
as you train clients,
have clients that We’re not shy in taking
[00:29:31.020]
before and after pictures for you
because that’s going to be a big deal.
[00:29:34.600]
That’s going to help out a lot.
[00:29:37.510]
Recommend referrals.
[00:29:41.000]
But yeah, you definitely need to…
[00:29:43.430]
You need to build a reputation.
[00:29:46.320]
Okay.
[00:29:47.760]
Yeah.
Patient.
[00:29:50.080]
When I started my little entrepreneurship
journey in Mexico, I
[00:29:56.250]
came with a substantial amount of money,
I guess, especially Especially for Mexico.
[00:30:02.720]
I couldn’t imagine starting a business
[00:30:05.360]
in America and having to have savings
because there’s no health insurance.
[00:30:13.310]
You can’t just go to the doctor.
[00:30:15.350]
Yeah.
Yeah.
[00:30:17.590]
You’re all willy-nilly like you can
in Mexico or another country, which is…
[00:30:23.440]
After I’ve lived in another country,
it’s really crazy to me.
[00:30:28.450]
As someone that has
[00:30:30.920]
worked in the healthcare industry,
and I have family members that work
[00:30:34.390]
in the healthcare industry,
I gripe about it all the time.
[00:30:40.720]
That alone stifles entrepreneurship
in the United States.
[00:30:48.800]
But yeah, I’ll totally agree that you
definitely need some savings if you’re
[00:30:53.310]
going to pursue probably
pretty much anything in life.
[00:30:57.170]
Sure, that new career, entrepreneurship,
[00:30:59.810]
whatever, whatever, because
unfortunately, it may not work out.
[00:31:07.890]
Anything else you want to say?
No.
[00:31:15.570]
I think that’s pretty much it.
[00:31:20.760]
And honestly,
[00:31:23.570]
if I would say one more thing,
because I’m a true believer
[00:31:29.720]
in And that you can love what you’re
doing and make money off of it.
[00:31:32.590]
So if
[00:31:35.730]
you really want to do something and you
really love whatever that is,
[00:31:40.730]
have belief in yourself, pursue it,
be patient, and definitely don’t give up.
[00:31:47.320]
And that’s something that’s a part of me
[00:31:52.290]
that caused a lot of restarting over
in so many areas in times of my life.
[00:31:59.490]
I I say caused a lot of setbacks because
[00:32:01.830]
I’ve attempted a couple
of different things.
[00:32:05.880]
It’s always a start.
[00:32:07.400]
You got to start from scratch again.
You get to start from scratch again.
[00:32:09.280]
You get to start from scratch again.
[00:32:10.770]
Just really know what you want to do
and then go all out.
[00:32:14.530]
Go all out, don’t stop,
and believe in yourself.
[00:32:20.160]
No, definitely.
[00:32:20.890]
I don’t like to call them setbacks
because everything’s a learning lesson.
[00:32:25.730]
It is.
[00:32:27.690]
To my point, what I mean is if you’re
[00:32:31.490]
starting from scratch every single time,
it is an experience.
[00:32:36.550]
But my brother would tell me,
Stay in doing one thing.
[00:32:43.050]
Lock in on this and then stay doing that
[00:32:46.210]
instead of like, I’m just tired of this
after I just invested money and time.
[00:32:50.050]
Whether it be school, because I was going
to be not a therapist, a psychologist.
[00:32:56.240]
I went to a community school back home
in Boston for a little bit working with…
[00:32:59.870]
I was working with high-risk teens,
and then I stopped going to school.
[00:33:03.840]
And then I was like,
What am I going to do now?
[00:33:05.310]
I thought about being a bobo.
[00:33:07.760]
And I didn’t pursue that.
[00:33:08.950]
I should have, could have,
whatever I didn’t.
[00:33:11.770]
And then became a trainer.
[00:33:15.720]
I see it as you’re trying to figure out
[00:33:22.600]
what you want to do,
which is perfectly fine.
[00:33:26.830]
And unfortunately, that costs time and it
[00:33:30.240]
costs money, and you ain’t
never going to get it back.
[00:33:31.930]
But once you find
what it is that you want to do,
[00:33:37.360]
you look back and be like,
Oh, it wasn’t really a waste.
[00:33:42.210]
You were learning along the way because
[00:33:45.510]
you took everything that you did and you
put it in your personal training.
[00:33:49.750]
I’m a thousand % sure of that.
[00:33:52.410]
But sometimes you got to do that in order
to find where you’re trying be.
[00:34:02.970]
When I was in Mexico,
for the first two years, I
[00:34:07.170]
told myself I wanted to learn Spanish,
but I wasn’t really learning it.
[00:34:11.650]
I just had to, number one,
[00:34:13.670]
mourn and number two, just figure
out the lay of the land, basically.
[00:34:19.970]
I’m in this huge city,
and I’m finding friends,
[00:34:24.390]
and learning where to go to the doctor,
and all that good stuff.
[00:34:31.050]
To me, when I was in the thick of it,
I was like, damn, you lost two years.
[00:34:36.360]
And I’m like, no, you don’t have to lose
two years because now you know a big-ass
[00:34:39.750]
city, and you got people you can kick
it when you go down there all the time.
[00:34:43.950]
I have a whole adopted family
and everything else now.
[00:34:49.390]
It’s really crazy.
[00:34:53.650]
You beat yourself up about it,
but in reality, you really shouldn’t.
[00:34:59.130]
So But yeah, that’s just how I see it.
[00:35:03.890]
And I agree.
[00:35:06.150]
I don’t disagree.
[00:35:08.200]
My thing is it’s really good to just own
[00:35:12.710]
in on something
instead of bouncing around.
[00:35:15.590]
But yeah, you do.
[00:35:16.790]
There’s always a positive,
and I do the same.
[00:35:19.390]
I always make sure that I see
the positive, the light in that.
[00:35:22.910]
It wasn’t a dark time, but I always
make sure that I look for that positive.
[00:35:27.570]
And I have a lot
of experiences from in that.
[00:35:32.320]
Yeah, definitely.
As long as you’re not hurting yourself or
[00:35:35.990]
anyone else, I don’t see
it as a serious loss.
[00:35:41.640]
You can get money again.
[00:35:45.310]
You may not get that time back,
[00:35:47.850]
but you take that experience
and use it probably every day now.
[00:35:53.570]
Was it really a loss?
[00:35:58.850]
No, it wasn’t.
[00:36:00.050]
It’s just your journey.
[00:36:02.490]
Just your journey.
[00:36:03.840]
Yeah.
[00:36:05.120]
All right, Joshua,
we’re going to close it out.
[00:36:09.200]
Thank you for coming on the show.
[00:36:12.010]
I appreciate it.
[00:36:14.450]
Tell me, tell people where to find you.
[00:36:18.610]
So you can find me on Instagram at
josh_bashan.
[00:36:24.610]
The last name is spelled B-A-C-H-A-N-D.
[00:36:27.490]
It’s the same exact for Facebook.
[00:36:31.130]
And all my information is
in there in my profile and my bio.
[00:36:35.370]
And look out for my merch.
[00:36:37.600]
I’m going to be starting that pretty soon.
[00:36:39.360]
It’s actually in the making right now.
[00:36:40.830]
I have my logo and everything else,
and we’re putting that out.
[00:36:44.810]
And yeah, just pushing along.
[00:36:47.850]
So if anybody wants to follow me or learn
anything that I have
[00:36:51.290]
that they can possibly be inspired by or
need help in, whatever, let me know.
[00:36:59.570]
Easy to reach.
All right.
[00:37:01.720]
Thank you, you all for listening,
watching wherever you all at.
[00:37:05.610]
My name is Elise Robinson with
Nobody Wants to Work, though, podcast.
[00:37:10.130]
And until next time
About
Sponsored Join Dr. Christopher K. Slaton and I as we discuss his life experiences and how it lead him to understand that education is a science.
Dr. Christopher K. Slaton: Website – http://www.drchristopherkslaton.com Book, “Education and Science” – http://www.drslatonlive.com
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Podcast Host: Elyse Y. Robinson – https://www.data.gal/about
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Mind Matters Unleashed
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Cerebral Conversations
Brainwaves Unplugged
Synapse Sessions
Mental Musings Podcast
The Cognitive Chat Room
Grey Matters Exchange
Neurology Narratives
Brain Banter Bonanza
Show Notes
[00:00:02.290]
00:00:01
Hey y’all this is your host, Elyse Robinson with the nobody wants to work through podcast season.
00:00:05
Two, I hope the stories inspire you to switch careers. I.
00:00:09
Have done all kinds of interesting things.
00:00:11
In my life and I’m a.
00:00:13
For if.
00:00:13
You all live once.
00:00:14
Sit back and.
00:00:19
We are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology. Monthly classes on tech.
00:00:28
Topics we offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships, free you to meet courses, free events, free boot camps, and more. You can find us at www.switchintotech.org.
00:00:45
Hey, my name is Elyse Robinson with the nobody.
00:00:48
Wants to work though podcast.
00:00:50
Today we have Doctor Christopher Slayton.
00:00:54
And he’s going to tell us about the education of science. Go ahead and introduce yourself, Christopher.
00:01:03
Thank you. Thank you very much. Elyse. I am doctor Christopher, Kevin Slayton, and I’m proud to be here. Happy to be here. I’m. I’m happy to be here with you because you have excited me. I’m saying. Yeah. So.
00:01:18
Let me get through.
00:01:18
It because education and science, as you pointed out, is what I practice.
00:01:23
You know, because I have, I could be called a displaced worker if you’d like to call me that, because that’s what happened to me as a young person.
00:01:32
I went to the Marine Corps. That was my first experience with with a formal.
00:01:37
Employment, I mean, as a kid, I did have informal employment. That’s me as a child working for companies, but not actually having any tax liability because I never was on the road. They just had child labor going on there.
00:01:51
So in the Marine Corps, I was able to begin to understand what was.
00:01:56
And what was happening to me, the experience of me and then I had to understand the the economics of of having employment, you know, I I didn’t understand money in terms.
00:02:09
Of of of.
00:02:10
Of of salary and having money taken away from you penalties, all these things as part of the education.
00:02:16
That I talk for him because my whole.
00:02:19
Ohh, life turned out to be, you know, catch back up Doctor Slate. So when I say Doctor Slate, I’m saying I practice becoming a doctor. Before I became a doctor. You know? So that’s that’s the discussion. I’m I I’m going to be speaking from when when you’re talking about the workplace cause it’s been a lot of work as an entrepreneur understanding education.
00:02:39
And then that be your platform to catching back up because the things you did in your childhood.
00:02:45
You know, went the opposite direction and you were going the wrong way, so you missed out on a lot of interaction with with my best. All my friends were intelligent. I never was around ignorant kids. I was around the smartest kids in neighborhood. But my problem was my mother and father broke up and I went from here to the ghetto.
00:03:06
And being together, I had to figure everything out out. You know, being attacked, being bullied, be all those things. Teasing, bullying, peer pressure. Drugs. I had to figure all that stuff out. So I.
00:03:17
Had to act other than myself.
00:03:19
You know, out of the fear and anger I had to figure it out. So yes, Doctor Slayton has been well earned from my perspective.
00:03:31
UMI don’t know if you spoke on it, but you you told me before we began that you were born and raised in Oakland. So I can’t even imagine what it was like growing up in like the 70s and the 80s and the 90s.
00:03:45
During that time with the you know the drugs and and all that.
00:03:48
Good stuff so.
00:03:49
I I can’t imagine navigating, navigating that because I grew up in.
00:03:54
The 90s.
00:03:56
Yes, Sir.
00:03:56
So we were like kind of at the tail end of all that stuff. And if you don’t know, I’m born and raised in Sacramento, which is.
00:04:02
Up the street from Oakland.
00:04:05
So I know Oakland went very well because I used to go all the time as a teenager and as a.
00:04:09
Young adult but.
00:04:12
But yeah, if you don’t know anything about the Bay Area during that time, yeah, I feel for you. I do.
00:04:23
What did you want to be when you grew up?
00:04:28
So that’s another very, very puzzling.
00:04:32
Question because.
00:04:34
I came from.
00:04:37
That community that you’re talking about, I was surrounded by the Black Panthers organization like that, so community orientation.
00:04:44
Trying to figure out how to survive racism and and and and and and all those things that are hidden in California but are.
00:04:56
Out in the open in Sacramento is a place that you go and you’d experience racism different from being in Oakland. I mean, I will came up to an age where the black parents, when they went to Sacramento, they were touted as, you know, radicals and, you know, had they, their rifles taken away.
00:05:15
So I’m saying the experience of that culture is what lifted me up. It made me become more aware of what I had to be in order for me to survive. So dreaming, you know, I’m living a dream.
00:05:32
Seen just in that environment around people that were really, really involved in community development and the experience, even if I look at my basketball coach as a child, he was involved in other community events. So when I played on played for him, I played for his image, you know, so the dream.
00:05:52
Of just being significant, you know, and not being less than because that’s what you’re being told, even in classrooms, you’re being told that you’re less than.
00:06:03
So when when you talk about dreaming, I’m saying I’m a very feeling person. I’ve always been a caring person. So if you say something to me back then I’m gonna internalize it and work through it and do something about it. And activists trying to, OK, you can’t make us feel this way. When Martin got killed.
00:06:23
I remember I’m at Lockwood Elementary school. Haven School is right. Right next.
00:06:28
Door. The haven score. Kids running through my elementary school attacking people. And we’re like, wow, what’s going on? And then we find out that Martin had had just been killed. Now everything changed from that point forward, even in, in, in the streets of Oakland. I mean, you know, so we talk about.
00:06:48
Dreaming. Dreaming of of not being left behind and understanding education system that did not address your needs but you had to move through your mother and father.
00:07:01
So you go back to school, get don’t worry about that. You know, it’s like when JFK died, I was sitting in front of the television. This is this is.
00:07:10
This is what we’re talking about.
00:07:12
And the screen just went blank. You know, just saying, right? And then my mother and father coming in there all while and talking about what happened to the President, artists and all. But those are the cultural things that I grew up under that gave me that sense of.
00:07:27
Here beyond just myself. But when my father Father broke up, it had to be a self. Had to be found because self was hurt. So when I talk about.
00:07:36
The journey of.
00:07:37
Dreaming, I wanted to win. So winning at whatever cost my friends dreamed about. You know that high school we were talking about?
00:07:48
They were talking about.
00:07:50
The Bunnies, and you know Playboy and.
00:07:54
Owning this and owning that and I’m sitting there saying, you know what?
00:07:57
All I wanna do was I was athlete. All I wanna do is just win, you know, I’m listening to all these things. I never talked about the fabulous cars they did. So you know, I mean, that’s that’s puzzling to me. Why I didn’t just.
00:08:14
You know, but in reality, if I if I gave you this story another way, my best friend was Paul Hammonds. Paul Hammonds had all these visions. I stole his life. In the end, I began to live his life when he didn’t come and wrinkled me. I then, for I guess, association and trying to.
00:08:34
Go to the next level. He I embraced some of his thinking that he he laid upon me. And that’s how I began to get an education even in ring for because that’s what he was talking to me about as a as a as a kid growing up meant.
00:08:50
Throwing me trying to get me to understand, Chris, there’s a better way. There’s an and so education dreaming.
00:08:58
Just wanting to be an entrepreneur is where I am right now and didn’t happen by accident. I had to practice self recovery to get to understand the experience.
00:09:09
Uses of of these noises and sounds that were coming to me through people that cared about me. That you’re blocking because you’re hurt and you’re saying Nah, Nah, that’s not for me. That’s for you. That’s that’s what you want. You know, I’m winning over here cause I’m I’m banging in the subculture, so I’m I’m I’m doing all right.
00:09:30
So, so to speak. But I’m not, because I’m not in the real world, you know, I’ll say it that way, that.
00:09:35
Then I go, I’ll try.
00:09:38
No, it’s it’s, it’s your interview.
00:09:41
Ohh no.
00:09:42
You. You said a couple of things that you know that that spoke to me about, you know, what you wanted to be when you grew up and you said you wanted to win. And you know, everybody’s definition of winning is different. My definition of winning when I was like maybe 9 or 10, I want to be a veteran.
00:09:58
Period. I used to go to the library and check out these little stupid horse and vet books and look at them and stuff.
00:10:07
So for me to be, you know, intact it and accounting is is like way, way off off the boat. But I learned that I’m lazy and I wasn’t going to go to three hour chemistry and physics and biology classes, so that was never happening, especially with the invention of the Internet.
00:10:29
I wasn’t. I I was like, I can get a degree online like.
00:10:33
Why would I have to?
00:10:34
Go to school, you know.
00:10:37
But luckily, you know I love tech and I love accounting and accounting. I I chose because you can work anywhere.
00:10:45
In the world.
00:10:46
And no one can play me about my money.
00:10:49
You know, I enjoy tax, you know.
00:10:52
And what you mean, you know the revenue expenses like I already know that stuff. You can’t play me. You can’t play me about that. So it it it fit with me. But like you said, the winning part. I I always wanted to retire early. So you know, my my mother retired at 40.
00:11:13
And my father retired at 56, so if I can retire in between them, I would consider that to be winning, so that that has always been my goal is to is to retire. Like I don’t want to be working at 75. That’s not something I wanna do. I wanna be laid up.
00:11:30
On my little Mexican beach, drinking a Margarita, that’s what I want to do.
00:11:41
Listen, you kind of spoken a little bit, but where did your career begin? What? What you do? You didn’t tell me what you were in the Marines on office, secret or classified. But where did you start? And then where? You know, what prompted you to make the career change that you’re in now?
00:12:01
Wow. You know gradually from what you just now said and as I translated into my experience.
00:12:10
You know.
00:12:11
It was. It was different. Because I say again the culture.
00:12:17
The cultural events were defining my sensibilities.
00:12:22
As a functional functional person I what I mean by that is that.
00:12:28
I didn’t frame like this because I was more grounded in understanding that.
00:12:34
When you go to school, I’m not.
00:12:37
Being taught to.
00:12:37
Be something that a doctor, lawyer, type of thing. I’m I’m being taught and my experience is.
00:12:46
Being broken. You know you’re broke, you know, like I was in a classroom. My second grade. It’s in my new book coming out. But, you know, and the teacher and I had a question. And this is doing the the, the Martin Luther King and and and and and and and Malcolm and and and the Black Panthers activities, you know. And and and and the environment. And I said now why do we call people.
00:13:08
White or black? Why? Why do we do that? And she said, shut up, Christopher. That’s.
00:13:13
Stop it. And I’m like what?
00:13:16
You know, because I’m trying to figure out.
00:13:19
No, I said. President Kennedy got shot. You know, I’m trying to kid, trying to make sense of these adults and these behaviors, and I’m saying.
00:13:30
That stole a part of me, you know, inside the academic environment, it stole a deep it wounded me. And I’m sitting there saying when because I knew what I was giving up when I walked out that classroom, I knew that I was because my friends were telling me, Chris, you can’t know Chris.
00:13:49
No, I’m sitting there saying no.
00:13:51
That was. That’s the and I’m. I’m a young kid, you know. And I’m saying to you that moving forward it just collectively begin to become a part of me. I’m not gonna let them destroy me. Now I’m saying this is a white teacher. So I’m looking at white people like this all y’all. Even though I learned.
00:14:12
In the reading court, that’s not how it is. But back then, as a child, I saw white people as being destructive to my spirit because when I look at my pictures in my families history, they’re looking like, you know.
00:14:25
They’re trashy. You know, there’s no energy. There was nothing in those pictures. But but. But, you know. And I’m saying now, you know, it is that is that for me. And you turn on the TV. What are you looking at? You know, pimps, hoes thing. Come out. What? No, no, that’s that was not me. So you know.
00:14:45
Dreaming Dreaming is winning. Winning what?
00:14:49
Winning your sense of self, not letting them destroy that. Because that’s what those movies were saying. When you listen to other kids talk.
00:14:57
About it, that was self destruction. You know, girls jumping in the in the in the lifestyle just because they believed that that was it for them. No, no, no, there’s more. But you see, that’s dreaming, right? When you when you when you’re surrounded by chaos and yet you see something that’s better.
00:15:18
They may not see it like you see it because they’re inside the system program thinking I will take all this and suck all this up, get the best grades.
00:15:28
Get into college and I will.
00:15:30
Take off and fit in, but then you seeing doctors, lawyers inside these communities that are marginalized, OK, because they’re inside, but they’re leaders inside the community, but they have no true voice. We now talking about Martin and the March on the capital. I’m saying, what, how does this all make sense now?
00:15:50
The reason why I can rationally talk like this is because I was on the ground with the Black Panthers. They were in my neighborhood, so I was learning.
00:15:58
See about what was happening to us just sitting around listening to them talk.
00:16:03
Be in agreement field during the Patty Hearst situation. I was observing what was happening to black people, OK and and and and.
00:16:14
To this day.
00:16:14
I still, I still don’t believe what happened to Huey Newton. Why? Because I mean.
00:16:20
Him and I know that the deteriorating factors of us are lost sense of feel for self where you’ve been abandoned and I also interviewed will surround the first state Superintendent, California, who told me the role of a Superintendent is worsened because you cannot define your past and relation to your community.
00:16:41
Because when you turn around, you don’t have a community. When I walk inside that door all.
00:16:46
I got is.
00:16:47
Me and my community is not stepping up like a community to back me up, so if I try to speak this way that way, I just can’t do it.
00:16:55
Because I have no support and I’ll be out of here in the next on the next, you know it. It’s what we’re talking about. We’re talking about winning turn my winning. Winning what? Winning self destiny. You know, manifest destiny. Winning control of your own life.
00:17:12
OK, where you’re able to take care of you because of the things you practice doing with other people, OK. And you’ve learned how to move through their chaos.
00:17:24
Self has chaos. Other people have chaos. The drama.
00:17:28
That’s what? That’s what winning is about when it’s about understanding you’re in this and nobody’s on your team unless you’re winning.
00:17:36
And you can’t win if you’re not over here in government. You can’t win. So you understand that. OK, but how do you how?
00:17:43
Do you manage that?
00:17:45
Anxiety, that emotion, that that, that, that.
00:17:48
Thinking inside outside the box and still survive. OK, that’s my childhood. Becoming an adult. Getting through the ring core. I’m evolving. You know, I go through these workplaces, post office, I go through the Department of Treasury. I I mean, these are government agencies. And I’m saying, you know, I’m supposed to be.
00:18:08
I’m a veteran. I’m supposed to be safe. Why? No, you’re not safe. Why aren’t you safe? Because you’re talking about.
00:18:15
Black empowerment. You’re talking about people empowerment, not just blacks. It was was I was advocating for Filipinos, whites where wherever else was inside that same labor situation where you’re not being appreciated for the work that you’re doing and instead you’re getting all these nasty jobs and being left behind in terms of promotion and so forth. So on.
00:18:37
No, that’s that’s not the blind experience.
00:18:40
But but but that’s the black experience, you know? So the workplace just didn’t didn’t work for me. It didn’t work for me because I refused to accept, you know, being punished for my labor, for performing and then asking questions and saying, no, you got to stop this and telling them look at look at my performance ratio.
00:19:00
How are you gonna? No, I am doing what you asked me to do. But you’re telling me I gotta accept all this other stuff. In addition to that. So becoming an entrepreneur, it was happening. It was formulating. You know, my dad was independent trucker. I love going to work with him outdoors. And he was very competitive. You know these trucks.
00:19:21
You see him on.
00:19:21
The road he was always trying to.
00:19:25
Get his load.
00:19:26
Bearing back to get his the maximum.
00:19:27
Amount of loads per.
00:19:28
Like to to get the Max amount of pay you know, and so that experience of of of him, you know and me being in the truck with him and then at lunchtime we out there and he’s he he’s serving.
00:19:44
Ham and chicken sandwiches and all this kind of stuff. And I’m experiencing him.
00:19:48
You know, and I’m listening to to him and he’s around white men and and and and they’re upset because he drives his truck and tries to beat them and get the most out of his truck. I mean, they would block him in the morning. They do stuff like that. And I’m not what I’m talking about is the black experience. But in terms of competing.
00:20:11
In terms of competing for your share now, if he was white better than acceptable, but we’re talking about a child who, who, who is being formally introduced to.
00:20:21
Well, that’s what I gotta overcome. So you’re dreaming of being a doctor, but you you see doctors that are being marginalized at the same time. I’m not saying they don’t have the the, the Prestige. They had the prestige, but they didn’t have the rest. They didn’t have real power. Eli coast.
00:20:44
They put it very plainly. It’s a glass in and so mocking me that glass ceiling is really low for doctors back then, you know. So you could be a doctor, but you’re not hearing anywhere near with white people are earning or you’re not getting the same contraction. So yes, you got an education, but what are you doing? Practice education. No, that’s what I.
00:21:04
Practice, education. You don’t go to school to get a job. You go to school to get a entrepreneurial practice that you can do because education is the platform that the labor market utilizes to set up products and service. So if you study education, you learn education, you become an entrepreneur.
00:21:25
By transferring now, if I’m telling my humans, I’m saying I’m telling my communication systems, so I’m talking.
00:21:32
About all the platforms of of the high end technology, because that’s what they’re doing. They’re communication platforms. So if you go to school and you practice education, you’re practicing informing your brain.
00:21:45
OK. And if you’re informing your brain, you’re gonna discipline your body well, because you have to because it requires smoke.
00:21:52
This and what it’s focused, OK, so I’m saying to you that’s that’s that’s the recovery. You practice education. If you practice education, you have to receive the information. OK. So where I was blocked as a kid, I was open as a, as an emerging adult. Why? Because I knew I had to become more informed in order for me.
00:22:15
To successfully be who I am.
00:22:18
And not refuse to be black? No, because that’s that’s a that’s a huge carriage for me. That’s a huge carry.
00:22:25
Don’t be other than who I.
00:22:27
Don’t you know I walk in classrooms?
00:22:30
I never dummy down.
00:22:31
You’ll never see me walk in the classroom and dummy down. I don’t care if it’s a Asian white aragan. I don’t care who you are. I’m not gonna knock me down. You’re gonna deal with my intellect, you see. And I’m not saying I’m better than you. I’m saying that I will not marginalized my.
00:22:46
Sense of feel.
00:22:47
For self that I’ve been building over.
00:22:49
All my life.
00:22:51
To be in this room.
00:22:53
To bow down to you because you think this is you’re over here because everybody says you this and I’m not being disruptive. I’m. I’m not going to be cursed. I’m no I’m saying I’m not going to sit there and listen to you. Be fool the environment because of your power authority.
00:23:13
I am therefore I must speak forward and let people know I practice education out loud, knowing participation is based on performance. So if I perform in other.
00:23:28
Young people like me at that time are observing me. They’re learning how to participate in public spaces in a classroom, even, and display their intelligence and not dummy down because these people are.
00:23:45
Telling the professors what happened to me, telling the professor he’s he’s too much and so I get you know how to do the grading system. He gives me a seat. I deserve a but he tells.
00:23:58
Where everybody in the classroom is upset, and so I’m going to give you this seat for your own benefit. I’m like what?
00:24:05
You know, now see, so succeeding. Succeeding, surviving who you are from the inside out. Not letting them take that from you. Because when they do, you can’t. Can’t be a family leader no more. Why? What? You gonna leave? Why? You gonna leave from you? Just abandon.
00:24:22
Your sister feel for.
00:24:23
Self. How you gonna get it back?
00:24:25
No, because you are intelligent person and in my experience I’ve come across a lot of intelligent people who are on drugs because they dumb it down and they regretted it. They regretted the fact that they gave in to the pressure not to be who they are, OK, because we don’t.
00:24:45
Knowing anything, enough of anything. So I’m saying going back to Wilson rounds, I’m saying you walk in the room, you find yourself alone. What do you do? Stand up.
00:24:54
No. Be counted. Why? Because I came through Huey Newton, Black Panthers and many, many other community based organizations. That said you can.
00:25:06
You can.
00:25:08
Be a good thinking person. I’ll give you my last mentor. She’s passed now.
00:25:15
Marie Fielder, a woman, mentored me.
00:25:19
And she was one of the first graduate of Chicago school.
00:25:23
University and also from Berkeley. You probably know her. And one thing she told me.
00:25:31
Don’t be a bloom bloom. I’m helping you. Get your doctor.
00:25:35
Do not be another bloom bloom. Meaning do not walk in the room and fill the intimidation.
00:25:43
And reduce your intellect to fit in.
00:25:46
That’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about you understanding the moment and how that pressure and and understanding if you’re wrong, accept it.
00:25:56
But if you’re right, that’s winning. That means your brain is the lead of your body and everything that you’ve been practicing is forward, not backward, forward. And so those that are observing can learn and move forward through you. No, because that’s how I got here. That’s what I’m saying.
00:26:14
By observing my community, the people that were that were stepping up.
00:26:18
Coaches, all those people. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I became an entrepreneur because.
00:26:25
They gave in to less than you know, so I have a coach that’s on my wall right now, Searcy.
00:26:29
OK.
00:26:35
Beautiful person.
00:26:37
Up on crack cocaine before he got to high school.
00:26:42
Because he had to figure how to fit in.
00:26:46
And it demoralized.
00:26:48
So I’m talking about, you know.
00:26:51
The spirit of of, of dreaming.
00:26:56
But it has to be a practice because you.
00:26:58
If you if you come from a community, that’s that’s that’s under attack.
00:27:02
Dreaming, you know, it’s not not the normal thing, it’s it’s a higher calling if you’re participating, if you’re paying attention, it’s a higher calling because of what you’re observing and and all the stuff that’s happening.
00:27:18
Before I graduate my school, most of the kids I knew in East Oakland were dead. I’m talking the ones that were in my circle.
00:27:25
They were dead.
00:27:26
Involved in the drug thing and I was in Oak, East Oakland, at the beginning of of of the drugs coming into the black community. Yeah, I was. I was the beginning of that. So I I watched girls, boys that I grew up with hooked on drugs. OK, so they help me understand.
00:27:46
And define the parameters of my dream, my dream to.
00:27:52
Be above that, but in that but not caught up in that.
00:27:57
You know, and step up instead of. So when I walk in the room, I teach my kids. You don’t dump me down because once you dummy down, you feel less dead. You gotta pick yourself back up. I’m talking in the same room because the next minute might be the question you’ve been waiting for them to ask you, but now you got a power back up. Why?
00:28:17
Because you’re the dummy down now. You gotta do it all the peer pressure because you don’t told him that you’re this, but now you’re gonna perform like this. No, you gotta perform all the time. I don’t tell my human intelligence where that’s what education is supposed to be.
00:28:29
Informing to bring your technology, but we don’t get that in the black community we get everything other than that. But but when you go my daughter white school? Yeah, it’s inside the curriculum. You are a technology. Don’t tell you you.
00:28:45
Because they’re showing you that you are technology.
00:28:50
And we expect this out of you. No. So I’m gonna stop right there. That, that, that answer the question and I go over.
00:29:00
I’m coming. I’m trying to drink my.
00:29:02
Apple juice.
00:29:04
Like I’m too.
00:29:07
Yeah, yeah, sure. Like I said, it’s your.
00:29:09
Podcast. Ohh hey you. You started it. You started it. No, you, you, you you land.
00:29:15
You passed on a lot of good stuff and I have to say, you know, my parents never taught me to to dumb myself down at all. They they knew from early age that I was very headstrong and independent and and stubborn.
00:29:31
Phone me.
00:29:33
And so yeah, that’s that’s definitely got me into trouble a lot of times, a lot of times. But one thing I would never do is is dumb myself down. I mean I’ve I’ve had all kinds of crazy experiences in my life and it’s to the point. I tell people I was like.
00:29:51
I I moved to a country where I didn’t know anyone didn’t speak the language. Nobody looked like me.
00:29:56
And I mean.
00:30:00
I I didn’t did some things OK? And what else? What else could you throw at me and and and try to tell me and and do anything to me? I mean, I’m. I’m a bad *. You know what I’m saying? So you know, like what? What would I ever be scared of? What? What would I ever be scared of? So it’s like.
00:30:12
Yeah, yeah.
00:30:21
Do do with that information what you will, but I’m gonna. I’m gonna shoot first.
00:30:25
And ask questions.
00:30:26
Last, that’s that’s the type of stuff I’m on, but.
00:30:31
But yeah, like I don’t know when you when you have that type of experiences, I think that energy comes through because I was telling someone the other day I was like, you know.
00:30:47
What? I’ve never.
00:30:49
I’ve never been in like a fight.
00:30:53
I you know, people like I’ve been to all kinds of fights growing up as a kid and stuff. And I was like, I’ve never. I’ve never been in a fight. And I think that energy comes across that, you know, I’m, I’m I’m crazy or something, you know? But.
00:31:07
But hey, it it is what it is and you know you you just you just build off of it from there and I hope that energy still comes through when I’m 80 years old.
00:31:19
Not right then either, but.
00:31:27
Let’s see next question.
00:31:31
I don’t know how I want to frame this, but what was the process on getting to to you know where you are now? What certifications did you get? What degrees did you get you? You talked a little bit about the mentors and and you know.
00:31:52
What? What, what got you?
00:31:54
To where you are now.
00:31:57
Good question.
00:31:58
Fascinating that I didn’t catch that earlier because that’s what I was talking through using Education, Junior College, Laney College.
00:32:07
Professor Appleby.
00:32:09
Miss Johnson, all these professors right took me in understanding.
00:32:16
This guy has potential, but he has to be tamed.
00:32:21
But not control, but brought into the real world. So at Laney College, I began to study black economics.
00:32:30
Because these professors were counseling me to go to specific classes to learn about the black experience, but within the context of economic development. Because when you come in through a subculture, you end up poor when you’re kind of in it. But when you begin to apply the economics.
00:32:50
To it.
00:32:51
Then your your Internet entrepreneurial type of area, because that’s what you know. You go back and you look at some.
00:32:59
Of our most.
00:33:01
Prestigious leaders back then, WY you know, building the newspaper and and and and and creating a movement from that.
00:33:10
He was an entrepreneur. You have a lot of entrepreneurs that came through the system, right?
00:33:17
Harriet Tubman, another entrepreneur you may not think of her that way, but that’s what she was doing. She was doing something that was needed that many, many he would pay for, and then it, and that became her, her vehicle to prestige. OK, so I’m saying to you and Laney.
00:33:37
College learning about the black experience, but then understanding at that level, that was the economic component. I got a degree. I didn’t even go to the ceremony cause I said and I was taught, that’s just the.
00:33:52
Candy and A doesn’t do anything for you because a lot of people go to go to your.
00:33:56
Cars. They get the A they think they.
00:33:57
Don’t get it. They can go away. No, that’s just the start.
00:34:01
Of your credential. OK so.
00:34:03
I got the A and went on the SAC state right major corrections not because I want to be a cop because I’m in community based corrections.
00:34:13
Right, that’s theoretically I’m talking about what the degree is supposed to do for me. Help me correct the community’s wrongs that’s going on. So community based corrections. Why I went into that. I learned about law enforcement and and nursing and all these.
00:34:29
Other peripheral institutions you know, more importantly, I learned about the the caging system, the prison childhood, the prison pipeline, and all these type of things I was learning about. But it was relative because I was coming out of Oakland. I wasn’t in Oakland. My mom moved to North Carolina, not N, but north.
00:34:49
Look, let me let me add that because she took care of us, she went.
00:34:55
To the ghetto and move us out of the ghetto to N Oakland to save our lives. And she did OK, so community based corrections. I got a degree.
00:35:06
And community based corrections. I was already in schools practicing. I was already holding seminars, summer camps, things like that.
00:35:18
For children and families, OK to help improve academic performance through language arts and the way I teach language arts is as performing arts. So you’re talking about reading, writing, acting, and performing script. You’re right.
00:35:37
You you have to perform at every single level, so it’s activity based learning. So when you come to the camp, you’re going to be doing things on there. And then I take you to fire departments, car lots, housing projects that are being constructed to give you that sense that that sense of the why of the why.
00:35:58
So you begin to understand how these things are supposed to work, so you’re not just dummying down and postponing your understanding. If you are, well, this is what you’re looking to do. Don’t go buy used home.
00:36:11
Think about a brand new home. Don’t go get a used car. Think about a brand new car.
00:36:18
Doing those types of things, community based corrections.
00:36:22
As I was moving through it, I also did some work with teachers in schools teaching children how to read things of that sort entrepreneurship.
00:36:32
Again, it was evolving through the practice of going to those classes and taking the concepts and going to library and implementing those things simultaneously in my own house. My my daughter was born with her.
00:36:48
Her, her a disruptive stomach was in her chest, and so she had.
00:36:53
To go through.
00:36:54
All but the eye.
00:36:58
Embrace the education to teacher how to learn to learn while injured and hurt. Slow learner because of her birth difficulties, but helping her to buy in. She never experienced her negative energy from her father her whole childhood, so I understand.
00:37:19
She was resting her future on believing her father’s love and care, and that’s the entrepreneurship. As a dad, you want your kid who is an underperformer, never to realize they’re underperformer, but to move through it and deal with the ups and pains. But the confidence that I can and that’s what she did.
00:37:40
And she would breakdown in one class she built herself back.
00:37:44
Up because I can.
00:37:45
Then, because when she came home we worked on those things and so we got through them. So I use education, I apply education, the science of education. I’m talking to you about in reference to talking through my daughter and learning how I could possibly help her improve her ability to move through me.
00:38:06
Her mother.
00:38:08
And the other things that are that are.
00:38:11
Involved in her day-to-day. So that’s the green one? He asked the green community based corrections with a.
00:38:19
Lower degree.
00:38:24
What was it? Welfare. Social welfare. Yeah, social because remember, I’m community, right? I’m a bleeding heart. So yeah, social welfare. Correction. I went from there and got a masters in education. I was already practicing becoming a doctor at that point. So I was already.
00:38:42
When I went into the into the program, I already had my thesis work already.
00:38:46
You’re done, right? So that was a breeze. So I didn’t have to worry about that. But I’m already an entrepreneur. That’s what I’m saying. I’m already entrepreneur. I got involved with a a professor that nobody liked because he was an African American who had a stroke who used to be, you know, the bomb. But once he had his stroke, he did not deal with it.
00:39:07
So he declined.
00:39:10
In terms of his sense of feel, that’s where I learned it. Working with him, he lost his sense of feel for self and became abusive and alcoholic and all those things.
00:39:20
But he talked to me, OK? And he told me you don’t go to school to get a job, you go to school to practice. What? You think you’re learning now, so when you graduate?
00:39:35
You got your degree. Plus you got a business.
00:39:39
That’s in the undergraduate component that are carried into the Masters component. So once I got there, I was already practicing, so I’m in the classroom. I never experienced any let down because I was already performing. So other people were in teaching in all this. I was talking from a community based education perspective.
00:39:59
And being in the classroom and understanding when every time our behavior and minds and all that I’m talking about no action, learning the mind is.
00:40:08
Not the brain. The mind is reflective capacity of the brains. Defense mechanisms built up over the years as part of your labor management, so that.
00:40:21
That program a state.
00:40:24
That you have to perform through, that’s where everybody says about the mind. But the mind is memory stored. For what purpose? From the experience of the environment, the environment of stimulants and your response is stored in a state of mind, body, mind.
00:40:40
No, I’m talking brain by because you have to learn how to change, choose, comprehend, change. That’s what we do as human beings. But you’re talking about we have to choose to comprehend the need to change and be changed by the things we experience. And that’s the brain. But when you lock it down, you’re stuck in one job.
00:41:02
You scared? Leave that one job.
00:41:04
Why? Because that’s your state of.
00:41:06
They talk and they turn these state of mind and you don’t know how to recreate because you’re not talking about the brain. The brain recreates. That’s we’ve been talking about. My brain will will create and recreate and recreate. And even if it’s not acceptable, it will adjust, adjust, adjust my fire and the piece that you get through is sufficient.
00:41:26
Because of all the space that’s there, it’s the space because nobody else is willing to dare try. So you’re still operating at a high level because everybody who matters. I’m talking about this is making you’re looking like.
00:41:39
Wow, that’s pretty damn thing. I had an interview once.
00:41:43
The guy was all marked but but but this is what I do. Humanism. Sorry. This is what I do. He is an education. And I’m telling he was.
00:41:50
I I don’t know.
00:41:51
Where have you been? I’ve been right here. I’ve been right here. And I’ve been talking like this and doing all this. But you know what you’re doing? Yeah, you stick the long, you sit to her. Wait a minute. Don’t laugh. Now you see? You sick.
00:42:04
That’s on me. You see the the the Better Business Bureau on me, all those things on me. So so that I’ll get it.
00:42:11
Please you better you better stop. You better. You better catch yourself. You. You’re upsetting people because you are performing. You never really performing. You are performing, not acting. You are really, really performing. And you have. You’re doing things that we can’t do or that we don’t understand. When you talk about human science.
00:42:32
You talk about neuroscience. We’re trying to center field for self, right, which is a neurophysical you the neurophysical you. So we turn on the sensor feel for self. They don’t teach you that a sense of feel, right. That’s the body brain.
00:42:48
That’s your.
00:42:52
Physicality that’s observable and the invisible you your neurological systems.
00:42:59
Interacting through your sense of feel for self.
00:43:03
And the brain.
00:43:05
To discipline you because you are aware of your body.
00:43:08
And what your body is doing, talk about the mind. Has the mind change that the mind don’t change?
00:43:14
The mind says you stay like you are and let them change. I mean, how many of us have coping that? No, you’re gonna change. You’re the one is gonna help you change because that’s what you are as a human being. You change, you evolve and become other. When we’re talking about other dimensions.
00:43:34
Of yourself and higher and higher levels of functionality and leaving everybody behind without even because you’re performing. What are you performing? Information processing, what level are you performing at the highest possible? Why?
00:43:50
4 variables I talk about all time you learn to move through the negative contact interaction. That’s your brain, body, contact, interaction. Now the cooperations to your sense of feel for self-care about you.
00:44:05
Enough about you to understand I must process this information.
00:44:10
Even if it hurts, because I must experience change in my state of mind.
00:44:16
And if I can experience change in my state of mind, I can reset my sensor and C path.
00:44:23
To move through the next level, I don’t forget what happened, but I’m not caught up in what’s happening. Everybody just not. No, that’s human science. No, that’s human system science. That’s you. As a human being, understanding your brain, body and senses.
00:44:40
Messages of more than just what you see because that’s your messaging systems, right? That’s transferring all this information throughout your whole system and creating these dimensions of you that allow you to read right, talk, draw, act, perform at higher basketball is, I mean.
00:45:00
But the the, the, the getting caught up in the moment. Ohh, that’s because you are channeling the flow of energy, action and feelings and your brain says enough boom. You’re in the zone.
00:45:13
But it’s because your brain is the lead of the body. See, that’s how come.
00:45:18
Bros got hurt. I’m talking the Chicago kid. He got hurt because his brain was leading his body. He was doing things he couldn’t do because he didn’t believe so when he came down his leg with this way and the body went that way, he he’s injured. OK, so they would say by John Moran.
00:45:34
His body is doing all these things and how he hurt his shoulder because his brain was and he believed in his talent, but he didn’t believe in his brain, his brain. He has to be limbo. No cause. When you come down, when you jump up, you know, you gotta brace yourself. That’s your brain. Brain tells you. Look. That’s how you got land and you’re just out there just trying to.
00:45:53
See as you.
00:45:54
Lost sense of feel for self trying to say is, you know it’s your brain, it’s your brain, through your sense of feel for you, care for you. Listen to me. If your brain is saying to your sense of feel.
00:46:08
Yourself the brain. No, because you’re not taught that because they say you gotta mind. And if you hear a voice, you’re crazy, right? So let me ask. I ask people. I ask my students what is the mind?
00:46:21
And what does it feel like to think?
00:46:25
Ohh, what are you here? Is that me talking you is that you talking yourself? And what are you talking through now? You gotta be grounded, right? Grounded to understand it. I feel myself.
00:46:39
The moment I’m in brain talk, OK?
00:46:43
Where’s your mom?
00:46:45
That’s your behavior pattern, just that’s your behavior pattern. That’s what you want to change your behavior pattern, your mood.
00:46:52
See. See the devastation. So no, I I am an entrepreneur because not because I say so, because I practice education in science.
00:47:04
You touched on a couple of things.
00:47:08
But more so, I I like that you said and I realized this when I was in college, is that you go to college and while you’re in college, you should be training to be entrepreneur. And I figured that out my parents.
00:47:26
Give me an ultimatum. They were like, well, you go to college or you be entrepreneur or you get a job. I did all three when I was in college.
00:47:36
I had a web development business that lasted until the economy got crap in 08. With the housing situation, but I was definitely making money. I was making good money and especially for someone that still lived at home and I was in school.
00:47:56
And then after that I got I got a my my first government job which didn’t last long because I got my car.
00:48:03
A very bad one and I had to quit. So yeah, I like that you said while you’re in school, you should be an entrepreneur. Cause I mean that should be the best place that should be the best place to do it. I mean, you know, you’re getting, I don’t say free housing, but subsidized housing.
00:48:25
To an extent, food and all that other kind of stuff, you can experiment and you can fail and no one should be laughing at you because you’re young and stupid, right? So, you know.
00:48:39
But yeah, I enjoyed it. I used to go to mixers. I was 20 years old and I would go to these mixers that were for 21 and plus because they were giving out free alcohol. And so I would bring alcohol home to my parents and stuff. They’re like, where’d you get this from? I was like, for the mix, I would go to, but I would go and my little, my little beat up Saturn.
00:48:59
And go to these mixers and and that’s how we get my clients and.
00:49:04
I was terrified.
00:49:05
I ain’t gonna lie. I was 20 years old. Like I ain’t know about going out and and talking to people and try to get business. But I learned a lot. A lot. I used to used to get these suits from.
00:49:17
From New York and company. And they were these pinstripe suits they were.
00:49:21
Cute, and I would.
00:49:23
Go out there and and and get get customers and stuff like that. And I had the freaking time in my life and it it it taught me a lot at the young age of 20. So yeah, I I totally agree with you that college.
00:49:38
Shouldn’t just be for for education? I mean, you know, it should be for experimenting, more so on the entrepreneurship level and if you can take you some entrepreneurship classes. I tell people all the time you need to be.
00:49:52
Minor in in business.
00:49:54
Yeah, no.
00:49:57
Because there’s going to be a point that comes in your life where you may be forced to be an entrepreneur, you know, and once you have that experience, no one can take it away from you and you could jump right back.
00:50:12
Into it very very easily.
00:50:17
So yeah, there’s there’s that.
00:50:20
You said something else, so I need to get out my little, my little board so I can write.
00:50:24
Stuff down, but.
00:50:26
But yeah, that one really stuck out to me. And also you were talking about when you first started in the in the seminars and stuff and.
00:50:36
I didn’t. I didn’t think of that when I were in my early 20s, but that would have been something that would have.
00:50:41
Really probably pushed me over.
00:50:42
The edge is the seminars and I do the seminars. Now I started when I was working at Microsoft because I figured it gave me St. cred. You know how to do your LinkedIn and how to do your resume and all the other.
00:50:55
Kind of stuff.
00:50:56
Because I was recruited off of off of LinkedIn.
00:51:00
And I figured if if if somebody’s reaching out to me on there from a big big organization, then I got something to sell.
00:51:11
And so I started off doing those type of seminars and that’s how I built.
00:51:15
Up a list of people that I can pull from and sell to. So seminars are are really, really great when you have an idea and a topic that you can speak about and people really, really want to listen to my first.
00:51:31
The minar had two people in it.
00:51:35
Two people and then I built it up to over 150 at one time, which is crazy. But but yeah, that that stuck out to me too, you know. But outside of that, what are some tips and some tricks?
00:51:54
That you would give someone that wanted to be in your in your career.
00:52:01
What did you wish you knew when you started at the beginning, you kind of touched on it.
00:52:04
Where you were like you were stubborn. You were * and a hard head. And you know you had to get through that. And that’s someone that’s been through that too. I think we all have to.
00:52:16
But but yeah.
00:52:22
The one person that stuck out to me as you were talking.
00:52:25
I got to say his name because you’re from Sacramento and Aubrey Stone, you know, was one of my download mentors, you know, in terms of understanding it, transitioning from.
00:52:37
Going through my mentors and Laney College and then coming across him and his, his way of seeing the economics of the black community and and understanding he was doing seminars as part of his platforms. And and I never I never got into woven into them because they were.
00:52:57
Program situations and I’m a process variable, but I always think and thank him, because behind the scenes he was talking and telling me a lot of things.
00:53:09
Take the higher Rd. you know I. That’s that’s one of the most significant dynamics that a elder ever told me was about taking the High Road and what was meant when he said take the High Road because he saw that I was, you know, I was.
00:53:31
Individual strong minded, you know and I need to understand how to move through the people you know and let them have their space without dummying down because in his format you had to dummy down.
00:53:49
That’s why I never fit in, because I would never dumb it down because you learn.
00:53:55
That that’s what the school system does to black people. It makes you dummy down and when?
00:54:00
You get to college.
00:54:02
You waiting on someone to push your button to say the right buzzword and you’re sitting there in the seat.
00:54:07
But you, you.
00:54:08
Don’t. It’s like when I was coming from here. I.
00:54:10
Said I feel.
00:54:10
Behind what these kids fall behind the classroom because they’re waiting.
00:54:16
To perform to get the permission to perform OK, so I learned as I was moving through him. I learned how to take the High Road and sustain because I had to remove myself.
00:54:29
No, you remove you.
00:54:31
But you don’t leave, you remove you from the equation and power up. OK? I mean, again, we’re going back to the dream of winning. If you want to be a winner, you have to understand the circumstances that are involved surrounding the game you’re in.
00:54:48
And play the game.
00:54:50
But don’t give in to the demons that are in the game to take away your talent. The flow of your talent. Because, see, we’re talking about information flow, energy, action, feelings, the flow that you have to have as you go from 1:00 room to the next because it’s all competitive. I mean, when you sit down with your.
00:55:11
Their family, they shooting at you, they they call it game. You. You you don’t call.
00:55:16
The game you call it dead time because you don’t last thing you want to do in a family situation is have to have a business interaction. You know, when you gotta, you gotta tell them. Look, y’all gotta let me be in the room cause I’m not.
00:55:31
Gonna be like you. I’m not gonna.
00:55:34
I no, that’s what education is. No, my don’t. Don’t.
00:55:40
Be less than yourself in front of was supposed to be your support network.
00:55:46
Because you want them to aspire, understand the reality of America.
00:55:52
You cannot.
00:55:54
Power down because you break down the floor of your energy, action and feelings in the environment that they rely on. They don’t understand that. That’s why you admire me because I keep the flow of energy, action and feelings fluently moving through you and it’s inspiring. But yet.
00:56:14
Like Eli, Cole said, demoralizing because you’re not ready to compete at that level.
00:56:21
OK, take the High Road.
00:56:23
Don’t take the heart, remove yourself. Stand and play.
00:56:28
But let them have their space, but you’re still performing. But you didn’t. You didn’t know because everybody appreciate he removed themselves. I gotta deal him no more. But look what he did. OK, that’s that’s acceptable. He didn’t do it here, but he is doing it here.
00:56:43
Because it’s where I started. He didn’t give in. He just removed himself. He performed. You know what he’s about? You know how he does it. Now he’s over there doing it all over again. So I left work with the Chamber and went to, went to our Merced County. This same thing, got trouble. Superintendents and hold on store. But no, I’m saying to you that.
00:57:04
That’s what we’re talking about. That’s what you’re talking when I when I receive your information processing, you’re telling about the experience of going saying I am and no one’s gonna knock this out of me. I’m going to survive. I will.
00:57:21
Survive this and at the end of the day, like you said, when I’m 70, people will respect.
00:57:30
What I have built in me and shared with them and look at all of you that brought in that are doing much, much better because of the experience of you. I can say that, but everyone of my brothers, sisters right now now one of my poor not one all poor because of what I’m talking to you about.
00:57:50
The example and not.
00:57:53
Remove yourself.
00:57:54
Because that’s Eli coast. That’s bitterness.
00:57:58
OK, let them be better because they couldn’t go to school and figure it out and become a high achiever.
00:58:08
OK, outside the box return or in the box behaviors of in the box outside the box and excel in the box and outside the box you’re winning. That’s what winning is.
00:58:20
Being able to go inside the box, handle your business and still perform over here, handle your business and then they, yes, you’re alone, but you’re really not alone. You’re not alone.
00:58:32
Because what are you doing? You’re a leader amongst people that are afraid to follow.
00:58:38
Because they’re afraid to lose what they got.
00:58:41
But they’re using you as the example in closed doors, and that’s what life’s all about. You know, teach one, reach one, keep the community growing and evolving. We just keep coming. Like I’m saying to you, you just keep coming. You’re not going to stop, you’re going to keep coming. And they are watching and they are building that.
00:59:01
Flow of energy, action and feelings through every time they see you, and probably they reach a point where they say OK.
00:59:11
She’s right.
00:59:12
He’s right.
00:59:15
And we don’t want forgiveness. We just want you to understand we live in America, we can’t dumb it down.
00:59:21
We can’t dumb it down. Why? Because the minute we dumb it down.
00:59:25
Everything off.
00:59:29
Ancestors and four.
00:59:32
I feel.
00:59:35
You know.
00:59:36
You don’t know how many lines you check. I don’t. I can’t count the number of lines I’m changing because of the person I am when I walk inside these rooms and I go to, I go. I’ve been to seminars in Atlanta. See, I walk. I sit in the front. I don’t sit in the back. I sit in the front.
00:59:53
And I can hear the chirp, chirp, chirp and I can hear the people behind me saying, well, hear real deal here, a real deal. OK, being black in America, he a real deal. I’m not the one that’s in the power.
01:00:03
Seat. But I’m I.
01:00:04
Got the power, but I understand why I’m there. I understand how to move through that environment, but more importantly, I’m talking about the community.
01:00:12
Of me being in the front row or unknown but handling it.
01:00:16
Because, I mean, our kids go to go to university and sit in the back of the room.
01:00:21
No. Eloise Johnson taught me that. No, get your **** out of the back seat. Get in the front room.
01:00:27
OK, hit in the front room. Don’t sit in the back of the bus. Sit in the power seat and handle that pressure. No. Why? Because your brain.
01:00:38
Is manifesting itself at higher levels of focus and concentration. Because your defense mechanisms are working and you hear and feel everything, teasing, pulling peer pressure.
01:00:51
Right. You’re in the moment. What are you going to do? Chill, comprehend and need to change and be changed?
01:00:59
And then remove yourself because you had your fat herby in the world knows now. I’ve been the classroom where I’ve gone. I’ve been a classroom where one of the girls I went to school with who was a high flying a student was in the room and had the opportunity to watch me perform. So I got feedback.
01:01:19
I got positive feedback about the growth cycles and what the expectations were when I was going through the childhood experiences so.
01:01:29
I sat there.
01:01:30
Today, the real dream is what you’ve been talking to me about, moving through all that and understanding you have to find your own world. No, because that’s what that’s that’s. No, that’s that’s that’s. That’s why I take my hat off to our young people today, because that’s what they’re doing.
01:01:46
They’re creating that frontier themselves. No, no, it’s it’s unimaginable. But that’s we’re talking about.
01:01:54
Letting your praying be in the lead of your body. They don’t. Don’t let them shape your behavior and you be that.
01:02:02
Because you’re programmed to believe that’s you. That’s not you. See you. How many hats?
01:02:09
Did you wear?
01:02:11
How many rooms you walk in and now how many more rooms can you walk in a day because you kept it moving?
01:02:19
No, that’s that’s what that’s winning.
01:02:21
That’s winning because at the end of the day.
01:02:24
When I die.
01:02:26
I will die as Christopher Kevin Slater.
01:02:29
Well, he was this. He was that. He was a black man.
01:02:34
A black intellectual.
01:02:37
And an Academy.
01:02:40
He was a scientist. He was. No, no, no. No, no, no, no. This, you know, doubt, you know, in my family, they don’t. People don’t like me. They know he is.
01:02:51
The real deal.
01:02:51
That’s important when you come from where we come from and you know, in order for you to walk in the room and.
01:02:58
Display your intellect.
01:02:59
Publicly you got to be willing to take the consequences.
01:03:03
People are going to hate you because you dare display your intellect.
01:03:08
Amongst other ethnic groups.
01:03:12
And allow other.
01:03:14
People in your community to see you do it.
01:03:16
And be inspired by it.
01:03:19
And not be afraid.
01:03:22
Because the next moment they’re going to be the ones knocking at your door. I’m Tommy Wilson. Rounds telling.
01:03:28
You you can’t do that.
01:03:30
We’re gonna stop there.
01:03:32
Because we have to work harder, you’re making us work too hard. No, I’m making you wake up to the reality that our community will always be behind unless we step up and participate at the highest levels publicly.
01:03:44
Because we are mural physical systems, everybody can see us.
01:03:51
And when we dumb it down, they definitely see that.
01:03:56
That’s what I’m saying.
01:04:01
All right, doctor. Christopher slayton. We can wrap it up. You can give us. Uh.
01:04:11
A closing statement. Where can we find you anything you’re trying to sell? All.
01:04:17
All that good stuff.
01:04:21
My my new book is coming out brain talk.
01:04:25
Right. It’s going to be on Amazon, and it’s supposed to drop on Monday.
01:04:30
Right. I I have a website doctorslatelive.com that’s attached to that drop. I also have the brain’s body. I’ve been talking through.
01:04:41
OK. And that’s doctor Christopher case, layton.com?
01:04:46
I have my own podcast now. When I talk about podcast, I’m talking about what we’re talking about right now. I’m talking about talking and leaving enough messages.
01:04:58
For people to realize he was here and he was talking like this.
01:05:04
And I’m hearing all this. I didn’t hear him because that was the noise that were preventing me from just listening because we talked about self intelligences, which you and I’ve been talking about as human intelligence.
01:05:17
While being black.
01:05:19
But self intelligence that’s more acceptable because they think we’re talking self centeredness. But I always talk to you about the sense of feel for self, other people and the environment, because we’re inclusively competing.
01:05:32
See all the time so.
01:05:36
What’s another one? Wow, I think that website. Then I have my business website whichisbrainsbody.net.
01:05:45
Which you can get a free consultation with me and then we go from there. I do learning plans. I do all kinds of things to help you begin to understand the science of self.
01:05:58
As a human being, dealing with the emotion.
01:06:02
Because emotion is in everything you do, but so is thought, and the confusion is the conflict between your thinking.
01:06:12
And flowing through.
01:06:13
Potion and you have to balance that to understand the sense and receive path functions. So I say neurophysics because you are observable. That’s the environment of you and then you’re invisible, right. Which is the neural systems of you and then self.
01:06:33
Is between that functionality that allows you to know how to deal with emotion because you sense feel to focus.
01:06:46
You focus you and then you receive. Now messaging kicks in and you’re aware of what you’re processing, and that’s that emotion. So that emotion is now balanced. OK, so the thought and emotion is not, you know, any woman and you’re trying to figure out how to control yourself, because what we’re talking about.
01:07:06
Has since feel focused to inform the brain display the body, and manage your senses.
01:07:14
The way they all function fluidly because you have to focus the process cycles.
01:07:22
That you move through for contact interaction to cooperate, participate and perform at your highest levels while being emotional.
01:07:33
That you know, that’s brings by.net. Yeah. I hope I didn’t. I hope I didn’t go too far off the rails.
01:07:40
So you are magnificent. Let me say that too.
01:07:43
Your your testimony to me really motivated me cause you give me hope.
01:07:50
I never met you, but I can see how a person like you should have walked through our systems.
01:07:59
And how you?
01:07:59
Work. Walk through your systems.
01:08:02
And that Co action that you talked to just got me going because you’re the future and you’re also representing the futures future and you’re telling me, not hope, but help. Help is here. No, because I’m watching it.
01:08:18
So that’s that’s.
01:08:20
You’ve been magnificent for.
01:08:22
Thank you. I’m going. I just, I just do me figure like I figure like this you know my ancestors it it probably comes from my ancestors. You know, I don’t, I don’t consider myself to be anything spectacular.
01:08:24
You were.
01:08:28
I’m saying.
01:08:42
Or anything like that, because my ancestors, they’re the ones that that were spectacular to get me to this point.
01:08:51
So I I put all my all my, my faith in my in my I don’t know word I’m trying to use all my whatever I give all my blessings to my to my ancestors so I can be able to do these things. But thank you Doctor.
01:09:09
Christopher Slayton, for coming on my podcast nobody wants to work though. Y’all my name is Elyse Robinson, and y’all can find me at www.taxes.services.
01:09:22
And I just wanted to specify the date, the date your book comes out is January 15th, 2024 because I do like the date the podcast. So so people know these things.
01:09:37
Yeah, that’s that’s.
01:09:39
That’s pretty much it.
01:09:41
Thank you for your.
01:09:43
Thank you for having me.
01:09:46
Let me see. Yeah.
01:09:46
Stop it. Stop it. And Nope, I don’t want to end it. Here we go.
AboutWe're back with Season 2! An update on what's been going on and what's to come in the future.Elyse Y. Robinson: https://www.taxes.servicesNobody Wants To Work Tho Website - https://www.nobody.chatSubscribe To The Newsletter - https://www.switchintotech.comPodcast Host: Elyse Y. Robinson - https://www.data.gal/aboutListen On:Apple Podcast - https://nobody.fyi/appleSpotify - https://nobody.fyi/spotifyGoogle Podcast - https://nobody.fyi/googleDonate:Stripe - https://nobody.fyi/donateCashapp - $mselyserobinsonPatreon - https://nobody.fyi/patreonBe A Guest: https://nobody.fyi/guestAffiliates:Taxes and Services - https://www.taxes.servicesNube: Switch Into A Cloud Career Book - https://nobody.fyi/bookTech Freebies - https://nobody.fyi/freebiesMonthly Seminars - https://nobody.fyi/seminarsFull Tuition Scholarships - https://fullscholarships.orgData.gal - https://www.data.galAlternate Titles For The Algorithm:Work Avoidance ChroniclesAnti-9-to-5 VibesNot Another Work PodcastProcrastination StationThe 'I'd Rather Not Work' ShowEscape from the 9-to-5 TrapOffice Rebellion RadioClock Out and ChillWork? Nah, Let's Talk About Anything ElseThe Work-Free Zone PodcastShow Notes[00:00:02.290]Speaker 1: Hey, all. It's Elyse Robinson with the Nobody Wants to Work, though podcast. We are in season two, and I'm super excited because we're on season two, right? I'm making this song, Martin Luther King's birthday, During 15th. I will get my newsletter back up and running again. I know everything stopped abruptly, but I had a A lot of changes going on in my life. I think the last episode came out in May, May 2023, right? In between there, I mean, I moved back from Mexico, back to the States because I got a good ass job and work remote, working on my retirement, all that stuff. I figured I set myself myself up nicely in Mexico. So when I do retire, it was time for me to come back to the States and build my life here. So I can go back and forth easily. So I can go back and forth easily when I get old, right? So, yeah, in between May and now, like I said, I got a good ass job. I remote. I'm not in tech anymore, but as you all know, the tech industry imploded. So I gave up on that and went back to my first career, which was accounting.[00:01:43.080]Speaker 1: So now I am an accountant. What else? I'm not in Houston anymore. I moved to another state because I wanted to be a landlord, so I'm getting into real estate. And I have to say this is probably the best deal of my freaking life. Well, actually, no. I guess the property that I have in Mexico was a good deal, too. But this one, this one is ridiculously good. So I have a multifamily now. And like I said, I'm a freaking landlord. So for the past, In the last couple of months, I've been getting my property ready so I can rent it out. And basically, have someone else pay my living expenses, which is nice, right? Yeah, that's pretty much it. My job is cool. I'm learning a lot. I'm still debating if I want to my CPA license or not because they will pay for it, so why not? But yeah, I look here and there for IT work. But like I said, it's dried up, and I ain't got time to be going through six interviews to get a job. So I gave up on that. My eye is itchy. Outside of that, I really got nothing else for you all.[00:03:39.510]Speaker 1: It's been an exciting adventure these past couple of months, buying a house and moving So I went to my huge ass house. I fucking love it. It's almost a century old home. It's beautiful. It's very beautiful. So, yeah, I'm super excited about that, and I guess, getting my first tenant. I guess more so I wanted to do temporary housing because I don't necessarily care to have someone in here all the time. So when I don't feel like being bothered, I only got a couple of days for you to get your ass out, right? And then I could just leave it empty. So I'm going to mark it to, I I guess, foreigners.
About
Marta Gomez-Taylor, the unstoppable force! From teacher to writer, she unleashed her creative prowess and soared to new heights. Now, thriving in the remote realm, she dances with words, crafting tales that captivate hearts. With a perfect work-life balance, she's living her dreams and leaving the world breathless!
Marta Gomez-Taylor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martagomeztaylor/
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website - https://www.nobody.chat
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Ink and Inspiration: A Teacher's Transformation into a WordsmithBeyond the Classroom: Unleashing the Writer WithinFrom Lesson Plans to Bestsellers: A Teacher's Literary TriumphThe Narrative Metamorphosis: A Teacher's Tale of Becoming a WriterTeaching to Transcribing: The Adventures of a Teacher-turned-AuthorFrom Educator to Wordsmith: Unveiling the Hidden WriterBeyond Borders: A Teacher's Odyssey into the World of WritingTurning Pages, Changing Lives: The Remarkable Story of a Teacher-turned-WriterFrom Blackboard to Bookshelf: A Teacher's Epic Transition into Writing
Show Notes
0:01Hey y'all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I'm in tech, then let's get to it
0:19we are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to meet courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org.
0:44Hey, y'all, this is Elyse Robinson with the nobody wants to work though Podcast. Today. We have Marta as she is going to tell us about her career switch story. Go ahead and do an introduction Marta.
0:58Yes, so I am who am I, I was a teacher. And now I am a content writer. Working in b2b SaaS, world, I do content marketing in b2b SaaS, space. And yeah, so a little bit about my background, I was kind of served as an English major. And I won't, I won't take you all the way from college. But just as kind of one of those English majors who was like, I don't know what to do with my degree. And kind of fell into teaching as a lot of us do. Because we're told, like, that's one of the like things we can do one of the few things you can do our English degrees. And so I started teaching English as a second language online to adults. And I did that for about six years. And yeah, and I loved it. And I loved my students a lot. And I had students from around the world, which was my favorite part, just getting introduced to all these cultures and all these different people. I also talked a little bit in the classroom. And that was really, that was a great experience, too. But I like especially, like, towards the end of the six years, I kind of started to realize there was a bit of a like, misalignment in my, my personal personality and also my, you know, energy love my basically my capacity. There was a misalignment between that, and the what we're teaching really requires, I think, I don't think I was like, I don't think I'm a natural teacher. I think, and it was getting exhausting. And also, I discovered that I am most likely on the autism spectrum. So which when I discovered that I was like, Oh, wow,
About
Carla Jenkins and Elyse Robinson, two dynamic professionals, ignite a riveting discussion on career switching amidst a tumultuous economy. Their electric exchange amplifies the woes, unveiling a kaleidoscope of challenges and triumphs. Brace yourself as these powerhouses unlock the secrets to conquering uncertainty and seizing opportunities!
Carla Jenkins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlarjenkins/
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
The Maverick's Playbook: Carla Jenkins Ignites the Career Switching Revolution in the Midst of Economic TurmoilUnleashing the Power Within: Carla Jenkins' Thrilling Talk on Conquering Career Woes and Dominating the Economic LandscapeFrom Stagnation to Transformation: Carla Jenkins' Epic Journey of Career Switching and Economic ResilienceCarla Jenkins: The Game-Changer's Guide to Thriving in a Fluctuating Economy through Strategic Career SwitchingBeyond Boundaries: Carla Jenkins' Explosive Conversation on Overcoming Obstacles and Paving New Career Paths in a Turbulent EconomyIgniting the Spark: Carla Jenkins' Electrifying Exchange on Seizing Opportunities and Conquering Career Challenges amidst Economic ShiftsThe Rise of a Trailblazer: Carla Jenkins' Inspiring Discourse on Carving a New Career Path in the Face of Economic UncertaintyThriving Against the Odds: Carla Jenkins' Empowering Talk on Embracing Change and Succeeding in Today's Volatile EconomyThe Catalyst for Change: Carla Jenkins' Unforgettable Discussion on Career Switching Strategies and Flourishing Amidst Economic DisarrayBreaking Barriers, Building Dreams: Carla Jenkins' Captivating Dialogue on Redefining Success and Navigating Economic Upheavals through Career Switching
Show Notes
0:01Hey y'all. This is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts. I hope these stories will inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I'm in tech, then let's get to it
0:19we are switched into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org.
0:46Hey, yeah, it is Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work though podcast today we got Carla and me. I'm excited to have her because she was an economist in her past life. Now she in tech. Go ahead. Do you think Carla?
1:02Thank you for having me at least I greatly appreciate it. You know a little bit about me, I have over 15 years experience in it Cloud project management, both the private and public sectors. And I work as certified PMP and tech all around the globe. So I've had colleagues and companies on several different continents. And I'm just very happy to be interviewed by you today.
1:26Have you worked on different continents or just Yes,
1:29Tom, actually, I've had places where I had to work in London, when London, England I actually traveled there. And I also had colleagues that when I was doing the international teaching space and technical training, I had to work with people in Africa as well as in India. So I have a significant amount of global experience in dealing with people teams and all type of...
About
Meet Andre Apparicio, an ex-inmate turned inspiring public speaker. He empowers ex-incarcerated individuals by helping them secure employment and embark on a fresh start. Through his motivational speeches, Andre ignites hope and equips others with the tools needed to rebuild their lives and embrace a brand new future.
Andre Apparicio: https://www.itsaprocess.org
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Bars to Inspiration: A Journey of Redemption”
Transformed Lives: The Story of an Ex-Inmate Turned Motivational Speaker
Finding Freedom: An Ex-Con’s Roadmap to Rehabilitation
Redefining Second Chances: An Ex-Inmate’s Impact as a Public Speaker
From Prison Walls to Public Stages: A Story of Hope and Resilience
The Power of Change: How an Ex-Inmate Became a Voice for Transformation
Unlocked Potential: An Ex-Convict’s Journey to Empowerment and Success
The Voice of Transformation: Empowering Ex-Incarcerated Individuals
Behind Bars to Beyond Limits: Inspiring Lives After Incarceration
Show Notes
0:01
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
0:19
we are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org.
0:45
Hey, Alice, Elyse Robinson with the nobody wants to work though podcast. And today I have Andre, go ahead and introduce yourself. Tell us where you started and where you ended up at now.
0:58
Hey, everybody, my name is Andre Risio. Where did I start? From the very bottom. I started actually twice, I started my community. And then I started, actually, when I was released back into my community, when I came home from prison, I knew there was two things that I realized in prison. One was that I wasn’t coming back there and two was that I didn’t like people telling me what to do. So I knew that I wanted to make sure that even if I had a job, it wasn’t one of those where he was going to be on my back telling me what to do, I wanted to have a lot of freedom with that. But of course, with those types of opportunities, a lot of build up comes before that, there’s a lot of things you got to do before you can just sit here and demand to not have nobody on your back, people got to know that you know what you’re doing. And also you got to make sure that you know, you have the same way that individuals have paper trails, there’s so many other things that you have these things following you saying this is what you do. This is what you spent fighting. So right now I am consultant, I do a lot of work for different organizations that deal with our youth that deal with the justice system that deals with just overall education, everyday type education. I just recently got proposals accepted to do a program that I put together, that’s to teach our youth about the laws regarding our miners working labor laws. And you know, so that’s some of the things that I do, I try to find a way to get in between what’s going on, there are a lot of other things that’s going on now I’m not new, they’re not going to be under the sun. So if you want to actually get into some of these fields that you’re looking into, you want to try to bring something to the table, especially as a consultant piece. A lot of individuals have already done numerous professional developments and all those other things. So you’re gonna have to come up with something different. And a lot of the times, what I find is that I just make it relatable. What’s gotten me here is just not straying too far from what got me in prison. And that was ideally just being around the community, except focusing the energy on other things. And it’s worked, it’s worked to perfection. So you know, that’s what I think transferable skills got me here, if I can kind of, like try to pinpoint it. And because a lot of the things that I was doing previously before my incarceration, I’m still doing that. Still taking charge. I’m still speaking, I’m still, you know, litigating and in addition, out work and old, all those things, except more on a brighter note. So, you know, if I had to say what got me here is definitely the transferable skills is definitely the fact that like I said, I didn’t want to go back to prison. It was definitely the fact that I want my own time I wanted to be the master of my own time.
4:21
Amen to that. Here’s a fun one. What did you want to be when you grew up?
4:30
A basketball player, a basketball player. I was. I was so serious. I would go to our wake up before school, go and practice before school, come home, shower, eat, go go to school, playing basketball, and certain things just died out. But yeah, that was my goal. I wanted to be a basketball player. For quite some time. I never really had any other aspirations to do any Anything else, I knew my father he did floors. So I knew he was like the floor man, everybody called and you know, big out of floor man, he did a lot of sanding floors, he did a lot of paints and stuff like that. So when I was younger, he took me on those job opportunities. And it was done. I knew I didn’t want to do that. So that was a good opportunity for me. Don’t get me wrong, I watched him the great money. But it just wasn’t something that I was interested in. In the atrium when he trained me, I was really good at it. And I think that just because I wanted to get it done and overweight. And I think that’s when I decided really, I like jobs, like how my father had, where it was a want you to come to this floor, he did the floor, and he went about his business, you know, I didn’t want to, I didn’t feel the need to work nine to five, like, let me go in there and knock this whole thing out on the day, take all this money home and worry about the next opportunity when it comes. And, you know, so once I started working nine to five, to be honest with you, it was like, whoa, I’m doing all this for this. And I watched my father work from seven in the morning to two and a half an hour and make 1400 hours just you know, here I didn’t work and for at that time, I think it was like $10 an hour. So you know, a lot of things, you know, just just came into play with that. But yeah, that’s what I wanted to be a basketball player. And if I had to, like really think about something secondary, I probably would have been a form and only because I knew how to do it.
6:34
All right, right. But I’m pretty sure your father did not start out making 14 handed out so you got to get to remember that
6:42
in that piece too. You know, and that was his helper you know, like he was the main flow and if you know about flows, he was the main floor man that had the Big Sandy machine and I watched him bring what they call edges and those are the individuals that usually did along the walls with the smaller edges and they actually you know, kind of did like the finish work as far as putting Polly on the floor and stuff like that but I watched him even make like 250 in a day and to me I was like well they may get some money you know because I’m like they didn’t they’re not even working as hard and that’s what I seen I seen them not working as hard. I seen them working together and I seen that you know you can make a lot of money doing something that you enjoy and that was my father He enjoyed his job he the same way he could easily just went home after two but guess what he was going to go do a no whole other job until the evening time you know he it wasn’t work to him he got up he did floors it just happened to be a opportunity where he made a lot of money
7:45
ya know, my mother was a clerk for the government My father was a janitor for the government so for me to you know, be an auditor and be in tech and things like that is crazy but my my mother always ingrained in me and my sister. You know, don’t go click clack and awning keys, which I do anyway, all frickin day long. Because my mom had real bad, you know, carpal tunnel and arthritis in her hands and stuff like that she was I don’t want you to click clacking on him keys. But, uh, yeah, like, you know, I guess I followed in my parents footsteps, government stuff. I just didn’t do the same stuff they did. It was like, make sure you don’t use your body, you know, to do work and stuff like that, because you’ll be done and out by time. You’re 40 years old. And I mean, most people aren’t retiring at 40. You know what I’m saying? So, so yeah, no, I
8:40
was thinking about it. My father’s body is in shambles from doing that hard about it. He has all types of nerve issues, because what he didn’t know was running that machine on a bare floor, the vibration from the machines went up his hands. And so he had like, carpets turned on and off, right? Is that run down his arms and stuff like that? No, a lot of these things you don’t really look at because you’re looking at the money aspect and all these other things. And that’s why, you know, I do the work that I do, because I feel like it helps puts me in a position to one, like I said, be the master of my time to be able to be at home and in peace. You know, strategize. And three. Not actually doing physical labor has never actually been mopping. Yes, I can do it. Yes, I’ll do it. But it’s like it’s never been one of those things where I’m like, I’m okay we deal with this. I’m not. I know that there are so many different things. And I tell you one of the main reasons that stem from that when I came home I was in the outpatient treatment program. And after I was done and complete on like the anger management and substance piece this was to help me with employment. So I was already working but they was like, go there so you can get a scholarship because we want Shouldn’t be a counselor since you’ve been in his program. Like when you speak in groups, people listen, you know what I mean? You seem to know what to say, you seem to motivate others. So you know, we think you should be a counselor. And as many people have told me before that I was kind of like, Yeah, I’m gonna go. And when I went to this space to go for the scholarship, my counsel at that time was supposed to be my access VR counselor, who was supposed to pay for like the scholarship, they just kind of like evaluate you. And you go from there. And he said, I think you’d be better off working with your hands. And I was like, what, and I mean, I don’t know how far this partner gets go. But he was white, I was young and black, coming home from jail. And it didn’t sit right with me at all. And I told him, you know, some words, and I left. And when I went back to the program, surprisingly well, to me, they had my back, they found like a grievance on my behalf that he like, you know, he had to go through a whole process of being investigated, which, of course, he lied again, you know, but there was just like, we just don’t see how we’ve never discussed construction with him. He goes all the way to you, for the first time seeing you. And he says that he wants to do construction, know, like, it just doesn’t seem logical. But he stuck with it. And that kind of really kind of pushed me into doing when I went to school for the drug counseling. And I went from it, that was really like my back door to doing everything that I was doing. All of these things are aligned for me, from the individuals that I’ve met, so the people, places and things were all of these things connected to, you know, to where I am today to where I, you know, I’m only a few signatures away from my actual drug license, I just have to fill out the applications and be downloaded and sent in about half of everything I pass the state exam, I have the 6000 hours and all of this other stuff, you know, so it’s like, great, and then me knowing the facts that I know about drugs and how they correlate to crime. Yeah, how are you are, you know, the, between the ages of 14 to 16. In America, there’s two things that happen without you. One, they usually try first drink a drug of choice, and two, they usually commit their first crime. And all of those a lot of the times tied to alcohol, because one of the first things that individuals usually try, even though they say that marijuana was a gateway, drug, alcohol was more accessible, and more able to cover so individuals usually go for alcohol, instead of having their smokes. But unfortunately, 40% of violent crimes committed were under the influence of alcohol. So you know, all of these things tie in together, which is why I wanted to create my own programming where it can be relatable without you, but I can actually speak about what’s going on with this drug use, and how these things tie together, and just make the correlation. When you have more liquor stores and community program places, there’s probably going to be more crap. So you know, and that’s what I get to do. And that’s why I love the freedom of what I do. You know, I stand on everything that I stand on, I don’t have to really look to any organization to kind of like Kashmir or anything like that I operate solo, if I’m not feeling something, I’m gonna say it, I’m gonna speak my mind. And I’m gonna get into spaces where I’m going to be heard and make some changes. So you know, things like that motivate me. And seeing others thrive, motivate me as well, you know, so. And that’s why I kind of like do a lot of work with just helping individuals that are entrepreneurs that do want to get into different spaces. I’m not charging you 297 For a Google document that was stolen off of Google, you know, like, I’m not going to charge you the 297 and slash it from the 497. I’m not going to do that. No, you come on over here and get this information and make sure that you pay it forward. Like, that’s the ideal thing for me.
14:09
I was hilarious, because I charge I charge $99 For a whole year for a home.
14:17
Exactly, you know, unless you give me some actual resources. So
14:21
I got real testimonials and
14:27
297
14:29
Maybe, I mean, my prized collection of machines must have is cheap, cheap, cheap. But not going back to the 40 to 60. You know, I’m thinking back when I was that age, and yeah, I tried my first drink when I was 16. And I got you know, I didn’t know my limits, though. You know, I mean, they’re just totally I’m told what you know, they don’t tell them I didn’t like to fill in those. I didn’t drink again until I was like my late 20s. Like, honestly I didn’t like it. But now Should I just do a wine bottle away today? I got I got aches, I got her, I call them hurts. That’s what I call them, I call them hurts.
15:13
You’re able to control a bed. And that’s all I want individuals to understand. We can’t possibly be putting all this stuff here we have all these statistics, we know that, you know, on top of all of these other things, and then we mentioned the fact that an individual’s brain doesn’t fully develop to 2324 years old. And still, we can we try to hold our youth at full, you know, responsibility, like it just doesn’t make any sense because we’re not doing anything to help prevent it, you know, so, you know, just really coming to that understanding. And putting that information out there. You know, just little things like that. Like I said, That’s what I enjoy. I enjoy being for the people speaking for the people and watching everybody throughout.
15:56
So definitely because I’m thinking back to when I was like maybe 910, tennis around that age, a little bit older. We do like every year, in my hometown, I’m originally from Sacramento, California, sac town. And yeah, during during the summer, they used to have these programs in my grandma’s neighborhood. And you know, my mom was signing us up for it and stuff, me and my sister and we would get free food and they would do activities with us. And they had games out there at the park like literally up the street. And I don’t know if they do that anymore. Like honestly, um, and then somebody was telling me about ROP the other day, we were having a conversation about ROP, I was like, You know what, I remember ROP and they were telling me they have a software engineering and stuff now and I’m like, yeah, like they have medical assistant, and I forget what else they had when I was a kid, but I was like, Oh, they have, you know, tech stuff now, which is crazy. So, um, I mean, I don’t know, if they still have all that stuff anymore. I mean, what is it called? Not a miracle, your job corps Job Corps, I just, I don’t know, the kids.
17:08
A lot of these programs aren’t there. And if they are, they’re not making the same impact. And then also, like, minimize the amount of kids that can participate. Right, that’s another issue. Because now it becomes a graph. You know, everybody knows, you know, historically, those that have less, usually get less. So you know, and that’s where, you know, we stand with that. But, you know, they don’t, they don’t have a lot of those programs that we have, they don’t like I will tell them. In my neighborhood, the high school at the Altos was an open gym, going there play ball, we wouldn’t have to be outside, they asked security. So even though they could watch a whole lot of stuff, and from six to I think 930 You know, by that time, you ain’t gonna want to hang out on the streets, if you just play ball for three and a half asleep. To go get Chinese food, people took a shower and went to sleep. But they don’t have those things that’s out there. And I actually sat in on a meeting one day, and the dude was like, you know that someone was screaming about rec centers. And I’m like, This is not 1969 we do not need to open up a rec center. You know, when we have all of these buildings that are right here. You know, we have legit schools that are wrecks,
18:24
abandoned buildings that that
18:26
know and to do this, like, oh, this, and we can’t afford to pay the security guys extra to stay. So we’ll listen. If you see that you’re gonna pay for these kids, and they’re deaf, or you’re going to pay for them while they’re here. But either way you got to pay, it just depends on what you guys want to pay. And, you know, some lady was lying. And the whole room got quiet. And I’m like, I would love to sit here and kick it with y’all and pretend like it’s not that serious. But it is. And we’ve seen this, you know, and Things only get worse, as things are getting tough, especially during the COVID and all those other things. To me, the economical impact on my community was crazy. You know, like, Absolutely, uh, you know, wherever there’s poverty, there’s crime. Yeah, it just goes hand in hand. So you know, when they’re talking about all these things that are up in crime is up, and they’re blaming it on, you know, bail reform and stuff like that, like not let’s stick to the facts here. Crime is up, because people out here started in trying to make a way in trying to figure out a way and and they can’t so you know, and that’s why a lot of different opportunities that I have with organizations, I try to, you know, they, they know what they’re calling me before, but I also try to leave a little extra and try to leave a little spark, I like to say, you know, maybe you can do this to improve what you’re doing, you know, and try to get them to reach out to you more and go a lot further. Because a lot of these organizations are established that I work with. Their problem is they’re just not really good with strategizing with certain things. And I think that just boils down to individual was not understanding that sometime, you didn’t need an individual live experience to be a part of your program. No, they’re not gonna come with like master’s degrees and doctorates and all of these other things. But that doesn’t mean that the information is not valid as well. You know, and so I try to make sure that I help people understand that a bridge ain’t nothing but a ladder that’s laid down, we have to all you know, get across this, you know what I mean? And we got to take this step by step, you know, and, and do this the right way.
20:33
Definitely, there was a post on Twitter today that I read funny enough, and they were saying how they were trying to get into a program for a not a program, they were trying to, like teach at a program for incarcerated individuals, and you know, they had been incarcerated, and they didn’t get their application looked at, and, you know, like, they have the experience and all that other kind of stuff, who would be better than to talk about incarcerated stuff than somebody that’s been incarcerated, right. And, you know, of course, they got filtered out because of their record. And he said that an apprenticeship didn’t ask the question about his record or anything like that. So he went into, you know, construction, construction, and you know, it just hurt is hurt his soul and stuff, because he really wanted that job and stuff, and he was the perfect fit. But, you know, due to the record, it cause problems. So I guess my question is, you know, how have you been able to navigate this stuff, you know, not having the degrees not having certifications? And, you know, having the record Have you had to, you know, stumble some heads? I mean, what was your process?
21:50
I mean, for me, having my felonies and my GED and a few certifications. What really helped me out was my network. That’s not what you knows who, you know, a lot of those cases, I was able to navigate certain situations because of who I knew, wanted a main parole, she was the supervisor of gang parole, when I first came on, she was the first person that I met, talking kind of crazy, but because of who I was on paper, I could understand her approach. You know what I mean, I was just coming home, individuals that were a part of the same game as me that I came home have went right back for even worse crimes. So they’re pretty much like, look, and you ain’t about to continue this stuff that’s going on, you know, um, but she ended up being one of the biggest helpers and support us down to sending my children baby shower gifts, you know, like, we’ve gotten that close. She’s written plenty of character reference letters, for me, allowed me to run gang groups inside the parole building that opened up a library slash bookstore in the pearl building, where I gave out books for free and we gave out over 300 books, well program that they told us that probably wouldn’t even work because none of the individuals would want to take a book yet I got over 300 signatures on paper, books being taken out, you know, so for me is definitely about who I knew, then it also was about the time and I would say, a lot of people complain from the outside. Sometimes you gotta go over those meetings, there are a lot of community meeting that you can put yourself in there. Once enough people see you there, there’ll be like, I remember him from this. Let’s bring him over here. Let’s do that. I tell people all the time. I’ve had the biggest opportunities come from when I volunteer at certain spaces. When you go to volunteer events, and you meet other volunteers, they’re usually people of your stature, to be honest with you, very rare, you know, individuals, you know, just stumbling off or somewhere, they usually individuals that can help you in some way, especially depending on the cause, you know, people usually come together for certain things. I know that I did an event with I did a podcast with the individual and come to find out he was the foot. He was an area of bid like he was the Business Director for all of the businesses in that area. And he literally had like the keys to the vacant businesses in that area and stuff like that. I had no idea what I was I just heard he had told me that he wanted to do a volunteer event and they give out turkeys and he needed volunteers. And I called my tribe and we pulled up and we did that and come after we sit down when we realize this man is literally like the key to the city. Now if I ever need to do an event, I can literally call him I don’t have to pay for space. He just give me the keys to space. He connected me with so many different other individuals, so many different schools. He connected me reconnect me with an individual. That was one of the Union reps for the Board of Education, the teachers for the Union. And you know, that individual connected me with some The different schools that I spoke at and stuff like that. So, you know, I will definitely tell you that can network, I’ll definitely tell you that volunteering helped me get to those spaces, and also our member council that’s telling me you’re doing good. But make sure that your passion and your skill set and line, perfecting your craft. If you look at my resume, you’ll see at least something a year bar and last year, where I took a course in my field certification course, whether it be eight hours, 16 hours a week, always trying to refresh and see what’s going on and make sure that I’m not just out here with my feelings, because feelings are facts, I need to go out there with the facts. So, you know, I want to make sure that I’m doing that and getting the facts and figuring out what’s going on. And, and just really doing my own research, and not even knowing that that’s the whole job in itself, you know, Hey, I am doing research should I can just talk to people, and people will certainly like, you know, the type of research that you do people get paid for that. Like you literally research everything from household Louisiana, from that, from the income to the education to the health to the maternity health, and put it in a document, do you know somebody would buy that from you? You know, so it was like, wow, like when you think you’re just doing something, you know, just for the cause. So many other things open up. So I encourage individuals to definitely volunteer. A lot of connections I made was at Korea days, to be honest with you. People will hear my story at a Korean occasion are usually going home with three other individuals in talking. And afterwards, they pulled me to the side like, yeah, I need you, you should speak here and you should speak there, you should do that. So you know that in podcasts like this, you never know who’s saying that I tell you this, the first time I ever spoke in public was at a church. And there was seven people there and five people were my family members. And it was one person and then it was a lady that worked at probation. And that lady at probation because event that the church put on and that lady that worked for that probation opened up the biggest doors. I spoke about probation twice and I was able to speak at because probation was like we heard you speak I mean, parole was like we heard you speak in our probation by you and tell us you speak. And it just opened up the doors. And it went from speaking at probation to those kids to me having three offices in the parole builder whilst they’re on parole.
27:32
Now, for real, though, you got me laughing because my first event that I did in 2021, if you I don’t know I do. I do monthly seminars. Usually I’m not having one this month, because I’m doing a big one next month, I’m hoping and praying, um, which is from zero to 100,000. Actually, this won’t be aired this time, but I’ll talk about it anyways, from zero to 100,000 in a government job. That’s, that’s one of my seminars that I’m doing. And my very first seminar that I did, I didn’t even do it, I got scared. I was like, I got the bubble guts. And I delayed it. It was May 2021. I was supposed to do it. And I delayed it to June 2021. I was like, Yeah, I’m gonna do it this time, right? Because I came across this black man. And he was like, even if you have one person show up, go ahead and do it anyway. So my first seminar, I didn’t really mark it that well, I’ll be honest, and two people showed up. And you know, I did a lie, resume review, I think, I think it was because I do live resume reviews and live lengthy reviews, I’ll always keep those for free. And one of the people ended up laughing at me at the end, because I was like, Yeah, I have two people, I didn’t really market it well, and somebody laughed at me. But then I grew to you know, 55 people in you know, whatever it so you know, it is what it is, but you’re right, consistency is key, you know, going out and volunteering. And you know, just I mean just being there. A lot of times you ain’t got to talk because somebody will come up to you and be like, Hey, who are you? Why are you here?
29:13
I do you want to hang around your future. You know, they told me if you hang around the barbershop long enough, you’re gonna get a haircut. So I always wanted to make sure that the things that I was doing, I was hanging around people that’s already doing it. It’ll make no sense me chillin with my pops, and he doing floors. And I’m trying to do this, to be honest with you. And that’s what I did when I said I wanted to do my nonprofit. My whole phonebook was full of people with nonprofits when I said I wanted to get into this stuff, a whole form. And then I looked down I got such a diverse phonebook of just different connections. Because you don’t just want one person in the field you want to make sure that you connect with a bunch of different people get a bunch of different views. You know, a lot of the sounds of the work that I do like proposals and stuff like that for speaking engagements, you know, just make Ensure that I know how to approach knowing who you’re approaching. Knowing that I tell you one thing I go as far as sometimes when I’m doing speaking engagements, I asked for the guest list. And I tell them that I want to give a gift, which I do, I usually give like some wristbands. But my purpose is to get the guest list. So I can look at those names and figure out what they do see who I want to connect with, and cater my speech to that. And it’s worked like a charm, you know, so, you know, it’s about being intentional and strategic, and, you know, having a plan because, you know, a goal without a plan is just a wish. And you’ll see it a lot of time, a lot of people are just like, yeah, I want to do this. And then it’s like, well, what’s the plan? It’s like, Well, I’m just gonna let it flow. Right? Right. This is not a let it flow world. Oh, no, who’s selling these dreams, probably the same people selling it for 297. But this is not, it’s not a let it flow world, we need to make sure that we understand that we got to be strategic. Everybody that has been strategic and operating from a strategic standpoint, are successful. So why would you think you could just let it flow? You know, it’s about finding that balance. You know, you don’t have to be like the next person. But there are some foundations to success. You know what I mean? And please don’t be afraid to spend money to make money. Marketing is super duper key. And if you’re having issues with that, I always tell people, as a networker, you know, I just network with some individuals that are good with marketing, you know, and they generally helped me with that. And then they’re like, Well, do you how you go with this, and we bought a services. There’s nothing wrong with that. Modern services. You know, at least we didn’t, you didn’t help me out with my organization stuff.
32:02
Like $1,000, he was like, Look, send me this. And we can do make this happened, you know, like, and people don’t even know that. Like, that’s how deep it is. And that’s why it’s important to have like minded individuals, because me and her we bubble information and thoughts and ideas all the time. You know what I mean? She’ll tell me should do it? You know, because I’m forever grateful for her doing that for me.
32:30
Oh, I forgot. Yeah, I didn’t say in the beginning that we knew each other, but we should we got wet five years back.
32:37
Like, you know, just making sure that you have individuals that their goals are set like that, because I’m on their old everybody else’s, but I didn’t get no younger no matter what my age is no. So I’m trying to, I’m not trying to get old and have to work twice as hard as when I was when I was younger, that’s not gonna happen. That’s not what I’m looking to do. I’m looking to invest in myself, invest in a team, and invest in a goal. So when I invest in myself, I’m not worried about as people always talking about when I get to the team for when I invest in myself, I’m so invested in myself that I know the team that I’m building, this isn’t some team that I’m just pulling out of thin air. This is a team that’s coming from when I was invested in myself, and making sure that I’m keeping the right individuals around me. Because that’s a part of investing in yourself, making sure that you’re not just having anybody just pour into you. You know, like I tell everybody will tell how body is like nothing but a whole bunch of pores. You know, like, there’s so many ways to get into the human body. Just think about that. From a mindset standpoint. There’s so many different holes that misinformation can get into your mind. There’s so many different ways there’s so much ways of infant misinformation, you know, whether it be Twitter or Facebook, or I see some people post stuff, put statistic numbers on it, and people believe it. Like this, this is a strange time. I’m not gonna lie. You know, people just be like, hey, you know, 98% of people in Houston, listen to the lease, you know, like, Damn, that’s crazy. Like, but it really be like so you gotta be mob. I tell people all the time. Selling. Common sense is at an all time high. Be Be careful. People are selling common sense. Elliott, if you just took two seconds, you could have saved yourself that 297 I’m gonna stay and let you know.
34:32
I sent my sister So today it was uh, it was I think he was like 19 or something and he was kissing up on his old woman right? Everybody’s you know, research so shout out to my sister like, look at this right? So my dad they always on Tik Tok playing around with his grandma on life. See what you thought right?
34:56
He said old time high and it’s no buddies fool. That’s just how it is. You know? Like, I’ll tell him I’ll pop I’m like, Damn, you must have been a pirate bro. He was really driving from Queens to Brooklyn with no, Matt, that’s crazy to me.
35:13
I mean, were you that much younger than me. But I mean, you know, back in the day, we used to print out the instructions.
35:23
When I was younger, he would never do that. He would just know the streets. And I’m like, yo, this is good. And when I was up there last time, I’m driving, I put the GPS and they go to my house. And he’s like, boy, you know, your houses. I’m like, Yes, I know what my house is, oh, man, I said, but this helps me in case there is traffic in a way that I go, I can go the other way that he sat back and was like, that’s just Oh, you’re using the GPS, I’m like you should. It’s coming back around, it’s coming back around. But you know, all in all, though, you want to make sure that, you know, you’re putting in the destination with anything that you’re doing, I find a lot of people that are just like, you know, hopping on that maps, and just trying to get to Hawaii, so to speak. But if your input, no exact, you know, location is going to be really difficult for them to calculate that. And so you know, when you have the exact destination that you’re looking for, you’re able to calculate it better. And I believe that the journey is able to be better, because let me tell you, obstacles aren’t optional. So you better you know, tie that into the journey, that there will be some obstacles, it will get rocky, you know, and how you respond to that. respond versus react, you know, because first, a lot of times we react first, and that is exactly the best thing that we do when we react, but how you respond to what’s going on, is gonna be key to how you, you know, Excel and how you grow. I always tell people, if you are sitting here, and you’re the CEO of your business, but you have so many things on your mind, and you’re so distracted, how could you really run a successful business? You know, so taking KSL, I’m I went to a meeting when I did the proposal for the library. And what I found interesting was that the staff mean, it was in, they were welcomed in new individuals, I was coming on staff, and she said here, you take care of yourself, first, you take care of your family, and then you take care of your job. Those two things come before this job. Because if we know that if there’s something going on with either or you probably won’t be great at your job here, we try to make sure that we all doing great at our job. And I found that very interesting. I’ve never heard a company say some shit like that. I was like, Whoa, like, What do you mean yourself and then your family. But as I’m sitting there, I’m like, wow, you know, and you know, me, I went back like, well, how does it go, and they literally have like, damn near unlimited days off and how to you know what I mean? It’s, it’s really interesting, because of the work that they do in their department, they’re able to gain a lot of hours able to take off, you know, and she just said, you know, just to make sure when you have projects coming up, that you don’t just leave the team hanging, and everything is everything, you know, and just speaking to some of the individuals that have been there for years, they like it was a smooth job, you don’t feel like a job, when you don’t feel the forest, they don’t have a nine to five, they don’t have to wake up every day, every time they work in that nine to five, set your schedule for the work you got to do. You know, and I think that that stuff like that is important. You know what I mean? It just starts to give the individual that space in their freedom. So you know, if you don’t have that you want to try to create some time for that for yourself. is very, very important. Man. I always tell people, you will not be successful when a clouded mind, no matter what they say, you know, yeah, people do come from the struggling stuff. But there’s a part of that struggle where you have an understanding that things are gonna get better. Not many people are successful when they’re like, Man, I’m never gonna get out of this. No, when you start talking different when you start thinking different, you start moving different. And that’s kind of how you know a lot of these things transpire. So, like I said, be ready for whatever that comes at you. Build your network. Focus on self. Focus on your goals. write those things down, do vision boards, speak to individuals, get an accountability partner, read a damn book, read a book, watch YouTube, I don’t care, listen to a book, something. You know, you have all of this time and so much time that people spend on the internet and all these other things looking at 19 year olds and everyday Grandma, you know, like we got to figure out, you know that there’s some actual
39:46
I did. I passed my class today with an A, so I’m gonna look at whatever I want to look at today.
39:56
She already did the work. That’s what I want you to do once you
39:59
already did. In my work, I woke up at like six o’clock this morning was like, let me finish my class so I could be free the rest of the day. And we talk about self care. I gave him a massage every week, because that’s myself. Eat me some beans and rice. But I will have my massage. Hey, every day, that massage and Spanish.
40:21
Hi, I’m just trying to get to where you are. I need that right? I need me a massage. I had
40:27
to take my vision board down because it was right here in the corner, I’d take it down because I didn’t want to buy feet boards over here. And I’m trying to pick how many things that I crossed off last year because I crossed off. One. I think I might have crossed out like two or three things last year, so and what was Major? What was real major? So? So yeah, so yeah, um, so I’m proud of myself. So I got a whole bunch of other stuff on here. And we’re just like, at this point on my, do I really want to do it, but it’s all in there. But I guess this would be a last question, because you kind of went through most of the questions already. I guess, you know, Were you always this way where you you, you thought that you were going to be a you know, a public speaker or writer and all this other kind of stuff. Like Were you always out here, you know, counseling people, let me say that,
41:27
I will say this, I always was the one that was the leader. Even when I like gangbang and ran the street, I was one of the top dog. So I was always able to delegate certain things. And this is what it was. And then at the height of the gang era, when everybody was just beacon literally over colors, I was seen as the liberal one. And like, you know, he would hang out with, you know, opposite gang members and stuff like that, because I really didn’t care anything about that I was about my money. I didn’t care what color flag you had, because money was green. And we did and folk did wigger. And so it didn’t matter to me. And I kind of took those things in it evolved. And like I said, how everything was connected. I actually at one point in prison and ended up in a drug house what I was actually doing programming. And the interesting part about that was I was placed there because I came in off the box. And they were saying you know, you can just chill here. It’s a drill program house, it’s not a lot of gang banging stuff. Just relax it until we figure out what’s what’s what. And what I found interesting is in that dorm, there was about 47 beds, probably about 40 people in a dorm, and probably over 30 of them, we get up every morning, around nine o’clock, doing nine o’clock morning meetings from like nine to 11, they’ll take a break to have lunch after that, they’ll come back for another meeting from like one to three. And it was one helping with their cases, but tools also helping bring it up the day of being in prison doing nothing. So I’m being one of those journalists. And if you know the difference between jail and prison and in prison, you can move around a lot more, you can do a lot more stuff, because you have your time and whatever, in jail, it’s just holding you. So a lot of the time just spending it just in the door, you know, like, so it was something to get up and do and as I started to get up and participate, because I’m like, I might as well break up the day before I knew it before I even left that door. And I was actually running the morning meetings. So I would have to wake up early and get the newspaper and figure out a topic for the day, I would try to figure out a song that everybody would know, I would try to figure out something that happened has to do with substance use. So usually it was like a drunk drive or something like that, and an article and I’ll read it and get their opinions. And then lo and behold, I go say I do my time I come home, I go to this outpatient drug program, I meet a counselor that did 25 years and was working on her third master’s degree. And she’s telling me that, you know, you will be a great counselor because of how you speak and my boys on the street, like you always been like our counselor, and stuff like that. And then the stuff that I do now is exactly what I was doing in prison those years ago. You know, except I have more resources and they have more flexibility. But I still run groups, I still, you know, help put things together, I still got to look and see what’s going on with different topics and how I can incorporate it and what’s going on with the groups and stuff like that. And, you know, I didn’t plan on doing any of this until I started really looking at you know, what would give me the best opportunity for one to have the freedom that I want to make the money that I want and three, my main thing was traveling. I never got to travel much. I met a bunch of individuals that was incarcerated for one individual for almost 43 years when I met him and he probably still isn’t home, you know, if he’s still alive, and he literally was like Man, when you go out there just travel for me, you know Write me no nothing. I just know that, you know, in here, you’ve been a man about your words. So I know when you go home, you’re gonna hate the industry you go, you know, when you get yourself together, you’re gonna start traveling. And, you know, and that’s what I did, I started to travel. And just like I told you about the volunteer piece, I said, You know what, I’m gonna do a dual purpose. So my best friend worked for American Airlines, I was able to fly domestically for free. So I would choose the city I was going to fly to the day before, I will call them and let them know that I am a person that was formerly incarcerated. And I like to speak and I’ll volunteer to speak for free at the space. If they had the availability, on while I was there. And sometimes it works. Sometimes it didn’t, they would say, you know, they need a little bit more clearance, depending on the facility. But um, you know, it got me into different speaking engagements in different cities. And I was able to be like, Hey, I just came out here to speak to you out, you know, in the chair. And it was true, you know, I wanted to make sure, and doing all that volunteering connected me to Matt, a lot of different things like Oh, tell people, they don’t see opportunities, because there’s not a check connected to the end of it. But I was hoping yet, you know, you take care of the people that people are going to take care of you. I went from, and I’m actually looking to put something together, I was just talking to my boy about it. I call it from bookings to bookings would help them people get booked for different speaking engagements. When I was in bookings, that took me to Rikers owl. And I was like, Damn, you know, how did I get to this destination, and then I figured it out, you know, running the streets, doing criminal activity, all those other things. And then now to go in and putting a proposal together the night before and sitting in a meeting for 10 minutes. And they like agreeing to no multiple libraries would have $4,000 contract, I think, and we took in 10 hours of work. You know, so it’s like, if you want to look at it from the money aspect, hey, that’s dope, too. But I’m still looking at from what I look at it from the impact aspect, and I lead with money to make that impact. And then the money is just attached with it. You know, so I’m gonna don’t be scared to step out there. I had a conversation with my friend, he’s talking about some of the things you know, he wants to do, but he hasn’t done because he’s scared of failing. And I asked him, Have you ever failed before? And he said, Yeah. And I’m like, well, he ain’t, you’re still hear, you know, so like, you know, just putting these pieces together and just enjoying, you know, being able to speak those things into people and help them you know, because I always felt like, they always gave us half the battle when I was younger, they would say, you know, show me what you want to be, I want to be a basketball player, and they walked away. And that’s only half the battle, you could be anything you want to be when work for the Ask the product, and they left out a lot of people, they were just, you could be anything you want to be or what do you want to be? Yeah, unless you work for you just can’t be anything you want to be, you know what I mean? You got to be real, what’s going on here. And sometimes you might have to talk a person out of what they think they want to be, you know, and so, you know, that just falls into a whole bunch of other different things. But, you know, all in all, I would encourage you to learn more, I encourage you to connect more, I encourage individuals to, if you can’t speak more fun, somebody that you’re comfortable speaking for you. People sit here and pretend like it’s like, you know, something that’s unheard of, but what do you think an outreach worker is? So my speaking for the company, you know, and just looking at it from that perspective, you may need to hire some help, you know, and it might cost you now but in the long run, if somebody is doing something that can be really really beneficial for you that you’re not comfortable doing and they’re great at it. It sounds like how it’s gonna it’s gonna work out to me a lot of these major companies pretty much all these major companies always collaborate with so many other different things and even individual contractors to keep these wheels turning. Don’t think you’re so special. You want to keep these wheels turning make sure that you connect and connect and connect some
49:13
definitely don’t want to fail you go
49:19
I’m scared to
49:22
fail I mean so what if you do this like okay Don’t Don’t get me started. Oh my well I guess my first major failure as this is so much time and money into it and funny enough I was thinking about restarting it especially since the world reopened back up but be a foreigner with my with my thing. I worked with a whole year on that and then I had to scrap it because COVID here because was nobody moving. And you know, just starting to make a little bit of change. And next thing you know, bloop there goes down the drain. I’m like, Ooh, maybe I should bring it back especially now that we have all these tools and stuff now and I can maybe turn it into like a Hey newsletter, but um, I guess I got one more question for you. How do you come up with your topics? Because see, I’ve been wanting to say stuff. I got all these stories, and it’s just like, okay, like, I don’t know what to say. I mean, I didn’t know what to say. But I’m like, if people don’t want to hear it.
50:24
I really don’t know people ask me that all the time. I really don’t. I think it’s because in my past life, I was a battle rapper. So I just be trying to like spit some bars and stuff. But I just really don’t honestly. I’ve always been one of those individuals to just say, like, a lot of slick stuff. I think it’s just part of my personality. Like the proposal that I did for the library about the labor laws, I call they can they do that? And they love the title just over it was like this. Can they do that? Yeah. Can they do that? Literally. And I put to the side in quotations, a deep conversation about child labor laws. And they were like, Whoa, you know, shows can they do that is just half the battle, you know what I mean? So once I brought it together, there was like, and then they just read, like the first part of it and was like, let’s get these dates going, let’s do this. Let’s do that. I don’t know, I don’t, I don’t really, I try to make sure that one that the topic is catchy. relatable. I try to make sure that it’s not one of those individuals, where one of those topics where it’s like, hey, like, you know, you got to know what you’re saying, if you want to talk about the gun crime and, and what’s going on here, I wouldn’t throw an event talking about you know, event talking about gun control. Once people hear gun control, they automatically turn it off. You know what I mean? But if you can bring it in mention something with guns and talk about lives and stuff like that, you may be able to gather more individuals, but I always tell people, I don’t reinvent the wheel. I think that in this microwave era, people will really wants you to get to the point anyway. So I encourage something fast and snappy, something that grabs their attention. You know, it don’t have to even be mashing words. It can be just be one word. You know, I mean, it could be whatever it is, it could be rhyming words, whatever it is, I want to encourage you to you know, try to stick into it. Like I have another one called deceptions of reflection. You know, and people were lying. You know, like, Who do you really see? What do you see when you look at? You know, why do you see that? You know, what’s making you see that? You know, what’s going on? Oh, yeah, we gotta get one, I have my drug program. And guess what was cool. It’s lit. Oh, do we live though? Exactly, though. So it’s, like I said, I don’t reinvent the wheel, I take what’s already out there, and just try to put it together.
53:06
If literally, if you’re smoking a cigarette, or you know, some other type of drug, it’s, it’s barely lit.
53:12
Exactly. So you don’t stray too far about what you want to talk about, you want to make it as relatable as possible, you know, catchy and possible, if not, you know, it’s not anything. Or if you’re not really go with that, then just making sure Visually, it looks like something that people want to read about, you know, something that captures the essence of what you may want to talk about, you know, or, you know, finding some others, using somebody else’s topic and putting it in there, you know, bringing up what they’ve already researched and stuff like that, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You know, if they already have somebody out here that’s making some really nice topics and stuff like that, and stuff like that talk about the same thing they’re talking about, and include the minute given their credit. You know, so it’s just about getting the individuals to you. Because with me having a GED in the family, I’m not exactly the first person that people want to talk to. They’re, especially in these times, and they they’re always looking for those individuals with the degrees and the licenses and all this other stuff. And then when I come in, I have to make sure that, you know, I make my wife, you know, and it’s like, oh, like, there’s a lot of Second Chance programs out here. My program that I run is called the first chance program. And what do you mean, let me tell you about it, you know, like, it’s, what do you mean the first chance Oh, let me tell you about it. Everybody didn’t even had no, but how do we even know they even had a first chance? You know, so just just going into that. So just being confident and being able to backup what you’re talking about, like I said, not just with feelings with facts, weeks facts You know, so no getting those things together. But yeah, I don’t really have no really like I told you I was a battle rap in my past I have, you know, sometimes I just picked on the borrower. He’s just, he’s just me, but you know, luckily for you to even do that you got me so you straight you know the
55:18
so do you like do you plan it out or you just be like okay sorry, here’s a topic this one I want to talk about and the like, just, you know, so
55:26
funny cuz naturals, I do both sometimes I write the stuff, and then I’ll get the topic out of something I said that I was writing. Or sometimes I’ll do like how to deal with my boy. Because he was saying that, you know, a lot of people, I hope a lot of people were like getting speaking engagements, like getting them started and what they may need to do, especially when it comes down to like, formerly incarcerated, I got like my own like little stack and even see them there were individuals that I recommend to go speak, you know, and stuff like that, or places that I’ve already spoken, you know, especially those that have like the every week, we think they’re going to be wanting individuals to come. I am coming every week, you know what I mean? And other people have other stories to share that I’m sure the kids could benefit from as well. So I’ve never wanted to be like, Oh, no, here, this and guess what we’ll be doing that sometimes I still get a check in the mail just for you know what I mean? Because they’re like, Hey, you sent to so many different great individuals, you know, so, you know, I kind of just make sure that I’m connecting with those different individuals that are doing the work and seeing what they got going on. Yeah, yeah, that’s it. So I like I said, I mainly just do a lot of this stuff, it just sometimes reversed. Sometimes it’s not, it’s just whenever it comes to me, the way this thing go, it does usually come to me like two three in the morning, if for some reason. I don’t know, I’ll just be up and I’ll just be thinking about different things. And I’m like, yeah, we’ll put it together. And like I said, I just want to make it catchy. Like that’s what I wanted to do from bookings to bookings, you know, because that’s essentially what it went down to. I went from being booked in a precinct to going to the courts and stuff like that. So now being booked to speak all across this country.
57:11
Definitely, definitely, definitely inspiring. And she never got I was gonna say again, late, y’all. Like I said, I’ve been up since six. So there’s that. I’m gonna say, oh, my gosh, oh, that’s not gonna say, Yeah, I go, I don’t never practice what I’m going to say. Which I guess makes it you know, more authentic and whatever else. So that’s, that’s kind of why I asked, you know, I’ve never Well, no, I’ve done a couple of speaking engagements. I’ve been on some podcasts and, and a conference before they were all like tech related and stuff. And I didn’t practice, practice while I’m talking about myself, you know what I’m saying? But, but yeah, like you said, you know, do your research know your topic, and you know, you should be able to talk about it. And, you know, I only like to talk about things that I know about because I mean, like I said it makes it so much easier. But um, but yeah, I mean, um, you know, tell us where to find you, Andre.
58:12
You can find me on my website, Andre aparicio.com. Come and check me out has all my information there. You can check out my book. My emancipation from incarceration is on the website. Before we learned we entered, and just let me know, reach out to me. And you can also check me on local Andre aparece. Co. and I’m so the show title. I didn’t because I’m not learning how to steal my last name. And it’s okay. How do we know she knows how to spell it but we don’t forget. Oh, look,
58:42
I was like, I ain’t gonna say your last name when I drive. I will say nobody’s last name anyway. Because usually it’s hard to say. There is that everybody can be Robinson. So there’s that. Oh. But thanks for coming on the show. Andre. Thanks for watching y’all listening whatever y’all doing? Subscribe. We on Google podcast on Apple podcasts on YouTube, of course. And we on Spotify and whatever your favorite listening app is. And my name is Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts and beyond next time. You
About
From editor to tech guru, Rebecca Leppard’s journey is awe-inspiring! Rising to Editor-in-Chief, she shifted gears to public relations, excelling as an Account Director. Now, she’s empowering women in tech, guiding them to new career heights. A true industry trailblazer!
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From Newsroom to Silicon Valley: One Woman’s Journey
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Inked Words to Code Lines: An Unconventional Tech Journey
From Headlines to Code Lines: The Rise of a Tech Mentor
Tech Transformation: A Former Editor’s Mission to Empower Women
Breaking Barriers: The Editor Who Became a Tech Women’s Advocate
Rebecca Leppard: The Media Maven-Turned-Tech Mentor
Tech Trailblazer: How an Editor-in-Chief Revolutionized Her Career
Coding New Narratives: The Editor’s Journey into Tech Empowerment
Show Notes
Speaker 1 0:01
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts, I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
Speaker 2 0:19
we are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org. Yep, yep.
Speaker 1 0:45
Hey, Elyse Robinson, when nobody wants to work, though, podcast today, we have Rebecca. And we are on number 19. So we ain’t even a month into this. And we’re on number 19. I’m excited for the future of this. So, Rebecca, where did your career start? And what are you doing now?
Speaker 3 1:07
Oh, thank you for having me. Because this podcast, I love the title. First of all, nobody wants to work though. So my career started since I became a writer, when I was nine. And then I became a public speaker when I was 12. But my professional professional career started force when I got paid, which is when I was 22. I was an editor and in the magazine in the national magazine, it’s called mother and baby. So it’s all it’s about pregnancy about health and safety of your kids and toddlers and all that. Sweet rainbows and unicorns. And a few years after that, I switched career into the dark side of communications, which is the public relations. So I switched career. When I was 2526, I was thinking, oh my god, I had a quarter life crisis. Oh my god, what am I going to do? Am I just going to be pursuing my editorial career, all the way up to being an editor in chief, because that’s, you know, literally, like a military career, you go up to become a four star general. Or you switch. And I decided to switch career. And it was crazy, because I not only that, I switch lanes from editorial to public relations. I also switch industries, to hospitality industry. And then I switched the location of my work from a big city to an island. So it’s a tourist destination. So I had to completely change my mentality from you know, the city girl who’s like, just imagine if you in America, you are a New York, New Yorker, and then you move to LA, right, a different pace, different personality that you deal with on a day to day basis. And all that. And I have to say, I was so glad that I got to do a career switch at a young age because that means I had no baggage. I had nobody to answer to I had, I did not have to consult with anyone. I did have a boyfriend but you know, like, this is this is my life. So yeah. And I ended up breaking up with him anyway. And so I did make the right decision. That was the first the biggest career switch. I did, thankfully, because my passion for writing. It never really ends because it’s almost like when you’re born with a very good singing voice, you will never stop singing. So I never stopped writing. So I took up freelancing gig from different magazines, and I never stopped that bit that that passion for writing. I still keep it but then I pursued the public relations, and then the marketing communications so I studied or learn on the job, and even more, and my career was actually going very, very well. And I ended up being a an account director by the time I was 2627. So I was very, very happy with the result. And, and that moved on all the way until I was 35. And again, the question Okay, Rebecca, you are in the corner office, you’re a Director of Public Relations of a five star hotel, you literally have a physical corner office, you can see the city from, from your office, what else are you going to do, you’re going to stay there until you retire, which is what is still a few decades, right? And I thought, Okay, this is, again, another make or break situation. So I thought, Okay, I think if I want to ever try anything new, and it will have to be now before I’m quote unquote, too old. Of course, I don’t subscribe to you know, you’re too old to do this and that. But I think it’s more that my personal quote, unquote, oldness, in that, I still have the drive the ambition and the humility to start from scratch with anything and anything that I decided to do. And then I moved to tech, of course, like everybody else. But I had always been in the creative side. And, again, as we were just talking about it, not a lot of people think that what you know, there are so many professions within an industry or within a banking industry, there are so many profession in it. Within hospitality industry, you can be you can still be an accountant, in a in a big five star hotel, you know, not everyone in the hotel, mixing cocktails and stuff, or tidying up beds. So I thought, oh, what can I do with with the skills that I have, that I can work in tech, and the, the, what to call it the overlapping bit is a property tech. So I then move to become a general manager of a co working space. So that’s still within the hospitality industry that I know. But with a large, large aspect of tech and scaling up businesses around it. And then, of course, now, moving on from there, I now own my own company, which is a learning and development company. So I train women in tech, because I have seen how women in tech are struggling. And we cannot have it that women in women only make up a quarter of the workforce in in the tech industry, which is a dangerous, dangerous place to be. As in if it keeps up like that our world is going to be so dangerous because then the tech will only be serving the men. So that’s that’s my whole CV right there.
Speaker 1 8:42
You got me on the it would only be serving men. There you go. I mean, you touched on so much between the way I mapped it out in my 20s was because I had a guest on here and she was 26. And I was like, Oh, you’re in the confusion phase. Where you’re like, do I still want to do this for the rest of my life? Do I want to stay? And so my boss Oh, my computer is getting ready to die. Hold on. I thought it was all the way charged up and plugged in. Um, the way my boss kicked it to me and she she put the bug in my back was the golden handcuffs and she was like yeah, you’re gonna make a whole bunch of money and then you’re gonna become you know, auditor you know, you know, leading people and a manager and things like that. And you know, a lot of money is something that you want to do and I’m like, You know what, I don’t know. I’m like, I haven’t traveled I haven’t did this and you know, I want to do that. Um, when at the time like you like you’re saying you you probably have a man you know a partner and And I was like, Yeah, I don’t, I don’t really care to have him anymore either. Because we talked about marriage or anything like that. So, you know, let me let me do what I do. And you know, around that time my mother was was really sick and stuff like that. And so it was a lot of things for me. And I ended up putting my whole life due to my mother. Um, but you know, that bug was still there. And then the, you know, that’s when I left and went to. I went to China for a little bit, and then I went to Mexico, and in Mexico for almost five years. So. Yeah. Fortunately, people that are in their late 20s I mean, that’s the I call it the real confusion phase, like people think, you know, the midlife crisis is one but now you’re in your late 20s.
Speaker 3 10:51
The quarter life crisis is real. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I remember celebrating my 25th birthday. And I was even saying to myself, I have never even had a one night stand in my girl. That is a sort of thing that went through my mind. Because it’s like, I haven’t lived, you know? Not that it’s the definition. But it’s like, you know, your your, your, your life. If you’re, let’s say, carefree life is ending, you know, when you’re 25. Because, because then you have to take everything seriously. So in my mind’s like, Damn, if I have to take everything seriously, from here on end. This would be this my 25th birthday. This would be the last day I can mess up. So yeah, and I. But again, not only that, in my, for my 25th birthday, or for my 35th birthday, I had another I guess if life expectancy on average is 70, then 35 would be the midlife. Right? Well, I
Speaker 1 12:13
guess it depends on the country, but in the States. Well, it recently dropped that that could drop down to like 7576, but it was 78. So it’s what yeah, what yeah, 3839 Yeah, yeah, exactly. So.
Speaker 3 12:24
So life begins at 40 thing. So whatever all the saying the midlife crisis and Life begins at 40. So yeah, I was I, I was quite fortunate that I had the access for education. I did, I was born and bred in a third world country. But I have to acknowledge my privilege as well that I was born into a middle class family that that could afford good education for me. And that I took it up to then be a very good student, very good worker, which led to me achieving the top position. So early on, that it gave me the bug, like, should I stay here? Just enjoying? Because I paid my dues, you know, in the past couple of decades, but now can I just sail through cruise through all the way until my pension age? Or do I venture out and, and stumble and fall again, and I chose I chose to stumble and fall again. Because I think my ambition was way too, too big to ignore. And I want to tell the girls out there that it’s fine. It’s absolutely fine to have an ambition at it and admit that you’re ambitious.
Speaker 1 14:03
Definitely, definitely my father thought I was insane when I left my good government job, you know, do that. And I’m like, Daddy, like, first of all, like my mother was sick. That’s, that’s why I left and second of all, like, I figured, like, if I can do it once, I can do it again. And you know.
Speaker 3 14:21
Exactly. And by the time you do it again, it won’t be from absolute scratch. Right. So I there’s a few because one of the things that I do on the side as well is I do take on clients who, who’s who’s looking for a career coach. And normally these clients are those who are already in C suite wanting for a career change. And, and the struggle the common question is always the same. Am I too late? of doing this. But it took me 20 years to get to where I am. Could I, you know, do I have to do this for the next 20 years to get? You know? And I said, Of course not. Because a you have a long list of transferable skills. And secondly, you have done so many mistakes that, you know, you can avoid this time around.
Speaker 1 15:31
You know, nearly definitely, and that’s one reason why I started the podcast too, because it’s like, you know, people are confused about, you know, taking their previous skills and experience and how and when to apply them. So, yeah, like you said, you know, now I know the process of getting a government job, and, you know, I can actually do seminars on it. And I’ve actually done a seminar on it, I have one coming up in March, you know, because my thing is, I have this knowledge, I should be able to, you know, talk about it, and yeah, circling back to people not knowing about certain positions and careers, and like, you’re saying, Oh, well, I didn’t know in the government, you can be engineer and accountant, a doctor, lawyer and etcetera, etcetera. You know, like, I didn’t know, but the government does everything.
Speaker 3 16:26
We didn’t know that there was a Dr. Fauci.
Speaker 1 16:31
Right. Right. Right. Like, like, you don’t know. So, you know, this is why, you know, I encourage people to talk about their experiences and their knowledge, their skills, because there’s a whole subset of people out there that don’t know, and they want to know, but they don’t know how to get the information.
Speaker 3 16:50
Yeah, absolutely. Um, all things come at
Speaker 1 16:55
a cost. What did that cost you? And did you have support from your friends and your family?
Speaker 3 17:01
The cost is, I don’t have social life, I tell you, because I have a family life, I have three children. That is three too many. For any ambitious person, that’s three too many. So you know, you have family life, you have social life, you have work life. So since I cannot divorce my children, I will I had to recalibrate my social schedule. And I thank God for social media because even without, you know, back back in the dark era, before social media, the only way you can catch up with your friends, is to physically meet them, or telephone them. Hey, what’s going on, and how’s how’s your boyfriend that and that’s how I, my friends, and I used to do, we used to hang out once a month in a cafe and just do a roundtable of updates. And now we simply just need to see what’s on their Instagram story. And, and if there’s any concerning, you know, if I see my friend’s child on Instagram story, being in a hospital, then I can go, Hey, what’s going on girl, what’s going on with your son is everything all right? And so on. So that is so my social life is just then basically DMS and in terms of support, I have to say my husband. He, I chose the right husband in that he is 13 years older than me. And he is a decade further than me in terms of his career trajectory. So he arrived, he has arrived in his destination before I did. So there was no ego racing. And also he knows he appreciate that I still have a long way to go to where I want to be and he appreciated that. And so he knows he’s already at his Finish Line seeing me still in the race saying like, come on, you can do it girl. And not US racing at the same time. So that is very, very good. But of course, back in my my late 20s My parents would be like, Why are you working all the time make time to meet guys and stuff? So yeah, I was the late bride. Well Based on Indonesian standard, I got married when I was 28.
Speaker 1 20:05
No, I get you. I get to my parents were married at 21. And they waited six years to have me. So my mother was 27 when she had, and I have a nephew. I don’t have any kids, but it’s like, okay, like, what’s what’s going on with you? Your parents married at 21? And I’m like, Yeah, I couldn’t imagine being married at 21. But my parents had each other since they were kids. And, you know, my mother swore she wasn’t gonna date anyone from the neighborhood. But lo and behold, here comes my father. You know, he’s grown up and he looks good. to chance, but he did his glow up. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. My mom says they used to call them bubble died. Howard is my father’s. So, um, but yeah, like, my mother is like, yeah, I don’t know if I’m gonna get any grandkids and all kinds of stuff for me. You know, my sister did all that stuff. So I’m like, Okay, well, yeah, in the wind. And, you know, my sister is in healthcare. You know, she’s a frontline worker. You know, what all this COVID stuff and brags about her? And I’m like, you know, I’m doing my thing. And Mexico or whatever, you know, starting businesses and stuff, and he ain’t got none of that part. Yeah.
Speaker 1 21:35
About you, he never talks about you. I’m like, Okay, well, I guess that’s a good thing. Right?
Speaker 3 21:42
Yeah, girl. That’s the whole point of this podcast, and my podcast as well. There’s this, there’s no one perfect path for every single girl. the only the only thing that I feel really bad about us, is that we do have biological clock. That is one thing because honestly, your parents could wait six years to have you. And an N. I’m like, I wish I could wait six years. I had I was pregnant three months after after our wedding. And it wasn’t planned. So because we wanted to have, you know, a long honeymoon and whatnot. But But yeah, it’s it’s crazy that some, some women really do want to be mothers, and I appreciate that. But at the same time, if society is not allowing us in the sense of infrastructure policies, then then I’m not surprised at all, if many women choose not to have children or choose to freeze their egg for until the time is maybe not perfect, but but more ideal than having children. Now, you know, it’s it’s heartbreaking when I started my business, here in England, my baby was only two years old. And even though there is a universal health, not health care, childcare, the childcare will only start kicking in when the baby’s when the child is three years old. And I was saying, so what do you expect women do for the first three years of this baby’s life? Disposable postpone ours or, you know, three years is a lot of time wasted. Right? And while our male peers, you know, can just go up in the career ladder, or even do you know, businesses their business can take off in three years. But we, what can we do? And as we know, time is the most expensive commodity. Right? So at the end, at the end, I begged my husband and say, Okay, let’s live as if we are just broke, broke bougie just like let’s not do any fancy holidays or whatever. We don’t need to upgrade our iPhone every year. But we send our baby to nursery and I tell you, we spend 1200 pounds journaling. So that’s in us probably almost $2,000 every month to pay for childcare. And that’s essentially a whole month of salary. For right. So, but I’m like, Okay, time is expensive. So I would rather that I start my business in 2022, rather than wait. Because I’m not going to go through my life based on a policy that is not pro. Not only, not pro women, not pro parents, and at the same time, people in the first world country are saying that, Oh, our populations are aging, and we don’t have enough young generation. Well, yeah. All the Gen Zers. They refuse to have children. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 26:04
No, I guess my reasoning on it, we’re so off base on the podcast. But I mean, it has to be said is, I was about 22. And you know, how to do things about marriage, whatever. But you know, our life path was different. So that’s why we’re not together. And somebody had came back from maternity leave. And literally, this is when I worked for the government. So I mean, they have good stuff, you know what I’m saying? And she had to save up her time in order to take, you know, the four to six weeks off. That’s number one. And she was like, Yeah, my the daycare for the newborn. I think she said it was like, $1,500 a month. So mind you, I’m at the beginning of my career, so I wasn’t making much money. So I’m looking at my paycheck, like, Yo, there’s like almost how much I’m bringing home. So like, was kids supposed to fit in here, you know, and I made a conscious decision, then, like, I don’t know, if I if I want them, because I don’t want to be out here struggling, you know what I’m saying. And, you know, at that time, I had moved away from home to find a job because there wasn’t any jobs where I lived at. And so I was on the other side of the country, and I’m like, I don’t have support and my parents, so you know, what am I supposed to do with this?
Speaker 3 27:18
Exactly. So it’s not that it’s not even about want or don’t want, we cannot afford it. And that is why so many women aren’t. In the pandemic, there’s so many women were forced out of the workforce. Because they’re, they have to take care of the family, etc. And, and here’s the sick thing. It’s not because mothers are better parents than fathers. I’m not at all saying that. Even though there’s a lot of cases where it’s true. But in the day to day decision making, it’s almost like okay, so well, you make you dear husband, you make more money, and therefore it makes more sense for me. who earns less money? To stay back? But then the question again, why do women earn less money? That’s another systemic problem. Right? So it’s like, Oh, my God, literally, we’re pregnant then screwed.
Speaker 1 28:32
Yeah, I didn’t really care about the clock, because my grandmother had some at 47. It was Oopsies. Like, but ah, you know, so I’m like, Okay, I think my womb is good. Like that. You know, but who wants to be 47? You know, having again, having okay, my bones are aching at this point. But, ya know, so you know, that the clock didn’t really bother me. Like, I didn’t I didn’t care if I had some at 35 or whatever, but it was more so the money thing and the time because it’s like, Okay, I gotta save up my time and then what if I’m sick or my baby’s sick, then I gotta borrow time and, you know, the list just really goes on. I think I think the feds have had maternity leave now. So but you know, that was that was a huge fight. But um, but ya know, it’s, it’s, it’s really, really sick out here. And you know, I actually I have friends that don’t want kids, you know, for these reasons alone. And they’re men and women. They’re like, yeah, I want to be about the broke core life like
Speaker 3 29:38
and that is why that is why career switching is is important because these days there are new companies who would accommodate Flexi hours, remote work, and even childcare on site, or that would offer childcare vouchers and things like that. So I want more women especially, or those who are parents, to really listen get over your fear of career switching, if it will allow you to be a better caretaker. Because it’s not only kids you’re taking care of you’re probably just love your story, you probably have to take care of your elderly parent, right? So caring, caring for someone is not just because you have children, but you definitely have parents, okay? So, or a sibling who’s ill, or what have you, you have so many potential life circumstances that would benefit from you switching career into something that is more flexible, something that is that gives you less stress. Because if you have already a stressful situation at home, you won’t thrive in any job, you know, that you already, if you have a toxic workplace, plus you have a a challenging life structure, or no structure at all. So your life is kind of in a quite messy situation. So yeah, take that leap. Those who are now thinking about, Oh, that job, pay me less, but would give me more flexibility. Maybe you should take that one for now. Right. Because if you situation will get better, that’s how the world works. You will the if you’re at rock bottom, now the only way is up. So things will get better with time and with effort. And then by that time, when you get better, you will also then be more promotable at your new job. So you will regain that that income, but you can never buy back time that is lost, and you can never probably recover if you lose precious time with your family that you’re taking care of. So I think that is that that is what our whole conversation about, you know, having a child having ill parents having responsibilities at home, outside of work, even though the biological clock is not is not the enemy you’re facing now. But probably you have a different situation, maybe your spouse needs taking care of, you know, and as we know, it’s not only physical illness these days that it’s taking, taking us down it’s mental illness as well.
Speaker 1 33:02
Listen, listen, listen, listen, you touched on so much because I’ve, you know, one thing that me and my friend, you know, go through, you know, especially as entrepreneurs is you know, the, the dips, the dips and the hills, then it’s like, Okay, at this point, we’re down. So we just got to deal with the down part of it, but it’s gonna come back. So this is just our things gonna be down right now. We gotta, you know, I’m blessed that I have, you know, a friend that we talk about this stuff and we don’t yell at me. We do yelling, screaming, yelling and screaming at each other. And, you know, we we’ve been and all that good stuff. So, you know, he talks about his experiences, I talk about mine and you know, we come to a conclusion on a this is, this is what it is, or sometimes we don’t you know what I’m saying? But, you know, we just, you know, we’re venting, so, you know, like, he calls it his his Kanye rant yo, yo, Kanye, right? Like I’m baffled Kanye rant. So, so ya know, you you are so right. And you know, but the thing is, you have to take the steps to kind of make it better to you can’t just can’t just wallow in you know, not take any action. So then people forget that part two, they’re like, oh, yeah, we’re in the hills in the valleys you know, but what are you doing to kind of you know, mitigate that and try to make it better you know? So yeah, that’s my perspective on it. We’re so off I don’t know how much time you got left. With you know, you kind of touched on this but we both kind of touched on a lot but I went on how did you make the transition to you know, being from you know, public relations to you know, what you’re doing now, like, what did you refer to resume how How did you convince someone to take a chance on you?
Speaker 3 35:03
Oh, gosh, my recent most recent experience is, I think, probably the worst, because not only that I moved from public relations to move to tech, and then now building my own company. But I’m now doing it in a foreign country. English is my second language. So there’s another layer of a problem. And I’m an immigrant, as another layer. I had, I know nobody here, aside from my in laws. So the the answer to convincing people to trust me, even though I’m all of that all of the above, plus, I don’t have a Western degree, I don’t have a degree from a Western country. That’s what I mean. It is to build my personal brand. I know it’s a, it’s a trend these days. But personal brand has always been at the forefront of, of someone in. In professions that is client facing. I mean, you probably don’t have to be, you don’t have to have a personal brand. If you are an accountant, or you. You work in procurement or purchasing department. But if you’re client facing, you need to have you need to ensure that you have the reputation the good reputation, that you are not that you are some someone that they can trust. You know, people want to work with people they know they liked, they trust. So in 2022, my entire year was dedicated to building my website, my polishing my CV, polishing my LinkedIn profile, because and I tell you this, especially for a lot of millennials and Gen Z’s out there, we used to think that social media like Instagram, even LinkedIn, and so on, are only for those who are actively seeking for a brand deal or seeking for a job. But actually, if you are consistently building your brand, presence, every time you are doing something great, you post it online, make it like your own wall of fame. So by by the time you need it for your career switching, or if you want to switch from being an employer employee, to become becoming a self employed or building your own business, you don’t have to start from scratch. This is my mistake before and learn from my mistake. Don’t wait until you need to build a personal brand. You build it as you go along. So if you are a fresh graduate now, build it from now, showcase what you do, as a volunteer showcase your projects that you did in school, or even if you’re doing something for the local community, for your church, for your neighborhood posted because the more you post something that is not just your outfit of the day or get ready with me pose the more potential client potential employer out there will see you as someone who is trustworthy and plus someone with essence, you know, not just because, and this is what I hope as well for the HR community and founders of companies to not hire CV but hire the people. You know, because AI can write your CV for you. Right? But the actual so when when I post something on Instagram, Tik Tok, or especially LinkedIn, I post something about me about my worldviews, including my political views. And, and it doesn’t have to mean like, it doesn’t mean that you mentioned outlined that I vote for this guy or that guy, but for example, in England this week, teachers are striking because they don’t have enough Have a pay raise. And I personally believe they should get very well pay their teachers. And the week before it was nurses, and I believe in that as well. And I post, even though it does sound political, but for me, it’s humanitarian, you know, teachers and nurses, they’re the actual heroes, right? And they deserve more. So these are the things, my personal values and worldviews, those are the things that I pose. So when people want to work with me, even though they can work. I’m not, I’m not unique in my profession, I don’t think anyone is unique in their profession. But the same way as to have the same doctors with the same specialties. Want the one with a better bedside manner, will cure more patients? That is the way I approach things. So even if you’re career switching, and you think, Oh, how do I compete with other job seekers eyeing for the same job? And they have been in that field longer than than I have been? And this is the answer, you showcase, that you might be more of a newbie, in this particular position. But you as a teammate, you as a colleague, you are dependable, reliable, you have morals, you have integrity, you’re honest. And you’re a leader. And that is the one thing that that cannot show up in just this one page of CV. You know,
Speaker 1 41:55
it’s funny that you say that, because during 2020, when I couldn’t go out and pound the pavement and get clients and Mexico. I got on Twitter, that was the first time I had ever been on Twitter before even though I had I had a podcast. This isn’t my first one. It was black woman in Mexico, right. And I would post stuff from there automatically, like using buffer or something like that. And so that was like the only thing I had on Twitter as somehow, some way I had a following, right. So that’s number one. So I got on Twitter. And you know, I was like, Okay, well, I’m in, I’m in tech. Now technically, like, I’ve been in Texas, I was like nine or 10 years old, though. But you know, I need these certifications. And I’ll just start posting my progress and stuff like that. And so I was like, Well, I don’t want to pay for them. So you know, let me find some scholarships, and you know, stuff like that. So I found them. And you know, I’m posting my progress, or one this today or one that today. And so people were like, well, how do you pick one of these things. So like, I turned it into a business, and I got my first customer my first day, and I technically never even worked for a company in tech. But I came out there swinging, you know, with this knowledge, and I’m helping people and you know, and they’re like, Who is this? and stuff? And you know, so yeah, it really works, you know, in that extent, because I built that brand over, I’ll say I might have got on Twitter, like in maybe may or something like that. And then I started in November, so maybe like six months or so, you know, daily tweeting progress and things like that. And then you know, when I was ready to sell and shout out to my friend, because he was like, Yeah, you should turn that into a business and people keep asking, I got my customer, my birthday, you know, so. So I’ll agree that you know, you you have to put yourself out there and I’m an introvert. So, you know, I’m like, I don’t feel like filling a form with people today, you know, but yeah, do it anyway. And my mindset on it is, you know, I’m going to get my money. So I have to put that introverted and this to the side and get out here and make my money. Absolutely. Outside of that, you know, when I got recruited by Microsoft, I was like, Okay, I really got street credit now because I got recruited by, you know, one of the largest cloud providers, you know, so, you know, I was like, Okay, well, let me start doing seminars. And you know, that was a festival and, you know, people were coming to see me, you know, I’m telling my friend, oh five, you know, that turned into 300. You know, so, so yeah, it’s really crazy how, you know, the hills and the valleys go, you gotta put in the work and you’re out there. So, you know, I say all that to, you know, basically touch on what you were saying and then also, to close out the podcast But where can we find you, Rebecca?
Speaker 3 45:05
Yes so go to my LinkedIn Rebecca lap Bart there are a few Rebecca leopards out there but I’m the only one in pink on and for the especially for for the Gen Z ers out there. I just recently created a tic toc. It’s Rebecca lap art as well. So I want to be basically your big sister in your career journey because I know what it’s like to be the newest generation I was that millennial that all the boomers hated because oh you millennials? What do you know about work and life, etc. So I’m taking everything that I know how to navigate the career. Jungle, it’s not even a ladder anymore. It’s a jungle gym. And yeah, follow on I talk about how to not only career switch, how what to talk about during appraisal, how to talk yourself up for interviews, what to read on the CV these days, because it’s the robots who are reading the CV these days, girl, let me tell you. So yeah, find me on tick tock.
Speaker 1 46:28
HR swears that they read them though. So I don’t know what there’s been many, many comments on LinkedIn where they’re like, can we review all the records? I’m like, You’re not reviewing 300? Stop, you’re lying.
Speaker 3 46:39
Yeah, no, they will only read it after. So the first layer the first gatekeeper, is you would say, you know, in a nightclub, the bouncer is the AI. Okay. So there you go. And, yeah, there’s tons of tips out there on how and especially again, one thing, one thing that is annoying me because job descriptions and job title, these days are so confusing. You can be in HR and your official job title is talent acquisition, right? People and culture. And robots cannot differentiate that. So yeah, so the one thing is to when you’re applying for something, match the words the exact word, because you can be a marketer. But then the job that you’re applying for says customer acquisition, you got to change your CV from you as a marketing expert to a customer acquisition expert. That is how crazy it is. Because otherwise, the robot will be like, not a match.
Speaker 1 47:56
Definitely. And you know, if you sign up for my resume, I do resume reviews and live LinkedIn reviews. I’ll choose three people from the audience. And that’s one thing I say I was like, if your title is, you know, Process Engineer like, the hell is that? So you know, it should be what you’re doing and match it up to other things. But someone told me that companies do that. So other companies can’t poach you. That’s, that’s what that’s what I heard. You’re like, yeah, they think people dumb titles. So when you put it on your LinkedIn or your resume, like you’re saying HR doesn’t know what you do, and then AI doesn’t know what you do, and then they can’t find you. So now you’re stuck. So I always always say change your title. And you know, of course, don’t don’t embellish it, but it should match up to something that is very well known.
Speaker 3 48:46
Yeah, absolutely. Oh my god, I’ve never heard that. And
Speaker 1 48:50
that’s what somebody in HR told me. They’re like, yeah, we give these dumb titles that mean nothing. So other companies can’t poach him. But you know, companies in that industry, no, but if you’re trying to leave that industry, like you were saying, you went from, you know, hospitality to something else. Yeah. He’s not gonna know what that is. You know, they call it the real name. Oh,
Speaker 3 49:15
yeah. Oh my god, that is so annoying. It’s almost like how Starbucks baristas misspell your name on purpose. So that you would take a snapshot of your Starbucks cup and post it on social media. Oh, is
Unknown Speaker 49:31
that what the thing is? Because I just saw that the other day.
Speaker 3 49:35
Okay, well, that’s that’s a good brand awareness. Right. That’s a good brandy. Okay, that’s crazy. Yeah, it’s like look, they spell my name with with a k instead of a C or things like that. Oh,
Speaker 1 49:50
that makes perfect sense, especially since I’ve been digging more into like marketing strategies and stuff for my business. So it’s like
Unknown Speaker 49:56
yeah, I see You’re
Speaker 1 50:01
coming on the show, Rebecca. We got off topic, but I mean, a lot of this stuff needs to be said. And yes. Like I said, I appreciate you coming on. She is in the UK. And so this is our third third international guests. And yeah, if you haven’t subscribed already, we’re on YouTube, Google, Apple, Spotify and whatever your favorite podcast app is. And yeah, nobody wants to work though. Until next time.
About
Marlene Ditzig, a former top manager, founded a coaching business to empower women in their careers. Recognizing the need for tailored support, she leverages her expertise to help women navigate challenges and advance professionally.
Marlene Ditzig Li-Mei: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marleneditzig/
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Marlene Ditzig: Empowering Women Through Career Coaching
From Top Manager to Women’s Career Champion: Marlene Ditzig’s Journey
Marlene Ditzig: Breaking Glass Ceilings with Personalized Career Support
Navigating Career Challenges: Marlene Ditzig’s Expertise in Women’s Advancement
Marlene Ditzig: A Trailblazer in Women’s Professional Development
Advancing Women’s Careers: Marlene Ditzig’s Mission and Expertise
From Boardroom to Mentor: Marlene Ditzig’s Transformation to Career Coach
Unlocking Women’s Potential: Marlene Ditzig’s Coaching Business
Marlene Ditzig: Pioneering Change for Women’s Professional Growth
Tailored Support for Female Professionals: Marlene Ditzig’s Impactful Coaching
Show Notes
[00:00:01.000]
Speaker 1: Hey, you all. This is your host, Elyse Robinson with Nobody Wants to Work No podcast. I hope these stories will inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and now I’m in tech and let’s get to it.
[00:00:19.190]
Speaker 2: We are Switch into Tech. Tech resources to.
[00:00:23.040]
Speaker 1: Accelerate your.
[00:00:23.890]
Speaker 2: Career in information technology. Monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouches, scholarships, free Udemy courses, free events, free boot camps, and more.
[00:00:37.150]
Speaker 2: You can find us at www.switchanddetect. Org.
[00:00:45.100]
Speaker 1: Hey, you all. It’s Elyse Robinson with Nobody Wants to Work the podcast. Today, we have Marlena. She is in Singapore. I think she’s our fourth international guest, so I’m excited to have her because she’s way on the other side of the world. Go ahead, Marlena, and tell us where you live and where you were and what are you doing now?
[00:01:03.150]
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. I was in San Francisco and then previously New York for the last six years working in sales, selling into enterprise technology organization. If you think about Fang and all of those wonderful orgs, you probably know my past clients. But these days I’m back home in Singapore with my family. I decided that come 2023 to go back to my roots a little bit, get back closer to home. I am spending these days reconnecting with people, but also I’ve started my own career coaching venture for women. Helping them figure out how to make sense of the whole mess that is the workplace for other women.
[00:01:52.910]
Speaker 1: That need your services.
[00:01:55.410]
Speaker 2: Call me. We’ll spend time after this.
[00:01:59.160]
Speaker 1: But I get you on the roots because my family moved back to Texas, and that’s where my grandparents are originally from. So yeah, it’s like… And they hate California. And so I always preface with, I’m from California, but I understand the culture because my grandparents are from Texas. It’s different. But let’s see, what did you want to be when you grew up?
[00:02:27.850]
Speaker 2: So many things and all over the map, which is very true to form to how I ended up as an adult, though I never took on any of these jobs. The first thing I wanted to be was an actress and then a nun, which was more like I wasn’t good at school. And I figured this was the one way I didn’t have to worry about my grades. I would have room and board paid for. And then I wanted to be a lawyer, so I went on the other end of the nun spectrum. And yeah, I I would say those are probably the three main things.
[00:03:03.560]
Speaker 1: I’m like, I’ll be a nun in my old age because it’s like you said, you get free food, room and board. I’d be around a bunch probably because women all live men so my husband will probably be dead and so I could be a nun. But I get you on that. I do. Hopefully, I can just go sightseeing all day long so I get you on that. Let’s see, what was the catalyst that made you leave San Francisco, go back home to Singapore, and leave your sales career?
[00:03:43.880]
Speaker 2: I think for me, it was a mix of things. I think being in COVID, especially in California, I’m a half Asian woman and most of the people around me, at least white people, definitely would look at me and be like, You’re Asian. You’re not like me all the way. And so I felt very viscerally the Asian hate and the sentiments of being there. So that made it eye opening. I then ended up in an organization which was a great organization, but I was the only woman in the executive director level, and I was the only non fully white person at that level as well. And that was a very illuminating experience being the only, only in the room. And I think as I spent time doing that, I had this moment of, I don’t need more money. I don’t need another promotion. What do I really want for myself? Like all of these things I spent 10 years amassing, like getting to VP by 30, things like that, that at one point meant so much suddenly in the grand scheme of things, really didn’t excite me, fulfill me, or mean anything. And so I thought, Let’s come back home.
[00:05:05.480]
Speaker 2: My mom’s getting on with age. I’ve always been very close to her. I always said I wanted to spend time with her while she’s still in good health. So that was part of it. And then the other part of it was, I think, wanting to say, I want to do something meaningful. It shouldn’t be this hard to figure out how to be a woman in the workforce, especially a woman that is in cookie cutter fits into the box that everyone is looking for. And I wanted to really test myself and see how I could bring that to other women.
[00:05:39.720]
Speaker 1: No, I talk about this all the time on podcast. One of my catalyst was my ex boss when I was the auditor for the military. And she was like, Make sure you figure out that this is something that you want to do before you get the golden handcuff. You start making all this good money and you can’t really go away from it. Now that I’ve made good money and I went away from it, it’s like, to me, it wasn’t that hard because I could always go back to it if I wanted to. When she said that, I started making plans to go overseas and stuff because I was like, You know what? I never left the country. I want to go see things and do things, maybe learn another language. S he was somewhat my catalyst outside of my mother passing away. But yeah, it’s meaningful stuff. I wanted to show other black Americans like myself that there’s other things outside of the world to an extent, too. Because just off the fact that most Americans don’t have passports is crazy. That means most of them never leave the country. But yeah, no, I totally get you on the meaningful part.
[00:07:09.910]
Speaker 1: And so did you have support? What did your mother say? Did she say you were crazy for wanting to leave San Francisco and just turn down all that good money?
[00:07:21.390]
Speaker 2: Yes, she 100 % did. I had this idea at the start of 2022. I was really frustrated thinking back about my experiences in the US. When I first went there, I couldn’t get a job, so I tried to deliver food for a minimum wage. That’s how I broke into tech, which everyone thinks is nuts. When I say I broke into tech by selling sandwiches, it’s reductive but true. She never agreed with my move to the US initially and then finally got on board when she called it me getting a real person job, which was selling market research at a global organization to fan companies and then moving up to head up a tech vertical for heuric and struggles on demand talent. And so she’s finally on board with that story. And then I came back and I’m like, I am so frustrated. The women in the runs below me, they are sitting at meetings being like, Is this just white men celebrating white men? I have nothing to say but yes. And I was like, We have to do something about this. And I say this because I think she, as a mother, was just trying to protect me.
[00:08:41.980]
Speaker 2: So it’s really easy for a lot of people to sit there and say, How can your mom not support you? She’s an Asian woman who came up in the 70s, who had to fight all of those battles tooth and nail herself. Why wouldn’t she be like, Yeah, go do this. But she’s a business owner and has been an entrepreneur for 30 years. Her guidance me was like, Don’t do it. Who’s going to pay you for this? You have no credibility in this face. You’re a very typical Asian tiger Chinese mom trying to protect her baby cub. Me being a version of her said, Fuck it, I’m going to go do it. I’m going to go do it. I’ll figure it out. I have to do something with my negative energy and make it positive. I got my coaching certification and it just happened that the support I ended up getting were from my own clients. It was all inbound. I never started a website until three weeks ago. And so over the course of the year, people just rally. And I think part of that is if you are sincere about wanting to support and help people, they in turn look for those opportunities.
[00:09:55.730]
Speaker 2: I will say we are now, a year past that conversation when she was like, do not do this. And she has definitely gotten on board. She has gotten on board. And all of my friends have been super supportive. So I’m happy I’m not doing it alone. I don’t know.
[00:10:14.300]
Speaker 1: Sorry, my asthma is kicking my butt. If you all see me on camera, it’s over here coughing, allergies, everything is kicking my butt. But I’m curious to know because I’m a US citizen. I’ve done the immigration thing in another country and it was easy. P robably because I was a US citizen. But I’m curious to know when you came over, how did that work? Did you come over on H 1B or what?
[00:10:49.280]
Speaker 2: Great question. I actually had a dual, which I renounced recently. Now I’m just a foreign citizen.
[00:10:58.550]
Speaker 1: Got you. Because you did tell me before about… I think it was your father. Father is a US citizen. Okay. I was curious to know. Yeah. And you ain’t got to tell me why you renounced it because I already knew. Probably tax reasons because I’m ex IRS. I’m ex IRS. And one thing that happened while I was there was FATCA. Fatca, they were basically trying to force people to show their bank accounts and their taxes and things like that. And literally people were US citizens through… Their parents never stepped foot in the US. And they were like, Yeah, you owe taxes. And from 18 to whenever. And we were getting bank statements from Greece and China. And of course, no one speaks Greek or Mandarin. So it’s like, okay, how are we going to handle this? But yeah, I’ve definitely thought about it. I’ve definitely thought about it when I become a Mexican citizen. That’s a whole another podcast. We can get deep into that, too.
[00:12:10.930]
Speaker 2: Yeah. I wish it was something as groovy as that. Unfortunately, it’s just the Singapore government doesn’t allow a dual. And so they asked me to choose and naturally it was home or the US. And so I chose home.
[00:12:25.420]
Speaker 1: Got you. That’s sad. That’s sad because I’ve talked to quite a few people that had to give theirs up because of their home country. But yeah, I don’t know. But I definitely thought about giving up my US citizenship for sure. Let’s see. All things come at a cost. What did it cost you to leave your executive position and start your business?
[00:12:57.570]
Speaker 2: Yeah. I have to say I don’t think it cost me anything. I think the real cost that I realized that came over the course of my career of trying to go from someone who applied to deliver food for seven bucks an hour to being an executive in tech, earning 300K, all of that stuff, over five years, I think that was really the cost on me. I spent 14 hours days and seven days work weeks. In the process, I had lost sight of taking care of myself. It also meant that I never spent time to take a moment and say, Why am I doing this? All of my career moves were reactive. It was either a toxic workplace or an inability to grow or a leadership change or pay inequity, which is a whole topic in and of itself. And I think at the end of the 10 years of chasing that back to back, the real cost just came that I was burnt out. I was tired. I was disconnected from myself. And I lacked compassion because I was angry. I was angry, I was bitter. I was jaded. And that is what I’ve gained in walking away and saying, I’m not going to do anything that I’m not excited about.
[00:14:33.220]
Speaker 2: I’m only here to help other people do what they are excited about. I haven’t discovered a cost yet. I would say, yes, there are definitely days where I wake up and I’m like, Oh, girl, what did you do?
[00:14:47.660]
Speaker 2: Oh, my God. Am I really doing this right now? It’d be really nice to have that cushy paycheck. But I am fortunate enough that I had would have been planning for this for a year. And so I saved up last year and made sure I had a nice little nest egg. And I had slow rolled my own client base over the course of that time. And I was really lucky that when I left the US, I had a couple of clients from my previous jobs at tech companies who actually reached out and connected me with people in Asia who were doing similar things. And so now I’m in several different partnerships. It’s not as lonely as it seems, but I would say if I had to choose a cost of right now, that would probably be it. Is the occasional spiral and little gremlin voice that comes in and says, What makes you think you can do this? And you don’t have a team around you that’s going to sit there and cheer lead you. And it’s nobody’s job to do that. My happiness isn’t anyone else’s duty. So it’s having to pull yourself up on those days and being like, You got this.
[00:15:59.240]
Speaker 2: Whether or not you believe it, you got it. I have to.
[00:16:03.230]
Speaker 1: Say entrepreneurship is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. You have to get you an entrepreneurial partner. That’s what I call them. I met them what, four years ago. Shout out the Christian. He listens to my podcast and stuff. One of my biggest supporters. We pretty much talk every day. We bounce ideas off. He’s the entrepreneur too, so he gets the struggle and things like that. But you have to find someone that gets it because I don’t want to call people worker bees because I’m still one. But worker bee doesn’t understand the struggle and they just don’t. But you have your mother too, so she’ll understand to an extent. But yeah, I don’t know if she’s in the world of social media where you have to do all that stuff and websites and things like that because that’s the most difficult part. And like you said, not having a team is like, I got to do that, but I don’t feel like it today, so I’ll wait till tomorrow. You touched on the process. You said you got a coaching certification. Did you take any courses? Did you go to any meetups, reach out to anybody and try to get any advice, and pump your head up and say you can do this?
[00:17:32.680]
Speaker 1: What was the process on leaving your position?
[00:17:37.160]
Speaker 2: I think it was a slow process. I don’t think I intended it to be a process, but now that I look back on it, it actually was. So yeah, getting my coaching certification, that was actually not an intention to become a coach. I did that because I was frustrated and I felt disempowered to be a good leader for my team because I lead a team of six other mixed bag of women from different ethnicities, and I wanted to protect them from the parts of the culture that they were reflecting back to me where they didn’t feel recognized. And so I want to become a coach so I could be a better leader internally. And in the process of that, they force you to have practice clients and to put yourself out there. And so that’s how it started forming. Outside of that, I think it’s been having connecting talks with other people. I think I’ve probably learned the most and been pushed the most by the partnership. Your point, Elyse, about having an entrepreneurial partner is so critical. Whether or not you’re an entrepreneur, but even if you’re just trying to start something new, having a partner that, one, holds you accountable, and two, says, You got to go do this because you agreed to it, is super helpful.
[00:19:12.190]
Speaker 2: I have a partnership right now with a team in Hong Kong called Make Meaningful Work. Dan and Joe are the two founders. And when I meet with them, they’re like, We’re going to launch our program right now. And we just wrapped up our first focus group. I don’t think I could have seen all of that happening in two months after landing in Singapore, but it did because they kept pushing me. So the process is a mix of go out there, get yourself the tools, have conversations with people, grow and deepen your learning and knowledge of whatever subject you’re in. Then two, go find other people to push you and keep yourself open to whatever influences, impulses come so that it’s not rigid. It’s a mix of having a process and then also being wide open to what comes.
[00:20:12.320]
Speaker 1: Being wide open to what comes. There you go. There it is. Oh, gosh. I forgot I was going to say it’s past six o’clock, so bear with me. I wanted to touch on something that you said. Gosh, I can’t remember. We’ll just move on to the next question. What are some positives and some negatives of your new career?
[00:20:42.700]
Speaker 2: Yeah, the positives are super easy. I get to help other women do what they want to do. It is so unbelievably rewarding to be able to see people thrive. I have to say, I have spent years in a sales position, like closing pretty big deals. And there’s always a thrill there. So obviously I’m a bit of a thrill seeker. But I have never felt something as rewarding as seeing someone bounce back from a layoff or someone pivot careers and say, I think I found the thing for me. Or someone leave a toxic workplace or someone get 50 % more in their salary. And understanding now the new value and that their values determined by them. There is just something so gratifying about that. Those are all of the positives. Those are all the stories of my clients, and they are the only reason why I now wake up on Mondays excited. The negatives, like I mentioned is, yeah, it’s up and down, but not up and down because of the business, up and down because of mentally how we are as people. I have to spend a lot more time really prioritizing myself, showing up for myself to make sure that I’m keeping my mind in check just so I can show up for myself and for my clients.
[00:22:09.420]
Speaker 1: Got you. That’s what I was going to say about the coaching. People tell me I should be a coach because I have all this experience and I tell great stories and things like that. I do training. I hold training once a month. That’s about the most I can do at this point because that’s my gift back. I make sure those are free every month. And sometimes I have paid seminars. But my whole thing is I’m scared to give out advice because when somebody comes back, you gave me bad advice. How do you deal with that?
[00:22:42.320]
Speaker 2: That is so real. And here’s the thing. I think the common misconception about coaches and also, I guess, probably negative is that there are some people who… There’s a lot of people who just think that they want to be coaches and that are doling out and telling you what to do with your life. One of the main coaching tenets is you trust your client to know. It is all about asking the right questions, holding a safe, non judgmental space. The acronym that my coach used to use was YAAC, which is you always know. So trust that your client can get there because any piece of advice you can give is great. And that’s why mentors are super necessary in all of our work lives.
[00:23:35.200]
Speaker 1: But.
[00:23:36.060]
Speaker 2: Simultaneously, a piece of advice only works if it’s contextualized into that person’s life and how they can actually action on it. The nice part about being a coach is you just got to ask questions. You just got to let people get there. And sometimes it is harder. So that’s where the framework and coaching tools help. But yeah, I definitely have that moment from time to time. And it’s good because I have to manage my fixer and step back and be like, Nope, I am not here to be a sage on a stage. I’m just your guide by the side. That’s all. So I’m going to ask questions.
[00:24:13.520]
Speaker 1: Yeah, I see. I’ll ask all the questions. He’s like, I didn’t think of that question. You guys ask good questions and stuff like that. That was hidden. I’m like, you’re not asking the right questions. This is the whole point right here. I don’t really care to do the coaching part of it because people are like, Yeah, I need individual help. I’m like, No, I do classes. I don’t do individual. So yeah, that’s what you’re supposed to do because I don’t care to do individual stuff. What are some traits that make a good coach?
[00:24:56.140]
Speaker 2: Yeah, curiosity, obviously, with asking the right questions. Two, I think ability to hold back from judgment. So being able to separate yourself, your personal life, your opinions, which is probably one of the hottest parts of it because the reality is we’re all human, we’re not always going to have a great day. So having that level of objectivity. I think the third part is being able to communicate and communicate the tougher parts. Because as a coach, you are also about holding someone accountable and you have to help them drive forward in their own goals in the moments where they may feel like their gas tank is empty. And so you have to read the room well and say, Does this person need a little tough love right now? Do they need some soft loving? What do we do? How do we drive accountability with them on their terms? So I think it’s probably three. I’m sure I could name 20 million other things more, but if I thought about the key top three traits, that would be it. Yeah.
[00:26:09.870]
Speaker 1: And I guess the other thing is I’m blunt and I don’t think that’s a good trait for coaching. I could be blunt in training, all that good stuff. I like to be animated and playful, which isn’t probably good for coaching either. But yeah, very blunt. I’m not judgmental. I’m old enough, I’m mature enough to understand that people have been through things. I’ve been through things, so I get it. People walk their own path, but I don’t think the bluntness works well with coaching either. Last question. What are some tips and tricks? You touched on a lot, but anything final words on just switching careers in general, coaching, whatever?
[00:27:06.910]
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. But I want to say, Elyse, you totally would have a spot to be a blunt coach. I’m a blunt gal, too. I am still like East Coast on the inside from my time growing up in Highland, New York. I think, like, tough love works. There’s a space for being blunt and when you approach people with respect, they’ll feel that. They’ll know that you’re doing it with tough love. But yeah, to give you my tips and tricks with career switching. If I thought about this plan in my career, I started as an arts programmer in Singapore in my early 20s, where I traveled around the world, brought in different productions, brought them out to Singapore. And I saw a glass ceiling after my two years where I didn’t see any more opportunities for learning and for growth. I also wanted to just get out there and test what I was made of and leave the safety of what I knew. So that’s how I ended up in New York and had the harsh reality that people didn’t know what to make of my background or someone who was in the arts from Singapore. And I would get the question all the time in my interviews, like, why is your English so good?
[00:28:27.500]
Speaker 2: Fyi, for anyone who’s wondering, in Singapore, we all speak English. It is our first language. We’re taught it. That’s why our English is good. But then I spent almost eight months being broke and almost homeless. And so I was like, I’m going to go deliver food. I never got that job because I didn’t know how to ride a bike. But they ended up putting me in their customer service team where I answered phones and I was like, I’m going to do this to make ends meet. And three months later, I ended up in my first sales position, something I thought I never wanted to do because it was like, salespeople, no thanks. But when you got to eat, you got to eat. So I was like, if I was going to deliver food, I can sell. And I am like, slepting sandwiches across New York in the summer heat in heels and a cute little dress trying to sell to these larger organizations. I’m telling the story. I promise it has a point. Eventually, I become the head of account management. I do that for two years, then I leave, and I think I only want to work with good people.
[00:29:37.520]
Speaker 2: So I choose a company that bought sandwiches from us called Gerston Lerman Group, GLG, because they had really nice assistants. They were really nice people. I didn’t know what they did, but they were really nice people. And so I applied and I ended up getting a job on their sales team selling into their largest tech clients. And I worked my butt off. I threw up every morning having mad anxiety, being like, people are going to find out I’m the girl that sold their sandwiches, that did their catering, and now I’m here selling next to them these market research solutions to the biggest tech companies in the world, like, boy, what am I going to do? I mention all of this because I think there’s two parts of it. Choose well, because there’s no point in making a good choice poorly, but you cannot choose well if you are only choosing from your rational mind. And what I mean by that is I would have never gotten to selling into tech. I would have never gotten the ability to have a nice little nest egg to go do this for a year by myself without a job and not worrying.
[00:30:47.230]
Speaker 2: If I hadn’t taken that chance to go deliver food by responding to a Craigslist ad. So keep your mind open to it. It’s in the peripheral vision. All the interesting opportunities come up. But simultaneously, think about where you want to land. The best decision I ever made when I was pivoting away from selling sandwiches to Gerston Lamin group selling research was I made the distinct choice. I only want to work with good people, good, kind people. And that’s probably the happiest I’ve ever been at a job for two years. Once I got past a year of all of the anxiety of throwing up every morning, I loved my team. It was the best boss I ever had in my life. And so that choice, 100 % would make it again. So that’s my advice. Sorry, that was very long, but I wanted to contextualize it. It works.
[00:31:45.070]
Speaker 1: No, that’s perfectly fine. They say the best advice you can give is with a story. So you can ask my entrepreneurial friend. He’s like, You always got a story. I was like, Yeah, that’s how you sell it. You got to have a good story. When you said in your rational mind, that spoke to me because after my mother passed, of course, I wasn’t in my rational mind. I quit my job and all this stuff, and I’m going to Mexico? Where do they do that at? Luckily, I had savings. I was getting unemployment, couple of hundred dollars a month. I was like, Well, I think that’ll make ends meet in Mexico. Then I’ll figure it out from then. It just felt right. I didn’t have any strife or any problem. I was like, This feels so good and right. That’s why I stayed. I just had to figure it out along the way. But yeah, no, the rational mind was real deep. I like those words. Marlena, tell us where we can find you.
[00:33:16.700]
Speaker 2: Yeah. On LinkedIn, you can look me up by my name. It’s Marlena, spelt like Marlene to a lot of people, ditsick. Or on LinkedIn, the dash ish, I S H, which is the company that I run now on Instagram, the ish, T HE, ISH. Online, and that’s what our website is as well. So reach out, send me a note. I’m always looking to just have conversations with people hearing their stories. We’re also test running a bunch of new programs coming up where I could use some free participants who are keen to think about how to elevate their career, how to make work work for them, or if you just need a little bit of help. I’m here. I’ve got a ton of friends who are also looking to help. So keen to hear from anyone.
[00:34:11.020]
Speaker 1: All right. Thank you again, Marlena, for being on this show. My name is Elyse Robinson. I’m with the Nobody Wants to Work, Go podcast. Please subscribe to the newsletter. We send it out weekly with updates on my blog, the podcast, and the seminars that come out that I conduct trainings on. We’re on Google podcast, Apple podcast, and Spotify to do all the popular stuff. O f course, we’re on YouTube if you’re watching. P lease subscribe there. T hank you for listening. And next time. it..
About
Get ready for a thrilling ride with Carla Jenkins, a powerhouse who’s conquered both government and private sectors! Join us on today’s podcast as she spills the beans on the nail-biting reality of the hiring environment that’s got everyone on edge. Don’t miss this heart-pounding discussion!
Carla Jenkins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlarjenkins/
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
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Listen On:
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Donate:
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
The Jobpocalypse: Surviving the Employment Wasteland
The Hiring Hunger Games: A Battle for Job Survival
Unemployment Unleashed: Stories from the Trenches
The Great Job Desert: Searching for Oasis in the Workforce
Job Market Mayhem: Tales of Terrifying Turmoil
The Interview Inferno: Hot-Seat Stories that Sizzle
Job Climate Jaws: Will You Be the Next Victim?
Scary Job Chronicles: The Employment Twilight Zone
The Perfect Storm: Navigating the Chaotic Job Market
Interview Nightmares: Face Your Fears in the Hot Seat
The Bermuda Triangle of Employment: Lost in the Job Crisis
Job Market Zombies: Resurrecting Careers in a Dying World
Employment Exorcism: Banishing the Job Market Demons
The Workforce Tsunami: Tales of Drowning in the Job Flood
Unleashing the Kraken: Confronting the Job Market Monster
Show Notes
[00:00:01.000]
Speaker 2: Hey, you all. This is your host, Elyse Robinson with Nobody Wants to Work No podcast. I hope these stories will inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and now I’m in tech and let’s get to it.
[00:00:20.200]
Speaker 1: We are Switch into Tech. Tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology. Monthly classes on tech topics. We are off for free or discounted exam vouches, scholarships, free Udemy courses, free events, free boot camps, and more. You can find us at www.switchinto tech.
[00:00:42.760]
Speaker 2: Org. Hey, you all. This is Elyse Robinson with Nobody Wants to Work their Podcast. Today we have Karla and she’s going to tell us about her interview horror story. I’m excited to have her because we chat off and on every now and then. But go ahead, Karla, introduction.
[00:01:03.750]
Speaker 1: Well, thank you for interviewing me and having me on. My name is Karla R. Jenkins. I am a certified in IT, cloud computing and project management. I have 15 years of experience in both the public and private sector. I started out in IT, actually in high school through programming. Then I got into SaaS, which is Statistical Analysis Software in graduate school. I leveraged that skill set to work eight years with the federal government. I received my project management professional certification and transitioned to the private sector, where I am currently. I do a lot of work in education technology, so I help people get certifications, but I also do a lot of cloud computing and cloud migration. Thank you for having me on here.
[00:01:51.930]
Speaker 2: Definitely. I didn’t know you was an ex fed. I’m an ex fed too.
[00:01:57.740]
Speaker 1: Yeah.
[00:01:58.340]
Speaker 2: Go ahead and I mean, let’s get right on it, too. Tell us about the horror story.
[00:02:03.320]
Speaker 1: Sure. One of the interview horror stories I had was I was interviewing at a cloud company, and I went through all of the interviews. The first round, I talked to the person, made it to the second round, did my presentation, went to the third round with the hiring manager, went to the third round. I was supposed to get interview prep.
[00:02:30.120]
Speaker 2: And.
[00:02:30.480]
Speaker 1: I didn’t get interview prep, so I didn’t do well on the final leg. I also didn’t know why I got two people of the five people interview in round three that were nowhere connected to what I would be potentially doing or that division of the company. I didn’t get the position, but the HR person had the goal to tell me he didn’t schedule my interview prep because he just started there, but I needed a six month cool down period. I was like, What? I was amazed that that happened simply because it was his fault and he tried to throw it on me. That was just amazing. Then I have a second one with a different cloud provider and I was going for a product manager position. They got in contact with me. I interviewed for the position, and it was very different than the other providers. They had me do things that weren’t specifically related to the interview. I had to do these different types of brain teasers, which didn’t make sense to me on why I would be doing it because it was irrelevant to the job. I remember I had to do something that was drone related or something, but I wasn’t dealing with drones, artificial intelligence, or any of that.
[00:03:58.230]
Speaker 1: I was actually doing product manager position for the particular cloud. They came back and said that, Once again, it’s always this cool down period that I need this. I was like, I’m not going to do this anymore. Then another opportunity presented itself the public sector because I have federal background. I also work as an economist, and that on Office of Personal Management, which is the federal government’s HR, says that economist is the mission critical job. That means that’s one of the most important jobs that the government is sourcing for. I work in the federal government as an actual economist, so I interview for them. The person comes back, the recruiter comes back and tells me that the person who was going for the cloud public sector job said that he didn’t think I was a good fit. I was like, Okay, even though the federal government said I was a great fit, and that’s exactly what they’re looking for. Those are three of my interview horror stories here that I have just in just with cloud. They always want to say they can’t find anybody, which is untrue. They always say that you need to be prepared.
[00:05:19.620]
Speaker 1: They always say you need to read the job description and everything. But here we are in three different instances. It was either they weren’t prepared for HR, or they give you stuff that was irrelevant, or they just say, Okay, well, we don’t need you, which was weird because they’re working with the government.
[00:05:43.150]
Speaker 2: Definitely. I interviewed at Microsoft for a product manager position, and he had me basically design a thermostat. And mind you, at that point, I had been gone out of the US for almost six years. I was like, I totally remember what a thermostat looks like. People don’t understand that having central heating and air is a luxury. And in most countries, you don’t have that. So there’s no thermostat. If you have AC, you might have something on the wall that’s just an AC that blows out in one room. It’s supposed to cool your whole house or apartment. And I was like, I don’t remember even what a thermostat looks like. And when I came back to the state, I controlled everything from my phone, so I really wasn’t fooling with a thermostat anyways. Of course, I failed because I’m like, all the things, you’re going to give me one where I’m like, I don’t even have experience with it. I haven’t had any recent experience with it. I’m like, I’ve been gone so long, I don’t remember what a thermostat even, shoot, does. So I get you on a product manager one. And yeah, they’ll lie and say there’s shortages and they need these positions and stuff.
[00:07:12.620]
Speaker 2: But we are here floating in the wind, so they must not need people that bad.
[00:07:20.580]
Speaker 2: I’ll have to do my own another interview. Well, I didn’t even get an interview, but I’ll save that one for another day. You probably see my post on it. But that one was really crazy because.
[00:07:33.820]
Speaker 1: I’m the only.
[00:07:35.410]
Speaker 2: Person on this Earth that could fit it. That was the crazy part. I was like, legit, the only person. They still were like, no.
[00:07:47.530]
Speaker 1: Because they have in mind who and what they want to hire. I have some more. Speaking of what you just said, how about this? I had situations where I would apply for a position, the applicant tracking system would kick it out. Then I got a phone call later today about the position. I was like, Oh, well, I was like, Thank you very much. I forwarded the client email and everything. I had another situation where I was interviewing for a cloud admin position. The description said cloud admin. I get in the interview and they were like, Can you do cloud engineer? I was like, Well, those are two different positions. He asked me to describe them. I was like, Well, cloud administrator is identity access management. It’s mostly regarding high availability. You want to make sure people have permission to deal with these privileges. Cloud engineering is mostly with the network, making sure that everything is up. Also, not just high availability, but also fault tolerance and can give a redundancy in case, say, an availability zone or a region fails. It was just weird that they think that they’ll try to put… I’m noticing they’re trying to put two things together a lot of times for these positions, and they sometimes don’t overlap, and they expect you to be able to do that because an administrator skill set is different than the cloud engineer skill set, too.
[00:09:20.020]
Speaker 1: I had an interview like that. Then another interview that I had for a position was when I interviewed for… I actually interviewed for another cloud. Went through the interview, had a panel interview. Immediately, I actually had the cloud certification. It’s not one of the big ones, but I managed to get one of the certifications in that I talked to the person, they ghosted me. Then it was like months later, they came back and it was like, Oh, well, we have a new record. We’ve been thinking about you and everything. No, they didn’t. They probably hired that other person fired and then wouldn’t have rolled back to you and think that you’re still available for those opportunities. I never really go back to that because this is the thing. People don’t understand it. It’s not just cloud. What it is is this. If you didn’t get accepted for the position, they come back for the same thing, they most likely have something in HR for you saying, Okay, this person wasn’t good enough for this job. If you accept the position and it may go left for something, then they already have a file on you saying, Well, you weren’t considered based on this, and that’s also what they’re going for.
[00:10:38.880]
Speaker 1: That’s something that people also need to watch out and look for also.
[00:10:45.200]
Speaker 2: Yeah, I never thought about that. Because my whole thing is if you were good because… Let me back it up. There was a Twitter post the other day that I was going through, and they were like, Culture Fit or Skills, which one would you rather hire for? It was a couple of hundred responses and most of them were saying Culture Fit, and they can train for skills. My thing is, if you pass the Culture Fit, why would you just let that person go? You should try to find them something else in the company. But these companies just waste their time and waste your time. They could have found another position for you if you were this so called Culture Fit or whatever. That’s one thing I don’t understand. I will say that supposedly that was how Microsoft kicked it to me was that if this wasn’t the right one, they would find another one for me. But I can’t say that there’s been other companies that have ever kicked it to me that way. I’ve talked to all of them. Every company, probably all of the Fortune 500 at this point. So yeah, no, it’s crazy to.
[00:12:05.880]
Speaker 1: Me that.
[00:12:06.370]
Speaker 2: Leave you out there.
[00:12:08.960]
Speaker 1: Right. It definitely is a cultural thing. And I could definitively say that. And I’m glad you brought this up because I learned actually through Microsoft when the pandemic first started in 2020, and they were doing the monthly cloud skills challenges, and you finish the learning and you get a free all purpose voucher, that’s when I learned I had the background to do the math background to do artificial intelligence machine learning. I got my AI 100, then I got the AI 100. I’m a certified artificial intelligence engineer. I know for a fact that when they do stuff or keywords, they are only looking for a specific group of people or specific stuff. What I always do is I look at the makeup of people when they have all their employees on LinkedIn, I do look at that because you want to know where they’re putting people and what their backgrounds are. I never forget it was a leading artificial intelligence, machine learning. It was Silicon Valley and everything. I never forget that I just got my AI 100. The new one is AI 102. I got that in June of 2021. No lie, within I applied for this position.
[00:13:44.100]
Speaker 1: A week later, some recruiter reached out to me and it was Silicon Valley thing. It did prove to me that they are looking for certain people, certain backgrounds, certain things. Even though people are talking about non tech and the Scrum master and the project manager and in the delivery and the designer and all that. If you don’t have that hard math background or computer science, science technology engineer, mathematics, I think that’s really what they were looking for. I think that that’s what they’re really looking for, for cultural fit and everything. They should just come out and say, Okay, we’re going back to the original IT, the original science, technology, and engineering, because they put out there that they were going to take on more positions, more people from different walks of life. Then you turn around and that wasn’t the case. But I had that happen to me, too, where you’re getting invites from places and people just based on what your background is. Don’t sleep on LinkedIn. They do go and look at it. They go and find the connections and everything.
[00:15:01.180]
Speaker 2: Yeah. See, the thing is, skills is one thing and culture is another. I think I don’t fit because regardless of being a woman and race, I have an accounting background. Therefore, I’m very comfortable in front of people doing presentations and doing things like this. And then people are just sitting there in the interview and they’re just I call them a bump on a log and it’s like, Well, I know I’m not getting this because I’m animated, smiley. Even when I was at Microsoft and stuff, my mentor was a computer science… No, he was a math major and stuff. And so I’d be like, Good morning. And he’d be like, Oh, my God. But I can do tech stuff, too. I have the tech brain. I love math. I love chemistry and physics and stuff like that. So it’s very rough for me because I’m perfectly capable of sitting in the corner programming for hours on end. I create my own stuff. But being in these positions, like, hell no. I just got an interview earlier and they were just sitting there like, okay.
[00:16:40.330]
Speaker 1: I don’t want you bad ones. I noticed that when I started working as an economist, I had all those people just like that. They were all very analytical people. I realized that I had to improve my communication skills significantly because I didn’t want to be those people who were insanely brilliant but didn’t know how to hold a conversation, didn’t know how to communicate with non tech people. You have to be able to do that. When you do, they’ll put in the job interview that you need to have soft skills, you need to communicate, you need to do all that. But then we get there, all of those people, they just stick behind their code and all of that other stuff, but not necessarily being able to carry a conversation and talk to people outside of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
[00:17:30.630]
Speaker 2: Definitely. That’s what I’m finding. I’m like, do I stick with it? Do I just go do something else? Go back to accounting, audit, risk? What do I do? Because I’m in a master’s program for data science because I’ve always loved math. I love programming, statistics. Audit is heavy statistics, but I’m just like, am I wasting my time? Because I’m going on these on these interviews and stuff and give my math and data science. And I’m just like, am I wasting my time? Because I don’t fit the mold. So like I’m saying, regardless of being a woman or race, it’s like, okay, I’ve always been very forward and animated. I like to smile. I don’t sit there like a bump on a log. I do things like this, presentations and stuff, and they’re like, what do we do with you? So yeah, I don’t know. But I don’t know, maybe the feds will take me back.
[00:18:41.310]
Speaker 1: Have you thought about doing something like QuickBooks or any type of accounting, sales?
[00:18:50.270]
Speaker 2: I hate accounting. I hate accounting. Okay.
[00:18:53.710]
Speaker 1: So have you thought about doing anything like Power BI? Well, Power BI is Microsoft. Anything like… What type of data science? You want to do Python? You want to do R?
[00:19:04.870]
Speaker 2: I.
[00:19:05.150]
Speaker 1: Don’t.
[00:19:06.100]
Speaker 2: Know. I don’t know if this is classified as machine learning, but I built a Twitter bot and a LinkedIn bot, and it basically scrapes data for me and helps with my business. Those are the type of things I want to do, like analyzing statistics and things like that. I don’t know. There’s a.
[00:19:29.050]
Speaker 1: Lot of positions, but you can also look at sports, the different sports. They’re big with statistics. Those are 32 teams you can go to. Nba, LeBron, the scoring record. They’re pumping out statistics daily with that.
[00:19:49.760]
Speaker 2: Yeah, there was a video on my program where it was a lady and she worked for I think it was the NBA, literally the NBA and she did their statistics and data science for them and stuff.
[00:20:04.480]
Speaker 1: True. Yeah.
[00:20:06.770]
Speaker 2: Yeah. There’s lots of opportunity. It’s just…
[00:20:12.530]
Speaker 1: But those would be great because sports people like people who have personality. They actually call them personality. So you would fit in there because you would have the balance of the statistics with the math, the Major League baseball. Ncaa is doing that. They would need people right now as of this recording is February, so they would need people in statistical March Madness. They’re probably hiring for that. It’s a lot of, I think, sports because you have to be a personality. You have to be vibrant. That would be a great opportunity.
[00:20:46.590]
Speaker 2: For you. I have to say the lady that was in the video, I could tell she was one of those people.
[00:20:52.750]
Speaker 1: She had.
[00:20:54.190]
Speaker 2: To force it out. She was probably like, Oh, she probably had to mentally prepare for this for the interview because she was one of those people. But like I’m saying, of course, there’s lots of opportunity. I see the positions, it’s just am I going to be the culture fit? You know what I’m saying? Just like there’s tons of opportunity, supposedly in cloud, but yet there aren’t. What is it? Which is it? And to me, cloud is not even… Especially the stuff I was doing at Microsoft, it was consulting. So you had to be able to talk to people and have customer service and stuff like that. And it wasn’t… I don’t want to say it wasn’t technical because it was very technical, but it’s consulting, so therefore you have to have a certain type of personality for it. Some of my coworkers were those people, but some of them weren’t. There’s roles for that, but who hiring?
[00:22:05.760]
Speaker 1: For data science, what would be your perfect opportunity? I don’t know.
[00:22:14.480]
Speaker 2: You know what? I probably want to be on some classified secret stuff again. I really did enjoy that being an auditor and doing stuff like that. I got to do stuff that most people would never do. I really did enjoy that. But I don’t know if I want to do it on a military base again. That’s a whole different ball game.
[00:22:43.120]
Speaker 1: Well, instead of just accounting off, they have data integrity audits. They have all type of audits. So yeah, you would have a lot, especially when people are talking about data collection, privacy, and things like that. There’s a lot of auditing that would go regarding that. T hat’s very data specific and data intensive. But yeah, I like data too. It came out of my being in statistics and just going from statistics to data scientists. One of the things that I’ve been doing is because I started off in statistics and now I’m seeing so much of what you’re doing, whether it’s anomaly detection with threat intelligence, data, business. There’s so many fields that are based on statistics. I often feel like, okay, let’s just see what angle I want to go to within this field because one of the things is they have their own stuff, they have their own certifications and everything. The one thing I didn’t want to do is get all of these… When you know and you have the background for so much stuff, it would give the appearance of, Oh, she’s just doing this, this, this. But no, when you actually have the background, like I said earlier in the interview about artificial intelligence, I had the calculus 1, 2, 3 in linear algebra and calculus based that.
[00:24:10.190]
Speaker 1: When you have linear algebra and a lot of that was based on that classification, matrices and everything, then it’s like, okay, you have to just say, Okay, what direction do you want to put it? Because when you have the math background, it gets so fast. T hat’s very important because they’ll say that they want to have a journalist and train you and all that. But then when you get there, it’s something completely different. I feel that sometimes when it comes to the interview, they want to find things to disqualify you. T hat’s what they would want to do it on.
[00:24:47.500]
Speaker 2: You read about that. I don’t know because I’m sitting here like, should I keep at it? I don’t know. I applied for some audit positions. It was like, yeah, your audit experience is really old. I’m like, but I went to school for it. You just think it just disappeared out of my brain? Yes. you stuck in a rock and a hard place no matter what.
[00:25:18.280]
Speaker 1: I had something that I interviewed for.
[00:25:21.640]
Speaker 2: But.
[00:25:23.940]
Speaker 1: That’s important. It’s like, especially when something is specialized like accounting, everyone doesn’t get into accounting. That’s a specialized profession. Once you get in it, you know what you’re doing. It’s still generally acceptable accounting principle. That hasn’t changed in a long time. I was confused as to why she thought it was, when you probably still had to fit the 150 hours and you still had to do the gap. I know that and I’m not even an accountant.
[00:25:56.010]
Speaker 2: I know that. Exactly. T hat’s one thing I tell people. Matter of fact, there was a high school student and I talked to them. I talked to them for about two or three hours because they were like, They want to go to tech or accounting. And I was like, The one thing about audit is it hasn’t changed probably since the freaking beginning of time. One plus one is not equal to, controls is one thing, risk is another. Statistics and stuff like that. And the difference between that and tech is tech changes every second of every day. You’re constantly learning, so you have to figure out which one you think you’re going to be able to handle. But yeah, he was like, Yeah, your experience is old. And I’m like, Well, controls don’t change. Statistics don’t change. 1 plus 1 equals 2 doesn’t change. Like you said, the audit equation gap.
[00:26:58.350]
Speaker 1: It does change. doesn’t change. And then also, another thing is I had someone, so I was interviewing for a position in out of nowhere, and this was no one, once again, the job description is to match it, what they say, I don’t know where it was. Well, do you have this type of agile experience? So I was looking at that, no one doesn’t say it. I said, well, yeah, I have it. I had an inspired certification based on that was a year ago, but six months ago because I didn’t renew it. I could pay the money to renew it, but I gave them a copy of it. I did this, moved on to the interview. But that’s another thing regarding these job descriptions. You’ll submit it and rather than cancel it because the requirement changed, either they get the recruiter to ask you, do you have additional experience or something that isn’t on there? Or when you get to the interview, it’s completely different than what you applied for. I had that experience, too, which was like, so now it’s like, even if you do get the position, how do you know when you sit there on day one it won’t change again?
[00:28:17.550]
Speaker 2: It’s going to change.
[00:28:20.640]
Speaker 1: It’s.
[00:28:22.000]
Speaker 2: Going to change most definitely. I’ve had quite a few like that. Like, vmware got me like that because I’m like, I’ve never touched BMW before in my life. I understand the concept of it. But they had me sit through a whole interview and he was like, Yeah, but you don’t have BMW experience. I’m like, Well, why am I here? A whole hour gone. I talked to another guy and he was like, Well, you don’t have this experience. I have a technical grid on my resume. They list it there. He was like, Well, you can train on it. I typed in the technology. It’s a very specific technology. They were going like 50 jobs for it. I’m going to spend six weeks training on this and I still ain’t going to get the job, though. Make it make sense. They really got the pocket with this stuff.
[00:29:22.320]
Speaker 1: Right. Then they have the nerve that they asked for something that’s so specific. Also, what’s another thing? We got to go back to artificial intelligence. Now, they just started getting artificial intelligence certification about two, three years ago. Why did job description ask you for five to seven years? Now, you all know if you say five to seven years, you’re only looking for a specific group of people. I went back to that. They only want a specific group of people in that if they’re saying five to seven or something that the average person doesn’t have. That’s something I would say, too, is if it gets outlandish, like you need 7 to 10 years of cloud, then that means you’re only looking for a specific group of people. Because most people didn’t even know what cloud was until the pandemic when they had to work from home. That means that most people wouldn’t know what cloud computing was to begin with.
[00:30:28.650]
Speaker 2: You’re so right. I knew what it was before it did because I was doing my own consulting stuff, but I didn’t know what it was until 2016. So that wasn’t that long ago. That legit wasn’t that long ago. But yeah, just a note for people that are listening, if you see a job that says five to seven years experience in tech, or I don’t know if other industries do this because I haven’t seen it in audit. But go ahead and apply anyway. It’s just dumb. But my position at Microsoft, I think, said 12 years and I never touched Azure a day in my life before that. So yeah, like they say, culture fit. We can train you on the skills. But yeah, I don’t know what else to say other than I will say that in the past year, I’ve been on LinkedIn for a couple of years at this point. And in the past year, I’ve noticed that people are literally begging for jobs. And I’m like, what is the disconnect? I didn’t used to see stuff like that. People are like, I’ve been unemployed, 3 to 6 months, some people a year. I talked to a lady, she said 15 months.
[00:32:06.470]
Speaker 2: I’m just like, Oh, my God. What is the disconnect on this? But we can literally go down the list of reasons. Yeah.
[00:32:20.320]
Speaker 1: Actually, I had a situation like that. When I was working with a contract, I ended the contract and I was without a contract for a whole year and I was applying for positions and it forced me to shift what I was doing. What I will say is that… That’s another thing I want to bring up. When the pandemic first started in 2020, I was way more project management focused. Most of my certifications were in project management. I took the opportunity to get training, first workforce development training in cloud. I got two certifications in Amazon Web Services, the certified cloud practitioner solutions architect associate. Then I learned about Azure and I just started going in that direction because it was offering free opportunities and free labs too, which allowed me to upskill and reskill relatively quickly. Then it just snowballed into learning that Oracle Cloud had something free. Then I would get into these programs. But that’s something that I would recommend if you feel that you haven’t gotten opportunities for three to six months, see whether or not you have your current set of transferable skills and see how you can pivot to other industries that are growing.
[00:33:46.360]
Speaker 1: I feel that that’s very important because then you’ll get to meet a new group of people. I have a mentor and she works in the cloud industry. One of the things is the reason why I talk about transferable skills and meeting new people in the industry is because, say you want to work in IT, I had to go through my LinkedIn and see whether or not the people I interacted with were still at those companies. Remember, when they’re getting rid of 10,000, 12,000 people, some of the people you interacted with aren’t there anymore. You have to see whether or not they’re saying this ex Google, ex AWS, and in some cases it is that. That’s why I also say if you’re without a position, see if you have a current transitional skill set, transferable skill set to other industries which are growing because then you’ll meet new people, but you’ll also be meeting people who are working and potentially refer you.
[00:34:57.480]
Speaker 2: I didn’t done it all, so I can’t… I don’t even know what to recommend anymore. I’m like, Okay, well, I know this field needs it. Pretty much every field needs talent. You know what I’m saying? They need audit. Oh, my gosh. Everything is just freezing up. But I’m like, I don’t know what else to do at this point. What else is there? You check off health care and food and tech and good governments. I have.
[00:35:34.410]
Speaker 1: Noticed that the certified trainers, I am a member of a certified trainer group, Microsoft certified trainer group. I know none of them got the X. I was thinking, I was like, Well, if they still are servicing those contracts and they have to train some of those people, those people are still getting positions. They’re still training the current contract people that they’re doing in the certification because I had an interview for I was going to be a tPM, technical program manager for an education for cloud, and you were going to go on campus and you were going to work with the universities. Well, nobody who I know that’s far who are trainers, they got cut. That’s a potential opportunity. There’s still a lot of teaching opportunities out there because they still have people learning the software and using it. They need people to teach the software. I’m noticing that, too, that nobody who was a Microsoft tool find training. Nobody gives me a tool.
[00:36:43.830]
Speaker 2: I know nobody hit me up about a trainer position with my trainer certification. I’m just like, Okay. I’m like, I got this for nothing. Luckily, it was paid for. But I’m like, I applied to a couple positions. That’s good. Cricket. I don’t know. I don’t know. You know what? Here’s the story. I forget the company. I’m drawing a blank on the company. But the interviewer said that I scared him. I’m looking at his background. I’m like, You’re.
[00:37:29.140]
Speaker 1: Accomplished as hell.
[00:37:31.130]
Speaker 2: To me, I really ain’t did nothing. You know what I’m saying? Because if it wasn’t for the isms, I could probably be a whole lot farther than what I’m supposed to be. But he literally said he was scared of me. I’m like, scared of me for what? Your privilege is showing, but yeah. I don’t know if… Like it.
[00:38:06.960]
Speaker 1: Was frightening. That’s very weird to hear that. It was very weird.
[00:38:15.320]
Speaker 2: I’m like, I wish I could have recorded it, but I was just like, Oh, my gosh. What do you mean scared of me? He was like, Yeah, you’ve done all this stuff. And I’m like, To me, I’m really scared.
[00:38:24.910]
Speaker 1: And that was a man, too. Yeah, it was.
[00:38:27.180]
Speaker 2: A man. Yeah. i’m like, Maybe my resume scares people and stuff like that, but to me, I really haven’t done anything spectacular. You know what I’m saying? So I don’t know.
[00:38:49.030]
Speaker 1: But.
[00:38:52.760]
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know. Oh, another thing, somebody said that I jumped around a lot. I worked at the fed for six years and I probably would still be there if life circumstances didn’t happen. And if you’ve listened to me before and read my blog, then you would know what that circumstance is. But that happened. And so I moved to another country and I decided to stay and built a business. And COVID hit, came back, started working for Microsoft, and that didn’t work out. Now I’m doing something else. So I’m like, where do you see that I’ve been jumping around, man? Jumping around doing what? Oh, because I career switched. And this is one of the reasons why I wanted to do the podcast because people think that you’re supposed to stay in one job for your whole freaking life and never change and get your little ten cent raise. And if you get a raise and go on about your little happy Mary life.
[00:40:10.460]
Speaker 1: But also if you’re dealing with just the fact that you went from one country to another and you manage to be employable and acquire skills, that would be a great opportunity to hire, especially since most companies in the United States are multinational companies, so they have branches everywhere. So the fact that it was just a jumping around thing that was very weird to me, given the fact that.
[00:40:43.670]
Speaker 2: Most.
[00:40:44.230]
Speaker 1: People might not just move on to other positions, they move on for promotions, they move on to acquire skill sets. They’re not just going to sit there for 10 years. And then you have to ask yourself this, if somebody was in the exact same position for five to 10 years, does that mean… Oh, that.
[00:41:03.320]
Speaker 2: Would be a black mark too. It would be a black mark too. So you can’t win. Right.
[00:41:08.660]
Speaker 1: But then also it would symbolize that you really didn’t learn anything in that position. If you stay in the same position, how do you know that person’s current in the industry trend? They’re only current with their immediate job. That’s it. It’s not like they learned anything. They didn’t acquire any new skills. There’s nothing. They just passed their performance appraisal and that’s it. That doesn’t mean that they’re current with their own industry.
[00:41:38.080]
Speaker 2: Definitely. You can’t win on that either because, oh, you were at the same job for 15 years doing the same thing and got your 10 % raise every year. Why did you stay there? It’s like, well, you can’t jump around. So what do you want me to do? It’s like, like, look, I got interests. I like learning new things. Sometimes I pursue them permanently, sometimes I don’t. So it’s like, I don’t know. I nd finding a company that caters to that is terrible too, because it’s like, okay, well, sure. I don’t mind staying in the same position for two, maybe three years. And at that point, okay, I then learned the job and I’m about ready to go on to something else and do something else. And usually it’s not going to have something to do with what I was doing previously because for what? So g to give me something totally new to learn and skill up on and be satisfied with. But yeah, I think that’s another issue is that they don’t know what to do with me when it comes to that either. Because I’m like, Okay, well, I didn’t learn this. I want to go do something else.
[00:43:03.160]
Speaker 2: So that ain’t got nothing to do with the other stuff.
[00:43:06.880]
Speaker 1: But also they want you to stay. They should give you the professional career growth and the advancement opportunities to do that. And if you do want to go back to Mexico or anything and they have an opportunity for that, then they should encourage you. Okay, all you have to do is post out and go into that and work there and you can be able to do that. They have ex patriots or X packages to be in other countries, then that could have been encouraged. Then you could have just stayed in. You could have stayed, whether it’s Mexico or anywhere else, you can go there, live in that country, still work for the company, still be in the pipeline and everything. I think that’s something that a lot of companies aren’t encouraging, like ways to retain people or ways to train people who do like the company and potentially want to stay or want another opportunity in just a different division or a different region?
[00:44:05.140]
Speaker 2: No, that’s only for outsourcing, not you going somewhere else. That only works for people coming to the US. You don’t go anywhere. It only works for people coming to the US. No, they don’t. Because even when I was at Microsoft, I applied for a position in Spain because I speak Spanish, right? Denial. I reached out to the recruiter and everything. They were like, Yeah, we’ll chat. Nothing. Then I had reached out to a hiring manager in Mexico and stuff like that, but they were only hiring software engineers. I’m like, I don’t really care to be a software engineer. So yeah. Another thing is they wouldn’t tell me the salary. I’m like, Well, how do I know if I want to pursue this if you ain’t telling me what the money is? You know what I’m saying? So it’s a lot of stuff. And I don’t even understand how people get hired at this point because it’s like, okay, like I said, I need to know where the money is, what the conditions is, what I’ll be doing, and no one knows. I’m going to say the name, Nestlé. Nestle told me that they don’t give out salary.
[00:45:27.190]
Speaker 2: I’m like, but so I’m supposed to do these four interviews with you and you give me this and then I have to come up there? That’s what you’re saying? Right. That’s what’s going to happen. They act.
[00:45:43.800]
Speaker 1: Like glass door and levels FYI doesn’t exist. You can’t get salary from them. Also, another thing is I noticed something new. It’s relatively new that a recruiter would ask you, are you interested in a position without providing you at least a job description and or the salary range? Now, up until the final quarter of 2022, when I interacted with recruiters, they at least give you the job description. But I don’t know why they think it’s such a big imposition just to get a job description so you would know what job you’re talking about. Remember, you eat meat. I should at least know the job description and more importantly, why you feel I was a good candidate for this job. Whenever I would go on interviews, I would ask them, Okay, where did you find me? All of this. T hat was good so you can know where your traffic is coming from. But just the fact that they feel it’s a big deal of just providing a job description and you’re reaching out to us, that’s like an attitude thing. I can see why some of these HR people are getting cut because they think that they’re doing…
[00:47:01.440]
Speaker 1: No, seriously, if you believe that you just reach out to me and say, I have a job and you don’t have a job description or even the salary range, that was just weird. Yeah..
[00:47:17.370]
Speaker 2: I mean, I didn’t want to say it, but I’ve been thinking it. I’m like, I see why you are the first to go. But yeah, they’d be like, they say you’re supposed to do all these things, reach out to the recruiter and stuff like that. A lot of them, if they do respond, they’re rude. You know what I’m saying? Yes, I can tell you’re rude through some text. They don’t answer. You know what I’m saying? Or they’re giving you the run around. This is the other thing I don’t like. They reach out to you and then they don’t even respond back. How do you reach out to me and then don’t respond back?
[00:47:56.710]
Speaker 1: It.
[00:47:58.200]
Speaker 2: Was funny because it was a woman at Amazon. I wish I kept her name so I could see if she got laid off. But she said that she was going to help me find a position because these companies name their positions funny. And someone told me that these companies name their positions, these funny names, so other companies can’t poach you. And so I was looking for a sales engineer position, and Amazon doesn’t call their position sales engineers. I think they’re actually called cloud architects. And she said that she didn’t know. So I was like, Okay, well, if you don’t know, can you ask somebody? Because it’s like, this is your job. So I can know what I’m supposed to be applying to and whatever. And she was just like, I don’t know. So I hopped up on her post and I was like, Well, you told me you didn’t know. You’re offering handouts. You know what I’m saying? And I told her. I said, if I told somebody I didn’t know and then didn’t find the answer, I wouldn’t have a job very long, so how are you staying employed? She blocked me, of course.
[00:49:15.660]
Speaker 2: Me being a consultant, it’s like, okay, if I tell someone I don’t know, I’m going to be like, I get back to you, and then I’ll go find them. You know what I’m saying? How do you get off that I don’t know is just the answer, and you ain’t even going to find out and do your job. That’s some crazy stuff to me. I think.
[00:49:36.340]
Speaker 1: It all.
[00:49:36.890]
Speaker 2: The time. So you said it.
[00:49:44.500]
Speaker 1: Yeah. Then they don’t know. They don’t have the job description. But when you follow up, I don’t know you’re going to have to ask the hiring manager. That’s a problem when I feel that companies, yes, human resource may not be as technical, but they should have some type of summary experience of the area in which they’re in. Because just like outside the company, nobody knows if it’s your first day or first week on the job. They believe you’re the professional because you’re the official point of reference for contact they have. It’s the same with human resources. You are the official representative. You’re the first person that we see going into the job application process. And if you don’t know or you don’t just have a basic understanding of the area that you’ve been assigned, it doesn’t look very well. And I do feel that that’s why a lot of them were let go because they just kick it up the level. And so people were realizing these were the job descriptions, these people didn’t know this, this, and this. Now all of a sudden it’s, well, we can get rid of them. And that’s what was happening.
[00:51:04.830]
Speaker 1: And then they would have attitudes, too. And it was like, That wasn’t helpful. No, that.
[00:51:09.510]
Speaker 2: Ain’t the reason. The reason is they don’t do their job. You can literally interview, go through 10 rounds of interview and you never hear anything back. You know what I’m saying? And as an auditor, I would have cases. A lot of times I would have 20, 30 cases. I would have to keep track of which ones I touched. So every week, I would go back through the cases and see which ones that I need to follow up again. Hey, where’s the files? What’s going on? Every week. I’m just not understanding it. I don’t think they have 100 requisitions that they need to follow up on. So what is really the issue? I’m going to need you to get a spreadsheet. And the last time I did this was June whatever. And then follow up in the next week because I wouldn’t have a job if I didn’t do that. Even when I was a consultant, I would check in with my customer once a week and say, Hey, I don’t have an answer yet, but I’m just letting you know that we’re getting it. Right.
[00:52:18.670]
Speaker 1: I just don’t.
[00:52:21.600]
Speaker 2: Understand how they can just do that. That’s why they’re the first to go because I wouldn’t be able to do that in my job and still have one. That makes no sense. Okay, I get that people that didn’t have an interview and I still think that they should get a denial letter. Sure, they may fall through the crack, but someone that actually interviewed and they’re not getting any responses. Oh, no, you got to go because you got to go because you look bad as a company. You’re making me look bad. Right. And then.
[00:52:59.910]
Speaker 1: Also, I don’t know who thought this was a good idea, but why is it if you don’t get the position, why are they sending these surveys out? I don’t know.
[00:53:12.860]
Speaker 2: Who thought of them. I was like, Look, this is.
[00:53:14.470]
Speaker 1: Not a good idea.
[00:53:15.480]
Speaker 2: Look, he asked me this question right here and it didn’t make any sense. I go ahead and tell them. I’m like, I don’t know what they do with them and stuff. But yeah, I didn’t got plenty of ones where I didn’t even interview. And I’m like, Marifay, I just got one from GitHub. I never interviewed at GitHub and got one. I’m like, I didn’t even apply for a position with you all. And I don’t know how long, but I got a survey. I told them in the end of the thing, too, I didn’t even interview. Why am I getting this?
[00:53:49.460]
Speaker 1: Yeah. That’s something that was weird. I wanted to bring us to you, you mentioned that. How do you get an interview and you didn’t get the job? What type of What type of feedback or intelligence, Garren, did you think you were going to get from that? Because people will most likely be unhappy that they didn’t get the position. So that’s something I wanted to bring up, too. I don’t know.
[00:54:14.620]
Speaker 2: Because I get them and I don’t even interview. So I can’t answer that. I’m like, why am I getting this? But yeah, yeah, we can go on all day long, you know what I’m saying about the experiences and stuff like that. But I don’t rightly know. I’m working for a Mexican company at this point, but it’s like, I might want to go back to the feds at this point because it’s really insane because I always work for the government. Even my parents work for the government, and so that’s all I pretty much knew. And so being private industry, it’s like, okay, you have to negotiate. And they do rounds of interviews and they do interviews that have nothing to do with the job. e really need it because I was not used to that with the feds because the feds, they’ll give you a job and you don’t even interview for it. Because I hadn’t done it before. And it’s funny because there was this guy, he inbox me and I think he was doing six interviews or something like that. And I told him that was crazy. And so he inbox me. He was like, but what interview process would you do?
[00:55:42.540]
Speaker 2: And I said, The government seems to hire people just fine off a 30 minute interview. They don’t do rounds and they ask relevant questions. So those people end up staying till they die. You see those people at 90 years old still working there. So I’m not understanding these rounds in private industry. But there was one recently that I saw it was for a developer advocate position. I was like, okay, well, it was like 32 hours weeks or something like that. So I guess that would be what, four eight hours days. And it was remote. And I was like, Okay, I’ll apply for it. And then I looked at the job bulletin, I mean, the application, and it was like the interview. They literally were asking you interview questions and they wanted responses. So I’m like, this is the whole interview because if this was the feds, I would write out my KSAs, which they actually tell you.
[00:56:50.200]
Speaker 1: Right, knowledge, skills, and abilities.
[00:56:52.160]
Speaker 2: I would write out my KSAs and you might get chose off of that. Right. And then they were like, Yeah, then you interview four and a half hours with I think it was like four or five different people. I’m like, four and a half hours and I’m not being paid? It’s crazy. Really crazy. I mean, maybe they’ll find somebody. I hope they don’t because the whole process. It’s so crazy. I guess they’re banking on their benefits being a draw because I was like, 32 hours. I’m like, shoot, that’s Gucci. I can’t call it.
[00:57:42.820]
Speaker 1: Sorry, you all.
[00:57:43.690]
Speaker 2: My eyes was kicking my butt. This weather is flip flopping. But yeah, I mean, if you ain’t got nothing to say, we can cut it.
[00:57:55.640]
Speaker 1: I just hope that for 2023 and beyond, that the interviewing aligns with the job description and that it gets easier and it’s not more rounds but less because I don’t think that anyone should have to jump through as many hoops. I remember you would have one interview, two max, and that would be it. You could potentially know whether or not that was a good hire or not. Also a lot of very specific things used, like you mentioned, culture in the beginning of things that aren’t necessarily necessary to the job. They’re just in there to disqualify people. Then they’ll say they can’t find people. I hope that that goes away also in 2023. Right.
[00:58:57.140]
Speaker 2: But when they said they’re hiring for culture fit over skills, because when I hired people, I’m hiring for skills. I don’t really care about no culture fit. It’s like, can you produce me money? You know what I’m saying? I don’t really care about culture fit, especially now since a lot of these jobs are remote anyways, what do I need a culture fit for? You know what I’m saying? That’s my whole other thing is culture fit or what, and I don’t see you every day. But I mean, that’s just a cop out. It’s really just a cop out. That’s basically what it is. But I also wanted to touch on these cloud interviews, last thing. And these questions that are being thrown out at you when cloud is a physical thing, you know what I’m saying? That you maneuver, you’re on the computer. And so for you to throw questions at me, it’s really crazy to me when there could possibly be a power shell or bash command, or I can use the interface because when I was at Microsoft, I really used the interface. It was all power shell. I might be able to give you the power shell command, but that may not be the answer that you wanted.
[01:00:19.520]
Speaker 2: You know what I’m saying? Exactly.
[01:00:22.200]
Speaker 1: I think that’s important, too. My thing on.
[01:00:25.220]
Speaker 2: These cloud interviews is that maybe instead of throwing questions out at people, they should be maybe a hands on test. But that would cost them money because the cloud cost money, don’t it? Yeah. It ain’t like code where they got all this stuff. But I don’t know because that’s another reason why I’m like, cloud, because you’re throwing questions out at me and I’m just like, well, I need to actually physically look at it and see if that might be the answer that I want to use. So it’s really crazy to me. But I don’t know, I guess somebody passing it, not me though.
[01:01:11.990]
Speaker 1: I had a couple of those interviews too, where what was on the description, it wasn’t really what they were doing. They asked me, I never forget, I had an interview and I thought, I’ll be doing cloud. I said, Okay, well, I was an API person. I wasn’t building and maintaining API. Then I went in there and they was just like, API? I was thinking, That’s the wrong interview. Now, granted, they put me back and allow me to interview for something else. But that was weird for me because I was like, No, where was I creating API? It doesn’t say anything on my resume for that. And that was the interview I got in. Also, what I would recommend is what they say the specific language because PowerShell and bash is different than the command line interface or the third party that you can use the code on the command line. So if you have more uniform of what was required or what you were asking for, that would also be very helpful too, because I know PowerShell more than anything else simply because I came out of SaaS, which is Statistical Analysis Software, and PowerShell has a lot of portability.
[01:02:27.840]
Speaker 1: But if you want people to do something else, then you need to also write that down also, which is very important.
[01:02:38.220]
Speaker 2: No, definitely. I’m not understanding why you would throw questions at me when the cloud ain’t no questions being thrown out at nobody. Like I’m saying, you own the computer for dangle ing it. That really threw me for a loop because I interviewed at a prestigious investment firm for a cloud engineer position, and that’s when I made the decision that I wouldn’t pursue cloud engineer positions no more because I’m just like, I have to see it. You know what I’m saying? You can’t just throw questions out at me. I have to literally see it and play with it. So I don’t know. And like you were saying, the other thing is I may not have touched that service. I think Azure has 156 services, and so I may not have touched that service. Meanwhile, you’re on this service. So cloud don’t really mean anything when you say the cloud.
[01:03:48.820]
Speaker 1: That’s important. I’ll give you an example. I actually had an interview like that. This is AWS. There’s a service called CloudF ront, and CloudF ront is content delivery network. You know the man was asking me about light cell. Light cell?
[01:04:11.820]
Speaker 2: That’s funny because I actually use light cell for my podcast. But he was.
[01:04:22.940]
Speaker 1: Talking about light cell. I knew exactly what he was talking about, but cell will cost more. It’s a very specific use case for one thing, and you can also do it with CloudF ront and S3 bucket and keep your cost low. When you mentioned you may not know the service, I had to talk about that because I had an interview specifically like that. There’s other ways of doing it. There’s also cheaper ways of doing it. But one of the things was I was like, oh, okay. Now, granted, I knew the service, but I wanted to add to that because that’s something that also happens because they have many services. I think AWS has over 200 services and they’re adding new services and they have stuff in preview and they expect you to learn all of those services that you’re talking about. You’d be like, I don’t really use that. That’s not my area that I’m working with. I had.
[01:05:33.270]
Speaker 2: Someone reach out to me for I think it was Power BI. Of course, Power BI is built on top of Azure. She was like, Oh, you work at Microsoft? I thought that you would know this. Ma’am, there’s all kinds of products at Microsoft. I mean, what? This is the stuff we talk about when it comes to recruiters, it’s like, Okay, well, you don’t even know the difference. But that’s funny about light cell because to me, light cell would just be like WordPress. That’s all it would ever do. Right. But I was.
[01:06:15.290]
Speaker 1: Like, Okay.
[01:06:17.300]
Speaker 2: But yeah, it’s just little stuff like that. And it’s like, Okay. I had went viral for a post where I was basically saying that, Okay, well, if I know the basic stuff services like Azure monitor, maybe SQL database, BLObs, those basic stuff, I should be able to pick up everything else that goes along with your specialized service because that’s the thing. You know these specialized things and it’s like, but where would I have learned this at? But here, no one else uses this special stack. And that’s really where the problem lies. But that goes back to the culture fit because if they really wanted you, they would let you learn, right? In theory. But yeah, I wanted to touch on that last little bit of, they want you to know all these things. And outside of that, people learn different ways because I’m a visual learner. So you throwing questions out at me, I’m like, bro, I got to touch it, see it. I don’t know even know what you’re talking about unless I’m staring at it. So yeah, I think that’s another problem is that they cater to one type of person. I had recently went on an interview and they actually had the questions on the screen and I’m like, oh, my gosh, I appreciate it.
[01:07:55.550]
Speaker 2: So yeah, like I said, we can go on forever. But yeah, we can wrap it up there unless you got something else. Yeah. Well, thank.
[01:08:07.600]
Speaker 1: You for the opportunity, Elyse. I really appreciate it. Let us know where.
[01:08:11.890]
Speaker 2: You can find us at, Carla. Sure. You can find.
[01:08:15.450]
Speaker 1: Me at carla rdjinkens. Com. My website, you can contact me by hitting me on the contact page. My universal social media handle is @carla rdjinkens. So thank you, Elyse, for the opportunity for the Nobody Wants to Work podcast. I greatly appreciate it. All right.
[01:08:31.260]
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Carla, for coming on. Definitely, we don’t chat as always. Hey. Hey. Hey. Thank you guys for watching. You can find us at Nobody Wants to Work the Old Podcast, Nobody. C hat website. We’re on Google podcast, Spotify, Apple podcast, and of course, YouTube. Sign up for the newsletter so you know when the new episodes come out, which is down below in the links. And yeah, until next time.
About
Tiffany Jones-Lewis is a revolutionary designer defies convention, empowering tall women with stunning, bespoke fashion. Bold styles, flattering fits, and fearless confidence soar in her trailblazing clothing line. Unapologetically statuesque, celebrate height and elegance.
Tiffany Jones-Lewis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-a-lewis/
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
The Sky-High Seamstress: Crafting Couture for the Tallest Among Us
Elevated Elegance: A Designer’s Journey in Tall Women’s Fashion
Glamour in the Clouds: The Empowering Story of a Tall Women’s Stylist
Tailoring to the Tallest: One Woman’s Mission to Create Perfect Fits
Reaching New Heights: Fashion for the Fearlessly Tall
Altitude Attire: The Inspiring Rise of a Tall Women’s Fashion Guru
The Long and Short of It: A Fashion Pioneer’s Tall Order
Towering Trends: The Woman Revolutionizing Tall Women’s Style
Stitching Skyward: The Art and Passion of a Tall Women’s Couturier
Soaring Style: A Designer’s Quest to Elevate Tall Women’s Fashion
Upwardly Fashionable: The Woman Transforming Clothing for the Statuesque
From Head to High Heels: Crafting Confidence for the Tall and Fabulous
Lofty Designs: The Trailblazer Behind Tall Women’s Wardrobes
High-Fashion Heights: The Empowering World of a Tall Women’s Designer
Sky’s the Limit: The Innovator Sewing Success for Tall Women Everywhere
Show Notes
0:00
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts. I hope these stories will inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
0:20
we are switched into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switching to tech.org
0:46
Hey y’all this Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work though podcast today. We have Tiffany and she What do you describe yourself as a fashion designer clothing COVID maker brand.
1:03
I call myself a fashion design. I actually did go to fashion school to Okay,
1:07
okay. And what did you start start your career as?
1:12
What do you mean as far as we fashion or my very first first career?
1:16
Yeah, like your first one? Because you know, you started your your own clothing line was it wasn’t your first thing that you did?
1:24
Well, after college, organic college, I went to the Navy. So I can start there. I was in the military for eight years. In the Navy. I worked as an administrative officer.
1:39
Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah, I’m familiar with the military. I I’ve never been in the military. But I was a civilian. Like I told you, I was the auditor. So I was ordered on Air Force Base. So yeah, I know about the struggle, the life and what goes into it. So tell me, why did you start your your clothing line?
2:03
Well, so I joined the Navy, my junior year of college. After I got out the Navy, I worked as a government worker for a little while doing administrative officers well, just as a civilian, when I got into my very first corporate job, that’s where I realized it wasn’t a lot of business casual for tall. Um, and you know, coming from uniform to civilian life, I didn’t have a lot of like, business casual wear, because I wasn’t wearing clothes like they on a day to day basis. And I really ran out of our seats fairly quickly on my job. So I started, I started sewing things, because I had been sewing since I was 12. So I went back to my first love, which was, you know, sewing and I just started making clothes myself for myself. And then I would just post my look on the internet. And eventually, car girls start, you know, finding me, and they will start asking me to like, make them stuff too. So for a while I was sewing for other people, but it got a little bit of wham. And I was like, I have to figure out how to make extra now, because it’s a little too much for me to sit behind the sewing machine all day.
3:27
Definitely, definitely. And so how tall are you? I’m six foot one, six foot. Mm hmm. I am 511. And so like I said, I reached out to you because I’m I’m always fascinated by other tall women. Because I understand the struggle, like there’s definitely a huge difference between being 511 and 661. For sure, for sure. But at the end of the day, you know, Tall is TALL. Funny enough. My sister was telling me that a place that I like to get dresses from because they’re really long. They have pants now and so I’m at a 36 inch inseam like I might be able to do a 35 but if people don’t know, you know, like the inseam that is in the store for women. It’s 32. Yeah. You know, 30 to 35 That’s three inch difference. 36 s four inch difference. And so it’s it’s it was always a struggle for me to find clothes. So I had to get you on the podcast because I’m like she started her own clothing line. Like I have to talk to this lady, please say yes. And outside of that, I mean I’m business casual. Yeah, I would just literally wear dresses to work a lot of times because you know, at least then I could find you know, close that that was a little bit long enough.
4:54
And breaking, settling I’m just, we shouldn’t have to settle. You know. And I’ve found that Tom women are the most creative women I’ve ever seen in my life. Because we just had to be
5:15
the movie. Definitely. I mean, you Yeah, it was just, it was always a struggle like, oh, gosh, like I, you know, I moved to a warmer climate, literally because, you know, you can you can find clothes, I’m like, at least I can wear dresses, you know, I can wear a maxi dress and stuff like that. So, you know, I’m like, I don’t want to wear pants. Because that’s, that’s a real struggle. I don’t want to wear you know, a blazer or anything like that, like any any my arms and everything else out, though, is real? Yeah, um, what did you think that you wanted to be when you grew up?
5:57
I always wanted to be a fashion designer. I always wanted to be there. But when I was 18, and keep in mind, again, I had been sewing since I was 12. I’ve always sold and design and being a creative and just I was just a kid. My mom just didn’t see the path, you know, and not to blame her. But she just kind of was like, I don’t think that’s a great career choice or this, you should study fashion. So when I went to college, I actually have my undergrad in management. And I have my, my, my master’s in leadership. And so I didn’t do fashion because it was just not a clear path or a clear trajectory as to how to make a career out of it. But I’ve always wanted to do issues. I didn’t see how I could get there at the time.
6:57
No, definitely. You know, I can understand how parents can be influential. My parents will government workers, and I didn’t want to be a government worker, but I ended up being one anyway. So I get how parents can push you and yeah, I mean, I’ll be honest, like if I, you know, had kids and stuff. I mean, they want to be a fashion designer, like what’s gonna do with that, ya know, so, but I guess my thing would be, study something that you can fall back on, and then do do what you really love, you know, on the side. And if you can do it on the side and make it some into something big, then you wouldn’t have to worry, but always, always have that fallback plan. So yeah. Let’s see, I think I haven’t touched on a little bit. But, um, but I know you did. You did. You said the catalyst was basically you know, you started working and you could buy clothes and, and I get the struggle. All these things come at a cost. I mean, what did it cost you? Did you have support from your family, your friends, you know, when they were like, Yeah, I’m about to go all the way in on this fashion design thing.
8:13
Um, my mom is a Thai woman. She is my biggest supporter, you know what I mean? Like, she’s my biggest supporter. She’s my first customer when I launched my site. I mean, I she shot like, she’s my biggest supporter, you know, they fully support what I’m doing. And I’m, I mean, I think now where I’m a, I have a clear path forward, you know, 18 was a lot different from 33. You know what I mean? So, I think they support because I have, you know, a trajectory now.
8:58
I was, I thought I was talking, I was gonna say, yeah, 18 is different than 34. And I mean, things have changed a lot since then. Anyway, I mean, we have the internet so. So you know, you can literally reach customers all over the world. When in reality, you know, back then your parents are probably like, oh, well, she’s gonna open up a store where your customer base is very, very, very limited. So, um, so yeah, it’s very different now. Um, let’s see. Next one. What was the process? I mean, you know, you said as you were, you were sewing since you were 12. So, you know, you got it from that perspective, but more so on, you know, opening up a store, you know, the business, the accounting part of it. What, what was the process on that? Did you take courses? I mean, did you get some, you know, attend meetups, what, what was the process on that?
9:48
I mean, I think the good thing for me again, you know, I had the undergrad, I had started my master’s, you know, and I went to fashion school is where I had a lot more found Patience. And I had a whole career to, you know, for managing people and working in admin, you learn a lot more skills. So you really kind of bottled it up and try to translate it into a business. And yes, like I took courses and, you know, went to the SBA and kind of figure my way through things, but I will say it wasn’t starting over, it was just using the tools that I had to figure things out. I think that’s the best way to put it. Because when you come from a career, to a business is totally different from someone starting with no experience at all. Ie managing people, I had him manage people. So I had a good idea of, you know, how to work with other people and things like that.
11:00
Definitely, and that’s, that’s one thing that I want to focus on in the podcast is, you know, people think that your past career doesn’t translate into your current one, and you probably fully fully understand that, you know, being ex military. Um, and so you do certain things that, that that might not translate a lot of times. And so next question is, you know, what are some of the positives and negatives of your of your new career?
11:32
I think I’m a pro is they I get to be more free spirited, I would say, and, you know, I guess to be myself in the military, and going over to government is kind of was the same, to be honest, I just wasn’t civilian at that point. But it still was a lot of the same rules and regulations. And I remember, when I started wearing starting things to work, I came into my office one day, and I had like, the, you know, the dress code may will thing on my days, you know, because I think when I started making clothes, I will wear such layer, like I wear, I will wear appropriate stuff, but they will be like pink high waist pants, instead of like black high waisted pants, or like, purple or something. And so my, my clothes became a conversation at work. And, um, it was, it really was just like, I still had to kind of tone it down at work, even though I was professional, not revealing wearing things that was appropriate. It was like, so So I will say like, I get to like be myself right now. The condo is the is no blueprint, honestly to entrepreneurship. You have people who can give you guidance. I have people who can give me you know, theoretical things that have worked in the past. But what I’m doing, which is bringing a new category of fashion to the market, is really not blueprint. So the con is they versus the military, someone because they just exactly how you make. Officer, this is exactly how you make. This is no one telling you how to really get exactly to where you’re trying to get to.
13:35
Definitely, I’ve said this before, entrepreneurship is one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done in my life. And I agree that even though it’s it’s the hardest thing, you are very free. Even if you’re working 60 7080 hours a week, it’s like okay, well, I have full autonomy on what I want to do and what I want to focus on. You know, whatever you want to do. Um, yeah, I’m one of those people that like bright colors, like, you know, I like to wear red to work, and I used to get in trouble because I wore red. And this was at the military to yeah, my boss is like, Yeah, you can’t like wear that. What about black? And you know, like navy blue? And I’m like, I want to wear yellow. Yeah. Um, what are some traits that you think would be, you know, successful, you know, not only as an entrepreneur, but also like in fashion design.
14:35
Um, and I mean, I guess this is one of the things that again, me coming from the admin world is just like attention to detail. It translates in business and fashion. The details matter. You know, one of the things I’m always thinking about when I’m designing this like functionality and what my customers to do with it. If they you know, if it needs to be dry cleaned, why she does deals? Does it have a burden? Can I get in and out of it easily is it comfortable. Um, so just those attention to detail, I think, being very meticulous and stuff, and then time management, I mean, I’m a mom, I have three children. And I’m married to so although I’m full time, my day is not 100% given to the business, I still have other responsibilities, which actually makes it a lot more challenging. And so I would just say like time management, I really plan out my week, their will, on the things that I need to do at home and at work, and, you know, et cetera, et cetera. So I would just say those two things are very, very important to me.
15:53
Definitely, I recall, you know, going into stores, and they were just a mess, and it’s because the owner was didn’t have any organizational skills. And that is definitely key when you’re, I mean, just just in daily life in general, but as entrepreneur because you might miss out on a bill payment attention to detail, you might put an O instead of eyes. So so yeah. You You definitely need organization skills and attention to detail. So I 100 timbers and agree on that. Um, do you think that you should have pursued fashion design earlier in your life? Or do you think it was the right time?
16:40
I mean, that’s always a tricky question. Because, um, you know, I think I think the younger me was, you know, upset about the Rite Aid, when I think back, I was like, a little salty about it. But seeing where I’ve gotten to now, I think everything was done in the right order. Even though I wanted to do design, I never wanted to do tile, so I wasn’t even designed for tile at the beginning. Anyway, you know, the discovery came through life, you know, like I said, through getting a job and kind of trying to shop and having the resources and the money to buy those things as well, I’m in needing them, I didn’t need a lot of business casual in college. So I don’t even know if my mind would have gone there to be honest. Um, and a lot of the resources that I was able to get to start my business came because I was a veteran, getting my my extra degree pay for, they came because I had a GI Bill. A lot of the, you know, sometimes the grants or the programs, I’m transitioning veteran programs, they came because I was a veteran. So my startup money and thought of resources actually came from the military, or just, you know, going through that journey in the military. So and that’s another thing too, you need money to make money, if you want to do a business properly. And so I don’t even know if 18 I would have had the funding to be at the beach and stuff the correct way. I eventually, I’m sure would have gotten there. But you know, when I think about it, I think everything was done in the right order.
18:34
Definitely, and I asked that question, because, you know, some people have regrets. You know, my first career, I wanted to be in tech, and, you know, it didn’t happen that way. So I studied accounting and became became an auditor. And I had to think about it. You know, was it? Did I? Did I regret it? You know, not keeping, you know, keep pursuing it? And no, because I loved audit, I really did. And the flexibility of it, and what I got to do and what I got to see. So, yeah, and people think that, you know, their life path is not, you know, like a destiny type path and things like that. And that, you know, you should you should do this instead of that, and that’s not how it’s supposed to be. So that’s why I asked that question. And yeah, sometimes the time just isn’t right. Like you said, 18 I mean, where would you go to get the funds from where would you? I mean, you had to grow up. You had to learn some skills, though. Ya know, it is what it is. And last question. What would you tell someone just just in general that wanted to, you know, go out on a limb and and change their their career.
19:54
I think it’s always great if something is in your heart, you know, I don’t regret leaving my career for entrepreneurship, I just think that you need a couple of things, you definitely got to be a consistent student. I think this one, entrepreneurship takes a lot of learning consistent learning, to having the proper resources, ie savings, I’m in a good plan, specifically for people who I would say service based and product based businesses, because it takes a little while to get the ball rolling. I’m so so having a good plan of how you’re going to live, and what your life’s gonna look like if you kind of cut the, the financial piece off and your benefits, your medical, your dental, all of those things to really think everything through. And then thirdly, I’m just being fearless. Because fear stops a lot of us from doing things, you know, in this, it really can put you in a place of not just being a doer. And you know, I’m a alumni of University of Memphis, and it’s, you know, we always use this term of like, you know, the thinkers and the doers, you can have a lot of ideas is great, but you still got to get up and do it. And so those three things I would say, are the best things for transitioning careers, I researched a lot on my lunch break during my downtime at work, and that I worked up until I just could not anymore. Like when it was just like, Okay, this is literally consuming me now. And I’m not being productive at work. But I think to just abruptly quit is the wrong move to make because as a CEO, you’re not planning and you need to be a great plan and to be a great entrepreneur.
22:04
You answered my follow up question, because I was gonna ask you, you know, as entrepreneur fellow and fellow option entrepreneurs myself, you know, do you think you should just go all in? Or do you think you should keep your job? You know, and you know, take it, take it take as much time as you can and work those 80 hour weeks? So, yeah, what’s, what’s your opinion on that?
22:29
I mean, as someone right now who’s comparison with investors and different partnerships and stuff like that, I’m I’m seeing that is a different threshold. On the other side of like, if you want to go from, you know, being a solopreneur, or to accompany a true company, and every room I setting as the last six to eight months, they’re surveying my thought process as a as a CEO. And if they trust my decision making, and to me when I think about piss poor planning, that’s not a good deal. Because then you’ll you’ll drive your company down a rabbit hole, your, your exhaust funds, put funds in the wrong places, not pay your staff not hire the right people. So my thought, Is there any great CEO, we’re playing anyway? If you if you’re gonna look at it from their perspective. So it’s not it’s not about abruptly quitting, it’s just quitting with a plan, having a plan for how to be how you’re gonna attack the business. And if anyone drives the car with no gas, then that’s not a great founder to me.
23:59
Create a plan there you go. Perfect. Perfectly said. Yeah, I’m so want to circle back to what you said. About, you know, keeping at it. I do seminars on the side and my first seminar I had two people will show up and one of them laughed at me. They’re like, Ah, you only got two people. It was like I was devastated. And, you know, that that transition to you know, I have, you know, 80 people now and in my seminars, and so, you know, don’t be discouraged when it doesn’t necessarily go go your, your way. And keep at it, because somebody’s gonna see it. Somebody’s gonna acknowledge you and say, hey, you know, they didn’t throw in the towel. So yeah, there’s just my little tidbit on it too. Um, tell us where people can find you, Tiffany.
24:59
Well, I’m on all platforms, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, a TJ collection photos TJ a collection.com is my website TJ underscore collection it’s my Instagram TJ a collection on Facebook. You can even Google us or Tom women’s clothing will come up and so if you or anyone else knows someone who’s talked definitely refer us out I know everyone isn’t tile but we all know somebody who’s tall and so a referral is just as great as well.
25:38
Guys Okay, I can’t wait to this one comes out because like like I said, I’m excited. I’m so excited for you in the future because I’m like, Look, Donald by cater to tall thank you so much Tiffany for coming on the show. My name is Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work though podcast. Please subscribe. Thank you for listening, watching around Google podcasts, Apple podcast, Spotify, and of course on youtube if you’re watching, and we still have more episodes come in. Tiffany is number 20. So we keeping it going and until next time
About
After completing her degree in chemical engineering, Rachel shifted gears and moved into marketing. Her technical expertise and analytical skills proved to be a great asset in the field. She was able to apply her problem-solving skills to product development and strategy planning, paving the way for a successful career.
Dina Al-Sudani: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dina-alsudani/
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
Subscribe To The Newsletter – https://www.switchintotech.com
Listen On:
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Full Tuition Scholarships – https://fullscholarships.org
Data.gal – https://www.data.gal
Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Chemicals to Consumers: A Chemical Engineering Major’s Journey into Marketing
Mixing Science and Strategy: A Chem Eng Major’s Career in Marketing
When Chemistry Meets Creativity: A Woman’s Transition from Engineering to Marketing
Catalyst for Success: How a Chemical Engineering Degree Led to a Marketing Career
The Power of Persuasion: A Chem Eng Major’s Skills in Marketing
Breaking Boundaries: A Woman’s Story of Moving from Engineering to Marketing
Bridging the Gap: A Chemical Engineering Major’s Transition to Marketing
Finding the Right Formula: A Woman’s Journey from Chemical Engineering to Marketing
Engineering a New Career Path: A Woman’s Transition to Marketing
Reinventing Herself: A Chemical Engineering Major’s Move to Marketing
Show Notes
[00:00:01.370]
Speaker 2: Hey, you all. This is your host, Elyse Robinson with Nobody Wants to Work No podcast. I hope these stories will inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and now I’m in tech, and let’s get to it. We are.
[00:00:20.030]
Speaker 1: Switching into Tech. Tech resources.
[00:00:22.760]
Speaker 2: To.
[00:00:23.040]
Speaker 1: Accelerate your career in information technology.
[00:00:26.610]
Speaker 1: Monthly classes on.
[00:00:27.640]
Speaker 2: Tech topics.
[00:00:28.820]
Speaker 1: We offer free or discounted.
[00:00:30.710]
Speaker 2: Exam vouches, scholarships, free Udemy courses, free events.
[00:00:35.040]
Speaker 1: Free boot camps, and more.
[00:00:37.150]
Speaker 1: You can find us at www.switchanddetect. Org.
[00:00:45.070]
Speaker 2: Hey, you all. This is Lillise Robinson with Nobody Wants to Work Though podcast. Today, we have Dina. She is in Vancouver, Canada. She is our third international guest, so I’m excited to have her. Go ahead and tell us what your old career was and what you transitioned into, D eana.
[00:01:02.320]
Speaker 1: Hey, everyone. I’m really excited to be here and talk about my previous experience with you. I studied engineering. I did my four year degree in Malaysia and I was supposed to continue that career moving into Canada and also be a biomedical engineer. But I left that behind, started my marketing career and I’m three years into my marketing career right now doing marketing for real estate project in Vancouver. And yeah, really excited to talk about that.
[00:01:35.350]
Speaker 2: So do you find that engineering lended well? What type of engineering, first of all? What type of engineering? First of all, what type of engineering?
[00:01:42.330]
Speaker 1: Biomedical.
[00:01:43.920]
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah. So that didn’t have anything to do with civil? Because I was like, okay, civil feeds into real estate. So maybe they lended to it. But now, let me backtrack on that. Yeah, very different.
[00:01:57.600]
Speaker 1: I know.
[00:01:59.690]
Speaker 2: What did you have? Here’s a fun one. What did you want to be when you grew up?
[00:02:03.410]
Speaker 1: That is a really fun one. I was really confused pretty much my whole life. Growing up, I wanted to be an astronaut and work at NASA. I was 10 years old, and that was literally my biggest dream ever. I wanted to be a photographer, I wanted to be a singer, I wanted to be an actress. It was a journey of self discovery, for sure. I was still confused because I wanted to be so many different things, but that wasn’t something that my parents or my family would be happy with. We had certain cultural things in our hometown and where we lived that you only have to be a certain type of… You only have to choose a certain type of career. You only have to be an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer, maybe some flexibility on that with a lawyer part, but that’s pretty much it. So coming from a family with engineers, I had to follow in their footsteps and just be that as well. That was the expectation. We had chats here and there, but they weren’t really happy with me doing anything else. So I did that. I went to university for biomedical engineering, and it was a new type of engineering at the time.
[00:03:18.940]
Speaker 1: It merged engineering, electronics, and medicine all at once. So it really felt like I was doing more than one degree at once. It was very tiring. I had to study up all night, barely get any sleep. And on top of that, I didn’t really like it. So it’s very cool. If you’re doing that, kudos to you. It’s awesome. Good career pays really well. But I just couldn’t envision myself doing that for the rest of my life and couldn’t see that this was me. I didn’t feel like it matched well with my personality or the passions and the hobbies that I had. I would go every day to university and go to labs and do tutorials or do an experiment. I’m like, I.
[00:04:09.250]
Speaker 2: Don’t know what I’m doing.
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Speaker 1: I don’t care to learn how I’m doing it or how I should be doing it. I just want to get this over with. So I did it, whatever. And I moved to Canada two years ago. I wanted that new step in my career, especially that I consider myself a nomad because I was born in Iraq. I lived in… I lived until I was nine and a half years old. I moved to Jordan, stayed there for a couple of years, moved to Malaysia, lived there for 11 years, and now in Canada. So I’ve lived in different places my whole life, and I was just used to moving to a new country every couple of years. So I moved here. I really like it. And the expectation was, again, to move here and do engineering. And I was willing to do that as well. But to come from a different country and do the same job, it is very difficult. You have to do more studying. You have to do a lot of work, probably volunteer and do free work in the beginning. And you’re not really sure how long it’s going to take for you to be an engineer here.
[00:05:21.700]
Speaker 1: So I was like, Okay, I’m just going to move here, do the hard work, and be broke for a little bit. I’ll be poor, and then just be an engineer and make my parents happy. That was the thought behind it. So two years into moving into Canada, I found this agency that would just help newcomers to Canada find a job and just train them on how to do your resume, how to learn the Canadian laws, and the text, all of that really important adult stuff. I joined that, and at the time, they didn’t have anything to do with engineering or science at all. I wanted something that would help me get my foot in the door a little bit. They’re like, We’re sorry, we just have business stuff, accounting, and a little bit of marketing. So maybe we can place you into marketing. Because I had a lot of skills that would have something to do with marketing. I did a lot of photography back in the day. I used to just do that on the side while I was doing my degree. I have extensive knowledge and skills and experience in Photoshop and Lightroom and retouching, a lot of volunteering work.
[00:06:26.690]
Speaker 1: So she was like, You do have that skills and experience. You can just put it into this job temporarily until you can just finish the placement and find something else. You don’t have to stay there forever. So I needed the money at the time. I need to find a job to figure out my life after that. So I was like, Okay, I’ll just do it. I’m not going to lose anything. And I started it. It was marketing for real estate project. So they’re mostly pre sell projects. So what presell is pretty much a building but doesn’t exist. You buy a townhome or a condo and then you wait for it to be finished and then you move in. Did not know that thing existed. We don’t do that in Malaysia. And I did not know anything about real estate or buying a home at all. I don’t have a house. So I tried it and they were willing to hire me without the skills needed for real estate at the time. They just needed someone to assist them with marketing. They’re willing with anything. It was a really low paying job, too. So I was like, okay, I’m just going to get in there, get some Canadian experience, learn something and then see what I can do after.
[00:07:35.680]
Speaker 1: I started it. I really liked it and I felt like I truly went to work every day loving what I do. And it encompassed a lot of things that I like to do in my free time as well. I like creativity, I like retouching, I like photography. I like videography. I like to just brainstorm ideas and come up with something and create a project that never existed and go outside, drive around and see it in real life. It gave me so much satisfaction and I felt good about it and I decided to do it. And I had to have that really difficult talk with my parents. Listen, I don’t like what you want me to do. I really found passion in what I’m doing right now. It’s really good. I’m already building my experience here in this country and it will in the future pay me well. I am good at it. I am learning, and I can go to school and get a bachelor’s degree in it to really strengthen my background. I can be the person that I’ve always wanted to be. Sorry, it’s not the thing that you want me to be, but I will make you proud.
[00:08:46.930]
Speaker 1: I’m just going to make sure that I will not disappoint you guys in whatever decision I’m going to make. And you’re only going to be proud of me. And it was difficult in the beginning to have that chat. They were not really supportive in the in the beginning. Not say not saying I’m supportive, but they weren’t really thrilled with it. But as I just continued my work there and I was promoted, I was doing a lot of really important work. We drove around and I showed them the projects that I’m working on. I showed them the billboards, I showed them the buildings that are in construction that I pulled the strategy to launch, and they just accepted it. They were really happy after to see my progress and that I’m happy that I’m working with really amazing, talented people, and then I’m doing a good job. And yeah, they’re really supportive. It’s funny to say that because if you told me they would be supportive, like two years ago, I would have laughed in your face. But they really are supportive right now. They really am happy that I’m doing the thing that I’ve always wanted to do.
[00:09:49.440]
Speaker 1: And I did the thing that I promised them to do, to always make them proud and to not do something that I will regret in the future and say, oh, maybe I should have just stuck to engineering and did that because my current job is not really paying me. So yeah, here’s a little background about it all. And yeah, here I am now, almost three years into doing it and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.
[00:10:16.140]
Speaker 2: Got you. You touched on a lot of my questions already. My phone is on some passwords coming up. I will say, that’s a little side comment, that I hate accounting. I literally do. I will say that I failed my first accounting class. I was like, I’m not going to do this. I hated it. But accounting is the language of business. I was like, Well, first of all, accounting is a skill that I can use as an entrepreneur. I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. That’s number one. And number two, no one can tell me about my money and I can balance my books, et cetera, taxes, all that good stuff. So it wasn’t until I got to my audit course where I was like, okay, this is cool. You know what I’m saying? Because I hated financial accounting, I hated managerial accounting. Those are the first two courses that you would ever take in accounting and you have to take them. There’s no way around it. And so I was like, okay, as long as I passed it would be I’m good to go. I was like, I will never be an accountant. I hate accounting.
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Speaker 2: There’s all kinds of other careers you can go to if you study accounting, but audit is another big one. It’s either you go to audit, accounting, or tax. I was like, Well, tax. I do love tax, too. I’ll say I love tax. A dit was so fun. So, so fun. My thing is, did you not find something within your engineering degree that you could have loved, or you were just like, No, I don’t care?
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Speaker 1: I really tried to love it. I tried my best. So I would just go to university every day. I’m like, You could just try to like it, and maybe it will work. Fake it till you make it. But I just couldn’t, to be honest, and I didn’t care. That’s it. I’m done.
[00:12:32.850]
Speaker 2: Sometimes it’s like that. I enjoy chemistry, physics, math, all that good stuff. If you listen to my podcast, Business Brain, which is tech brain, that’s about myself. That’s the second one. I’ve always had a scientific mindset, but I didn’t want to do the labs. I’m lazy. I am so lazy, I didn’t care to do the labs. I feel you on those labs and things like that. I don’t know how you did it because I’m like, I don’t want to go to school doing all that. You look at the schedule, they’re like, Okay, well, the course, I don’t know what they call it, the lecture. The lecture is two hours and then lab is three hours. We had school for five.
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Speaker 1: Hours.
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Speaker 2: For just for one class and then I still have to take English and math and et cetera. I don’t know how people do it. So accounting it was.
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Speaker 1: For me, we had lectures, tutorials, and labs. So basically I had six courses to take every semester. I was pretty much at university from 8 AM sometimes to 9 or 10 PM just doing all of these things. And then I have to stay there in the library to study because I have exams and quizzes and all that stuff. I pretty much had no life outside university. I barely slept. I used to run on a one hour, half an hour sleep and just chug a lot of Red Bull to keep me awake, which is bad. Don’t do that. So yeah, I felt like it was just feeding into the hustle culture. You have to just pretty much kill yourself to be in a specific career and have no life, no friends, don’t even experience anything in your 20s. And that maybe potentially made me hate it. If I had a different experience and I actually enjoyed my university experience, maybe it could have been different, but the circumstances that I did my engineering degree in, it was just not the best. And the people and then the culture there, and the students, and it just wasn’t that really good community to be around.
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Speaker 1: So at the end, I felt like I was miserable, tired. I developed migraines. I had dark circles. I was exhausted all the time. Just not something I wanted to do moving forward after taking that.
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Speaker 2: That’s because people need to study those majors. You know what I’m saying? Because they keep saying that the shortage, I don’t know how true that is. But I’m calling myself lazy, and I’m going to say that I’m lazy because I didn’t want to do all that. But it’s crazy that you have to put in all that work to get there. I don’t know how people do it because I would have loved being probably a physics or chemistry major, but I was about that life. I wasn’t going to do all that work. There’s much easier paths to money here in a career and all that other stuff. I don’t know. Now I feel bad because you said all that and I don’t want to deter people from going into those careers.
[00:16:07.300]
Speaker 1: Honestly, if you do love what you’re doing, you’re going to be willing to put in the hard work. My best friend, which I went to school with, she’s a chemical engineer now. And that was her passion since she was a little baby. She’s always known she wanted to be an engineer and a chemical engineer. So she worked super hard for it and she experienced pretty much exactly what I’ve gone through, even worse, because chemical engineering is so difficult. But she did it. And now she’s doing that in real life and she loves it. So if you have the passion for it, don’t be discouraged from what we’re saying right now.
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Speaker 2: That’s true. I guess I didn’t love it enough, I guess.
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Speaker 1: I.
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Speaker 2: Didn’t love it enough. Let’s see. You talked about the process. You said you moved to Canada and they have these programs that help you find a position. I’m actually shocked. They didn’t have any type of engineering type of roles. I’m curious as to why because I’ve actually looked at the Canadian immigration process for tech and then also being accounting auditor, whatever. They claim they need those roles, but maybe tech is different than engineering, so maybe not necessarily engineering. Maybe there’s an overgrowth of those. But did you have to interview for the position or they were just like, here you are. You can work at this real estate company. My thing is, how did you convince them to take a chance on you?
[00:17:52.350]
Speaker 1: Yeah. So at the time I did have to interview, I did have to touch up my resume because my resume had nothing to do with real estate. So I had to work with that agency to brush it up a little bit and include the skills and the hobbies that I used to have that are more creative and have something to do with photography in it. And I did a few jobs here and there while I was a student that did have something to do with business and sales. So they encouraged me to just include everything and interview. So they had partners at the time where they have people work with. And they introduced a partner to me and they were like, This is a company, they do this, this and this. And you could just try it for a little bit and tell us what you think. The interview process was really easy. They just really needed an assistant at the time. They were willing to take anyone and just train them a little bit. So I had an interview and the manager after, she was like, I really like you. You seem like a good person and I will just train you and we could do it.
[00:18:59.370]
Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, I’ll do it. And I started. Yeah. I think I started a week and a half later. And yeah, I was doing really simple stuff in the beginning. Nothing too crazy, nothing really marketing related. I was just helping out with whatever the manager needed.
[00:19:24.900]
Speaker 2: Yeah. What are some positives and negatives of your new career? Do you think that marketing, maybe you might get in trouble for sending out the wrong message? What goes on in marketing? I don’t know.
[00:19:47.980]
Speaker 1: Some positives. I’ll start with the positives. Marketing is really creative and it’s a big umbrella term for so many different things, so you will learn a lot. And if you’re a person that likes to learn, this is going to be the best thing that you’re going to experience. You get to work with a lot of different departments. You get to meet a lot of decision makers. You get to work with a lot of companies and clients, so you will learn a little bit about sales, a little bit about marketing, a little bit about software development, a little bit about operations. And what I’m doing right now in real estate, I’ve learned so much about construction, which is bizarre to me to think that I would be a marketer learning about construction, but that’s how it goes. And you just really have fun. You meet a lot of people. And if you like meeting a lot of people, you’re going to meet a ton if you do marketing. So it could be really fun if you like it and you like making friends and different experiences and traveling. You could travel a lot depending on where you are working.
[00:20:52.870]
Speaker 1: So it’s not really boring. It’s not like a routine thing that you have to do every single day. It changes and it forces you to pivot really quickly. So your brain is always working. Some of the negatives, people don’t really know what marketers do. So you could get a lot of really weird, questionable questions. A lot of people will ask you, So what do you do? Do you just post on Instagram? And what do you do? Do you just do TikTok? And it’s pretty sad because a lot of people have a misconception about what marketers do and how hard you have to work to get into this industry, and they just underestimate your job. So you have to do a lot of explaining, a lot of education. And sometimes even if you do explain what you do to people, they’re not going to believe you because they still think you’re just going to post on Instagram and do a few TikToks every day. Not really a big deal, but if you get asked this question a lot, it gets really annoying. One other thing, again, this really depends on your industry, but as a marketer working within a company, you probably will be less paid than other departments in the beginning.
[00:22:08.960]
Speaker 1: Compared to sales or operations or development or even software engineers, you’re going to be paid probably less than them. But obviously, if you do work hard and you gain a lot of experience to have a big seat at the table and really have a lot of input in what the company is doing and the projects is launching and probably get a good return investment, you will be paid good in the beginning. So it just needs a little time and effort.
[00:22:36.560]
Speaker 2: Got you. Here’s a good one for you because I’m an introvert. People think that I’m not and I am. I put on my big girl drawers and I put on this persona and I get my money. That’s how I see it. I’m going to be bubbly, I’m going to be happy, I’m going to put on a smile. I love to laugh and all that good stuff. That doesn’t necessarily carry on to the engineering stereotype of… You know how that is. They want to sit in the corner and they’re not people persons. They’re not very vocal about certain things. You seem like you’re the opposite and you may not have fit into engineering either way. I struggle with that being I have an engineer mind and I also have the business mind and people don’t necessarily know what to do with me because I can sit in the corner for eight hours out the day and program if I need to. Then I can also get up in front of 500 people and do a speech just perfectly fine. And that’s something that’s very rare. And so do you think that you had the personality to necessarily be an engineer?
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Speaker 1: The answer is going to surprise you, but yeah. It’s really interesting that you said I was bubbly and I had the personality for marketing because I’ve been an introvert my whole life. It’s getting better now, but I would still consider myself an introvert. I was never a people person and I would always get social anxiety. I would always get so nervous if I have to give a presentation in front of more than two people. I would shake, I would get palpitation. It wasn’t just nerves, it was a whole body attack. I don’t know how to even explain it, but it could get really scary where your body just gives up on you. I would hate going into big gatherings. I would hate to be around people. And I would just try. But again, my brain and my body would just give up on me. So telling me that I would be a marketer a few years later, this is insane. And I would say the same thing for engineering. I think there’s a misconception that if you are very bubbly and outgoing, you can’t be an engineer because engineers are always very closed off people.
[00:25:34.060]
Speaker 1: I would not agree with that necessarily because I know a lot of engineers that are very bubbly and very outgoing. So it really depends on you as a person and what you can handle and what you like to do. In engineering, you will have to meet a lot of clients, a lot of people work in factories, depending on what engineering you do. Work in big groups, you have to speak at conferences, and you have to brainstorm ideas. You’re not going to work alone all the time. So if you’re looking to get into the workforce, no matter what industry you are, you have to be accepting of just putting yourself out there and networking and speaking to people because you will never be successful if you just sit by yourself. No work or no clients will just come and knock on your door. You have to really, really work hard and speak to people. So in my case right now, I would say I’m a bit of both. I can be an extrovert when I want to, but I’d also be an introvert when I want to. My friend would call it selective introvert and selective extrovert.
[00:26:46.530]
Speaker 1: So don’t follow stereotypes, don’t follow misconceptions about different jobs. Just be yourself. And if you like something, just do it your way. You’re going to make it.
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Speaker 2: I think you say that only because you haven’t worked at a large organization where there’s pretty much nothing but engineers. Because what you do, you will figure out that you are the freaking oddball. But when I was in big tech or whatever, I would say hello to my coworkers and stuff like that. They’re like, What do you want? What do you want? I just like, I’m just being me. But yeah, I will say now. Now, I believe it’s changing a little bit to where you may have to do speeches and conferences and consulting and things like that, but there’s still a big subset where you don’t have to. It’s really crazy. And until more people that are, I think the word is ambivalence are in there and extroverts, it’s still going to be crazy to an extent. But yeah, I will say being an auditor, it gave me just enough of people as an introvert to where I was like, okay, this is enough. Then I can just go back to my little cubby hole. Even though I did presentations and I did interviews of people and things like that, but it was more so like 70 % I’m researching, writing, and typing up things, and I’m sitting behind the computer sending emails and talking on the phone.
[00:28:39.780]
Speaker 2: The other 30 % is where I had to go in person and meet these people and do interviews like that. Also, I didn’t necessarily work in a team either. I was in charge of my own project. It’s like, Okay, this was perfect for me because as an introvert, the stereotype of you don’t work well in teams and all that good stuff. You want to be independent. Just to throw that out there for people that may want to be auditors. You can definitely work in a team if you want to. But I was always in charge of my own project to where I directed what I did for my day. The only time I would work in a team, quote, is when I was interviewing people and doing presentations. And sometimes we will work as a team, but it would still be my project. And I’m delegating to my coworker what I need them to do for me because they didn’t have a project at the time, so they were helping. But yeah, I find that engineering is still very closed off to an extent. So yeah, just throwing that out there. Last question. Well, actually, I got two more questions for you.
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Speaker 2: You touched on it a little bit, but do you think that it was a time waster studying engineering? Do you think you should have went straight into marketing, or do you think that it was just too long? You were long for the ride. It was part of your journey, your life, your destiny. Do you have any regrets? Do you think you should have changed anything?
[00:30:30.520]
Speaker 1: I don’t necessarily regret it because it did help me eventually figure out what I want to do and what I like and what I don’t like. And at the time, honestly, I just didn’t know that I wanted to be a marketer or I wanted a specific career. So I just did it, not really knowing any better. But it did teach me a lot. And I’ve met really great people. I met great professors that I would probably remember the things that they taught me, the mannerisms, the advice that they gave. And I did meet people from all around the world. I networked a lot. And I don’t think I would say I would regret it. For marketing, you honestly don’t need a degree. So even if at the time I wanted to be a marketer, it probably would be a waste of money and time to do marketing. You truly can be a marketer by skills and experience, not necessarily a full on degree. Unless you want to, then good for you, but it’s not really a necessity. I do regret the money that I did spend, though. For engineering is one of the most expensive degrees you probably will have to do in your life.
[00:31:52.970]
Speaker 1: And being in Malaysia, I was an international student, so I had to probably pay three times more than locals at the time. So I spent thousands of dollars. And to see now doing something completely different, that money could have been put into better use. But that’s such a life. And it’s a part of the process.
[00:32:20.260]
Speaker 2: Yeah, I say that a lot. It’s a part of the process. And that’s why I asked you in the beginning, what type of engineering degree it was. Was it civil? Let’s try to tie it to being in real estate because, yeah, I’ll agree that you don’t necessarily need a marketing degree because let’s say, for example, I studied accounting and I want to get in marketing for an accounting firm or something like that. My background in accounting would help me in that. This is what I tell people all the time when you try to switch careers or something like that, try to play off your old experience because it helps. I get targeted a lot for government contracts because I have that government experience and accounting experience, consulting experience, all that comes into play. Never ever negate your experience in your journey. Like you said, the process. Last question. Last words on telling someone about career switching. What did you wish you knew in the past that you would apply today? Any tips or tricks? For marketers.
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Speaker 1: Or just generally? Just in.
[00:33:45.790]
Speaker 2: General advice. And you can make it marketing specific if you want to, too.
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Speaker 1: That’s a really good one. I would say, especially for marketers, if you’re planning to switch into marketing or you’re doing your degree and you want to be a marketer after you graduate, it’s really important to manage your expectations because marketing is not going to be like Emily in Paris. I hear this a lot from people who just think they’re going to go into marketing and travel the world and go all over Europe and make amazing money and work with amazing brands. And while this is true to some extent, marketing is one of the jobs that includes a lot of numbers, a lot of analytics, a lot of reports, a lot of work that could be boring to some extent, a lot of client presentations, a lot of approvals, a lot of cash flows and budgets. So it’s not always going to be that fun thing that you see on TV. And it’s to some extent on TV and online, it’s romanticized to a very big extent. And it’s really important that you understand it’s difficult to get into the industry. It’s difficult to stay in it. And it changes so fast, you always have to go in it with a learners and a student mindset to be relevant, to stay there for longer, to get paid well.
[00:35:14.810]
Speaker 1: So it’s not that amazing job where you just work one hour a day and you call it a day and go home and have vacation in Paris. It’s not going to be like that. If that’s your life, then I envy you. Please teach me your ways. But it’s really important to go into it being ready to do the hard work and get your hands a little dirty. And I touched on this earlier, but going into this with a learner’s mindset is so important. Oh, can you hear me? Yeah, I.
[00:36:01.540]
Speaker 2: Can hear you. We’re still here. Oh, it showed.
[00:36:04.980]
Speaker 1: Me that something went wrong with Zoom for some reason.
[00:36:08.380]
Speaker 2: Oh, okay. No, I’m like, What happened? I’ll cut it out. Oh, my gosh.
[00:36:14.160]
Speaker 1: Where did I leave off? Something you said.
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Speaker 2: A learner’s mindset. Yeah.
[00:36:19.430]
Speaker 1: So it’s really important to go into any industry, but if you do marketing, then same thing applies is that you just have to go there with a learners and a student mindset. You always have to treat this as a learning experience and be able to not only learn from it, but being able to be coached, be open to be coached by other people that have been there in the industry longer than you are. It’s easy to go into a job and think that you know everything, you don’t need to learn anything, and you can do it. But that’s not going to be the case. You’re going to work with people that will teach you a lot along the way. And it’s important to not have ego, be humble, and learn as much as you can. It’s like taking a course, but in real life, hands on. If people are doing a certain job and it’s not a part of your job description, it’s really, really important to ask them questions and ask why they do it in this company, how they do it, what is it going to mean for you. And learning that will give you so many different skills that you can apply in any job that you take on later.
[00:37:26.610]
Speaker 1: So it’s just to protect yourself in a way that if you go to a job, you’re not just doing a few tasks and that’s it. They’re going to ask you, so what did you learn? Can you do this? Can you do that? And you’re like, no, I didn’t do that. It’s really important to be a well rounded person and learn different things to add to your skill set. I would also say it’s really important to understand the hard work that you have to do. So switching from a different career, it’s not going to be easy. So even for marketers, you will have to work more than 40 hours a week at times, especially if you’re just starting out. It’s not going to be fun and games all the time. When I first started in my first two years, I used to work more than 60 hours a week just to catch up and work, do work stuff, and then study. So it’s going to be a lot of effort that you have to put in there. But again, if you do put a lot of effort, it’s going to be worth it in the beginning.
[00:38:35.060]
Speaker 1: So that’s a really good advice that not only in your career, but in anything in life, you really have to put effort to get things. You won’t get something easily. And that’s a misconception about a lot of things in life. A lot of people want to get things the easy way. And if it’s difficult just a little bit, they do give up and they don’t want to do it. So if you want that lifestyle that you see on TV or you want to get into marketing because you like it, you have to put an effort to get there. And one last thing is, anything needs experience, especially in marketing, you do need a lot of experience. And this might sound funny if you’re trying to switch or you’re trying to get into career in marketing after graduating. Experience can be obtained by so many different sources. So you don’t have to have a company type of experience or work in organization or agency to be able to get that experience. I would really, really advise that you look up job descriptions, look up skills and traits needed in marketing, and look up different tools that you can learn or different softwares that you can learn.
[00:39:53.570]
Speaker 1: Even if you’re in school right now, you could use your project, your assignments, and all the work that you’re doing in school in your resume to get into a marketing job. It all counts. You just have to put in the work. There’s so many sources and courses online that you can take to help you. Like HubSpot and Google, they offer so many courses. They’re for free and they give you a great extensive experience knowledge. But what it takes to do certain things in marketing, whether it’s social media or SEO or advertising, whatever it is, you can gain it on your own time and then build your own social media platforms, get that experience and show it to potential companies. You will be surprised how well that works. Yeah. If I would go back in time and tell myself this, I would have been way ahead of my I still am a little away, like ahead of people that are in marketing that are just three years into the career, but it would definitely help someone that is starting out to ties into my previous advice, just do the hard work and get as much experience as you can from your school, from your own time, different hobbies that you have.
[00:41:07.270]
Speaker 1: If you do photography, if you do videography, if you’ve ever helped someone with a creative idea, it all counts, I promise you.
[00:41:15.700]
Speaker 2: Surely does count. One thing I can say about audit is it’s pretty much been the same since probably the beginning of time. One plus one equals two. You’re trying to figure out what the process is and tie that back to what actually is being done, interviews, whatever, presentations. That doesn’t really change. One thing about moving over to tech was all of the learning. Yeah, it’s putting the time and the work in. I learned AWS. When I moved over to Microsoft, I had to learn Azure. I’m doing the labs and things like that. I probably was working more than 40 hours a week. Then I had exams that I had to pass and things like that. Yeah, nothing necessarily comes easy. Some stuff does. Some stuff does. I won’t say that all of it won’t, but you definitely have to put the hours in and take your time, pace yourself. Don’t burn out, that’s for sure. Don’t burn out. You money, time waits for no one, whether you do it today, tomorrow, next week, next year. It’s going to be there. That’s my final word on that. I ll tell them where you can find you, D eana.
[00:42:48.080]
Speaker 1: You can find me on LinkedIn @dinal sedani. I’m not really on any other social media platforms professionally, so you can just find me mainly on LinkedIn where I can share a little bit of my journey with marketing and self discovery and career.
[00:43:06.100]
Speaker 2: I’m clicking in it. It’s not unclicking. All right, you heard it first from Deana. She went from studying biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering to marketing. And she’s moved countries in order to do it and things like that. So definitely reach out to her about all of that. And if you haven’t subscribed, you can subscribe on YouTube, Google podcast, Apple podcast, Spotify, and whatever else your favorite podcast app is where we are everywhere. And subscribe and we will see you next time. We got more guests coming because people are excited to talk about their career switching stories. And yeah, nobody wants to work, though.
About
Christos Panagiotidis, once a dedicated car mechanic, daringly embraced a thrilling career shift to cloud engineering. Merging mechanical ingenuity with tech-savvy intuition, he forged an inspiring path, challenging norms and defying expectations. Christos’ electrifying journey illuminates the power of pursuing uncharted dreams and discovering untapped potential.
Christos Panagiotidis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christospanagiotidis/
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
Subscribe To The Newsletter – https://www.switchintotech.com
Listen On:
Apple Podcast – https://nobody.fyi/apple
Spotify – https://nobody.fyi/spotify
Google Podcast – https://nobody.fyi/google
Donate:
Stripe – https://nobody.fyi/donate
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Affiliates:
Switch Into Tech – https://www.switchintotech.org
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Monthly Seminars – https://nobody.fyi/seminars
Full Tuition Scholarships – https://fullscholarships.org
Data.gal – https://www.data.gal
Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
A
Wrenches to Web Services: A Car Mechanic’s Journey to Cloud Mastery
Revving Up the Cloud: How a Car Mechanic Reinvented His Career as a Cloud Engineer
Clouds and Carburetors: One Mechanic’s Exciting Career Shift
Engine Overhaul: Trading Pistons for Cloud Platforms in a Bold Career Leap
Mechanic on a Mission: Turbocharging the Tech World as a Cloud Engineer
From the Garage to the Data Center: A Car Mechanic’s Cloud Engineering Adventure
Shifting Gears: The High-Octane Journey from Auto Mechanic to Cloud Expert
Digital Torque: A Car Mechanic’s Unlikely Rise to Cloud Engineering Stardom
Refueled: The Chronicles of a Car Mechanic Turned Cloud Computing Prodigy
Show Notes
[00:00:00]
Speaker 1: Hey, you all. This is your host, Elyse Robinson with Nobody Wants to Work No podcast. I hope these stories will inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and now I’m in tech, and let’s get to it. We are.
[00:00:20]
Speaker 2: Switch.
[00:00:20]
Speaker 1: Into Tech. Tech resources to accelerate your.
[00:00:24]
Speaker 2: Career.
[00:00:25]
Speaker 1: In information technology. Monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouches, scholarships, free Udemy courses, free events, free boot camps, and more.
[00:00:37]
Speaker 2: You can find us.
[00:00:38]
Speaker 1: At.
[00:00:40]
Speaker 2: Www.switching to tech. Org.
[00:00:45]
Speaker 1: Hey, you all. This is Elyse Robinson with the Nobody Wants to Work Though podcast. Today we have Chris. He is in Germany, originally from Greece, so I’m excited to have him. He’s our second international guest. You can go ahead and tell us about your first career and then what are you doing now. Chris.
[00:01:05]
Speaker 2: Hello, I’m Chris. I’m originally from Germany and right now I’m working as a cloud engineer and I started my career working as a car mechanic. I’m working in the IT field almost 11 years right now. Thanks for having me.
[00:01:25]
Speaker 1: Eleven years. All right. Here’s a fun one. What did you want to be when you became a grownup?
[00:01:38]
Speaker 2: I didn’t have something specific on my mind, but when I started to see what possibilities you have with using the internet, because internet back then was a new thing, I started to get very interesting on a personal level and afterwards on business level, and that’s why I try to get the IT direction.
[00:02:07]
Speaker 1: Got you. Let’s see, what was the catalyst that made you go from being a car mechanic to a cloud engineer? What made you interested in it? I know cloud hasn’t even been around for 15 years, so how did you find out about it? Etc.
[00:02:32]
Speaker 2: When I started my education as a car mechanic, I did my education in Greece, and the possibilities you have was limited. I thought, Okay, my father was a mechanic, so maybe I like it. But it wasn’t really my thing. I was always at least practically one of the worst in class. I was hating it. And parallel, I started to work or use a computer, use the Internet, and I fall in love with that. My motivation was that I want to do this on a business level. That was the biggest point to change my career from a car mechanic to work to the IT.
[00:03:39]
Speaker 1: Got you. You just woke up one day and was like, Let me play around the computer, see what it can do for me, and start doing a little bit of research and dug a little bit deeper and enjoyed it. It’s funny that you say that your father was a car mechanic. My parents worked for the government, so I didn’t want to work for the government. I tried to get in the private industry. It didn’t work out. I was like, Okay, well, I saw what the government did for my parents. We lived a good life and things like that. That’s what I went and did. My first career, I was an auditor. It always cracks me up when people say, I didn’t want to do what my parents did, and a lot of people still end up doing it.
[00:04:31]
Speaker 2: I see.
[00:04:34]
Speaker 1: All these things come at a cost. What did it cost you along the way? Did you have support from your father? Because I’m pretty sure you got lip telling you, Hey, why are you giving up being a car mechanic? What did your friends say? What did they say?
[00:04:54]
Speaker 2: It was neutral. The thing was that sometimes in my case of my father, you do something, for example, digitally, and it’s not like you do something physically. And sometimes in your environment, if you don’t do something physically and you just do it digitally, even if it’s something difficult, they just don’t see that. So the biggest cost, I would say, was I had to start from the beginning with no education whatsoever. I was self paced in a sense. But the important thing was I had a passion for it. I think that’s the most important thing you have to have if you want to be very good in one thing. And the mind was neutral. It wasn’t negative about it, but it wasn’t positive either. So it was neutral, I would say.
[00:06:01]
Speaker 1: Got you. That’s good that you had support. I will say when I left my good government job, my father was like, I’m insane. But my catalyst was my mother passing away. I quit my job pretty much my whole life in order to help out my family and take care of her. My second one where I didn’t have any support, somewhat, was when I moved to Mexico and my father thought I was insane. I’m like, Daddy, I’m not coming back. He was like, Okay, well, just be safe. That’s one of the reasons why I asked that question because support goes a long way when you’re trying to make these decisions in life. What was your process on switching careers? Did you take any special courses? Did you talk to people about what their path was? Did you go into any meetups, seminars? What did you do?
[00:07:07]
Speaker 2: The thing was, it was like end of the 90s, beginning of the 2000s. Regarding digital education, it was limited. The first thing I did was in the beginning, I went to different internet cafes. There I started to get in love with the whole technology part. I started at the first thing I did was to buy a computer by myself, try what I can do with it. In some point after I was finished with my car mechanic education, I I did went to high school, to night high school with the technology direction. After work, I did education in the technology field. That was the winning point, I would say.
[00:08:07]
Speaker 1: Got you. How did you convince people to take a chance on you from being a car mechanic to being in the cloud tech and things like that? Because one thing, at least in the States, is it’s very hard to make the career switch. You know what I’m saying? It’s like, okay, you have all this experience before, and it’s not like it wouldn’t lend to those experiences to be able to do that job. But a lot of times people want you to already have the experience, which doesn’t make sense. I know for a fact, at least in Europe, they have these apprenticeships and internships and things like that, which isn’t really a thing in the state, which is ridiculous. How did you convince people to say, Hey, I want to take a chance on him and give him the keys to this stuff? Because we’re talking about potentially million dollars of stuff that you could damage.
[00:09:12]
Speaker 2: Yeah, I see. The road to start with the cloud was a long one. When I finished with my education back in Greece, I tried to, as a car mechanic, after some years, I did, as I mentioned, the education in the IT. I went to Germany. This is 11 years ago because the whole infrastructure in Greece was difficult. I had already some experience with Germany. I knew the culture. I was speaking native German because I was born here and raised until one age here. In the beginning, when I went back to Germany, I was working in different industries over agencies. It was tough because it doesn’t have to do anything with the IT. We had to what I did, if you work over an agency where they lease you on different companies, the bad thing is you get less money than you would have if you were a permanent employee on a company. But the good thing is you can get easier in different position even if you don’t have experience. That’s what I did. I was working in different companies over this leasing company and I was sending my CV parallel to other leasing agencies to start my career in the IT.
[00:10:54]
Speaker 2: That’s how I went in the IT field. My first job was to It was like a roll out. I went to the customer side, took their piece… Took their hardware, changed their hardware, and that was it. It wasn’t a big deal, but it was for me a kick starter to work in the IT.
[00:11:17]
Speaker 1: Got you. You worked with temp agencies that took a chance on you and placed you different places?
[00:11:26]
Speaker 2: Yes. I was a little bit confused in the beginning because I had maybe 15 companies in seven months. Before I started with the whole IT stuff, sometimes I just went for one, two days in a company, did some generic stuff, and the next week I was in another company. It was a little bit confusing for me. But it was a start just to get working here in Germany because you have to start somewhere.
[00:11:59]
Speaker 1: Got you. Okay. Yeah, that’s a good way to get some experience. I don’t know if that’s a thing in the States. I haven’t heard of it before. I know there are tent agencies in the States, and yeah, that’s a possibility that you could jump around. But usually contracts are like 6 to 12 months and things like that. Even then, they want trained personnel with experience. Yeah, that’s one reason why I like Europe because they have these programs where you can get on the job training and get paid for it and stuff like that. Because yeah, in the States, they’ll say there’s a shortage, but they don’t want to take a chance on anyone. So it’s like they only want senior people. But yeah, I find that to be really interesting how you got your experience. Let’s see, what are some positives and negatives of your new career? You touched on being a car mechanic, it’s very physically demanding. Also, one thing is as a car mechanic, you can literally see your work. When you’re in this digital world, no one can necessarily see your work. I find that to be a barrier in tech too, because certain positions feel subsets or whatever you want to call it, you’re not able to show your work.
[00:13:37]
Speaker 1: They say build a portfolio and all this other stuff, and it’s like, but I can’t show my work. What are some of the positives and negatives of your new career?
[00:13:51]
Speaker 2: Yeah. I would say the most positive thing was I could do something I had a passion on it. I didn’t just want to have a regular basis job to just get my bills on. I want to do something I had a really passion on, and most importantly, I have fun with it. So I would say that was the biggest pro on my IT career. Another positive point was it’s a very demanding… No, it’s a very… If you are specializing in one thing to find a new job, I wouldn’t say easy, but you have a lot of possibilities, maybe in comparison on other jobs, I would say. Especially in the cloud field, you have to be very dynamic and you have to update and educate yourself because it’s a very updating platform. I would say if you do that, you’re almost regarding your knowledge on the top in the IT field. Regarding the negative, I would say, depending on what you are doing, you can have some maybe a little bit different personalities and different experience and maybe sometimes the environment, some bad experiences. In my case, I had to start literally from zero regarding my IT career because I was working on a totally different field before of that.
[00:15:48]
Speaker 2: The start was rough, but I think if you have a goal and you repeat yourself and stick with it and don’t give up, you will be successful. That’s my mindset.
[00:16:10]
Speaker 1: Got you. Me being in the tech world, it’s very hard to keep a breast of a lot of things. It’s a constant learning. I have a fight with myself all the time. My podcast about myself is called Business Brain versus Tech Brain. My business side, accounting audits pretty much been the same probably since the beginning of time. 1 plus 1 is always going to be two. Compliance, comparing two things and see if they add up. That’s never going to change. And figuring out what the root cause of something is. And tech, that is me sitting behind the computer focused for hours at the end of the day and not wanting to talk to people, constantly learning. And it’s a constant fight. So yeah, I get you on that. What are some traits that you believe would make someone successful in the cloud world?
[00:17:26]
Speaker 2: What are some traits? I have to first example, for me, I have a very strong IT support background. And for me to went from IT support jumping over the classic sys admin position and went directly to the cloud engineering. I would say the biggest trade off was to sometimes convince maybe people that cloud is the future. I had some situation where people were stuck with the classic SIS admin mentality and they didn’t want to do anything with the cloud. I would say that probably sometime was a little bit of a trade off because I couldn’t convince people to start to get involved in the cloud and they just wanted to do what they were doing for years. That’s probably the biggest trade off, I would say.
[00:18:36]
Speaker 1: Got you. I find some traits to be… You have to be a constant learner. I tell people all the time, if you want to be in tech and you don’t want to sit down and learn all the time. If you don’t love learning, then this isn’t for you. That’s true. It changes at the drop of a dime, the speed of light. This isn’t on there. I need to add it to my question list. But do you think that being a car mechanic first helped you in this career, being in tech cloud specifically? And do you think that you wasted time? Do you think you should have went into cloud first or do you think that you should have been a car mechanic first?
[00:19:29]
Speaker 2: I don’t think I wasted time because every education, everything you learn in life is important and it will benefit you somewhere sooner or later. Cloud thing wasn’t the thing back then. I went to the Cloud, I don’t know, four years, three years ago. But if I had the opportunity back then to go directly in the IT, I probably have done that. But because the system on the education system in Greece was limited, I had like five jobs to choose and IT wasn’t on the list. I said, Okay, let’s try car mechanic because I thought, Yeah, my father did that so maybe I can give it a try and see if I like it or not. But I think that it doesn’t matter what you do. You have to see everything as a step stone on your further goal. And I think you have to be a lifelong learner. You have to be a You are right on that, especially in the IT. If you’re not willing to learn or educate yourself with whatever way you’re going to do that, it’s probably not the right direction you have to go. I think you can do different jobs where you do more or less the same stuff every day for years, and that’s it.
[00:21:06]
Speaker 2: But in the IT, you have to be a lifelong learner.
[00:21:13]
Speaker 1: Definitely. I asked that question because I’ve asked the question to myself. Like I told you, I’ve always loved tech. I taught myself when I was nine or 10 years old. One summer, my parents thought something was wrong with me sitting in the house in my room. It served me well, but I couldn’t find an internship, and so I switched to accounting. Now that I’m older and in there, it’s like, should I have stayed at it and kept at it and pursued it? I had to come to terms with, no, that wasn’t your life path. Being an audit, you loved it. It served you well. You have different skills that you can apply to pretty much anywhere. And it forced me to be an adult also, I will say that, because I dealt with CEOs all the way down to the secretary, so a diverse range of people. It made me do presentations and get up in front of an audience of people that all eyes are on me. And yeah, I wouldn’t be doing this podcast right now if I hadn’t been in the audit because I’m an introvert naturally. I see it as a challenge when I do these things because the stereotype of introverts is you just want to sit in the corner and code.
[00:22:53]
Speaker 1: That’s why I asked that question. One of the reasons why I started the podcast is so people can see that it’s okay to have varied interests and do different things. It’s okay to think about your past and say, Hey, what if I had did this earlier or whatever? Everyone that I have asked this to didn’t have any regrets. They always say that their previous career blended well to their current one. That’s why I asked that question. Last question, what would you tell someone that wanted to change their career, switch their career? What advice can you offer them?
[00:23:48]
Speaker 2: I would say to try to find a passion, try different things. There are a lot of possibilities. And if you find something, you really have a passion on it, go for it. If you try to make a switch, you can calculate every pro and cons, but at least try to get a little bit. Maybe you have a tryout or whatever and see if you like it or not before you switch completed the job. So I would say do you just go for it. I think it doesn’t help somebody out if he’s working on a job he doesn’t like for his whole life. And because I think if you like what you do, your mentality is completely different. And you bring this mentality from your business life to your personal life as well. I would say go for it. Just have a little bit. Just do it in a smart way.
[00:25:04]
Speaker 1: Definitely. Where can we find you, Chris?
[00:25:11]
Speaker 2: You can find me on LinkedIn. You can find me on Zink. That’s a German podcast… Sorry, German social business platform. I have a home page as well.
[00:25:28]
Speaker 1: Got it. got you. Thank you so much for coming on the show, Chris. I wish you the best in your career. I was excited to have you because you’re an expat immigrant like me. I’m always excited to meet other people around the world that have done the things that I have done. Thank you for listening. To those that are listening or watching out there, please subscribe for more. This is this is number 16, I think. Oh, gosh, I’m losing my numbers. You’re either 16 or 17 at this point. Stay tuned because we have more coming up. Nobody wants to work, though. you..
About
Nikeia McMillon won a scholarship to portfolio school in Denver. Her passion for art and design paid off big time, and now she’s on her way to making her dreams come true. With talent and hard work, she’s sure to make a splash in the industry and inspire others to follow in her footsteps.
Nikeia McMillon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikeiamcmillon/
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
Subscribe To The Newsletter – https://www.switchintotech.com
Listen On:
Apple Podcast – https://nobody.fyi/apple
Spotify – https://nobody.fyi/spotify
Google Podcast – https://nobody.fyi/google
Donate:
Stripe – https://nobody.fyi/donate
Cashapp – $mselyserobinson
Patreon – https://nobody.fyi/patreon
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Affiliates:
Switch Into Tech – https://www.switchintotech.org
Nube: Switch Into A Cloud Career Book – https://nobody.fyi/book
Tech Freebies – https://nobody.fyi/freebies
Monthly Seminars – https://nobody.fyi/seminars
Full Tuition Scholarships – https://fullscholarships.org
Data.gal – https://www.data.gal
Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Ace Your Portfolio School Application: Tips and Strategies for Winning a Scholarship
Portfolio School Application Secrets: How to Stand Out and Secure a Scholarship
Maximizing Your Chances of Winning a Scholarship to Portfolio School
Portfolio School Scholarship Success: Insider Tips and Tricks
The Ultimate Guide to Applying to Portfolio School and Winning a Scholarship
Crafting a Winning Portfolio School Application and Scholarship Proposal
From Application to Acceptance: How to Secure a Scholarship to Portfolio School
Winning Strategies for Portfolio School Scholarship Applications
Applying to Portfolio School with Confidence: Strategies for Scholarship Success
How to Impress the Admissions Committee and Win a Scholarship to Portfolio School
Show Notes
[00:00:01]
Speaker 2: Hey, you all. This is your host, Elyse Robinson with Nobody Wants to Work No podcast. I hope these stories will inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and now I’m in tech, and let’s get to it.
[00:00:19]
Speaker 1: We are Switch into Tech. Tech resources.
[00:00:22]
Speaker 2: To accelerate your.
[00:00:23]
Speaker 1: Career in information technology. Monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouches, scholarships, free Udemy courses, free events, free boot.
[00:00:35]
Speaker 2: Camps, and more.
[00:00:37]
Speaker 1: You can find us at www.switchinto tech.
[00:00:41]
Speaker 2: Org. Hey, you all. This is Elyse Robinson with the Nobody Wants to Work the Hub podcast. Today we have Necaela. You can start us off with what your old career was and what you’re doing now.
[00:00:54]
Speaker 1: Definitely. I started off in property management. I was definitely in the residential leasing area and marketing for most of my career. I hopped around a bit, wore a few different hats and sales jobs, but a lot of it was always customer focused, customer face, like industry that I was always in. If it wasn’t a call center, it was definitely a leasing office or some sales or some customer focused thinking job. But a little bit about me and where I’m at now. With this career switch, I’m now making my career into art direction and advertising just because I’ve always had this creative interest and creative passion to do something a little bit more bigger than myself. And I feel like advertising was a really good start to navigate and figure out who I am just as a creative and where I can actually end up in eventually. So it’s still an exploration process, to be honest.
[00:01:43]
Speaker 2: All right. And what did you want to be when you grew up?
[00:01:47]
Speaker 1: I have wanted to be a lot of things, but I always remember wanting to be an astronaut. I’m really big on the solar system. I was always fascinated by outer space. I have NASA alerts set up on my phone still at the age that I am just to see what cosmic events are happening. Is the moon going to be pink tonight? I just love just love it. I love the outer space and just what’s out there. Again, blows my mind just because it’s like, how did we end up here? Don’t even get me started on how heady I can get with that. But as a kid, I was just definitely into science and outer space. That was definitely my vibe.
[00:02:24]
Speaker 2: I don’t know if Colorado has, I’m going to call it a dormitory. Observatory. Observatory. There we go. Observatory. They should. I don’t know if they do either. I’m getting old. I’m getting old. But Observatory. I went to one that’s in Arizona. It’s called Kitt Peak. It’s either Kitt Peak or Kitt Peak. I had a time in my life. I looked at Mars and the moon and some stars. You go up this dark place because you can’t have light, so they keep it very pitch black. I was terrified because I drove a little Prius at the time, and I thought I was going to fall off the cliff. But you have to go to observatory at least once in your life if you love astronomy. I don’t really care for it, but I’m like, Okay, I know it exists out there. I want to look at it. But yes, you must. They might have one at one of the colleges there, too, but you have to go. You got to go. It’s free, too. It’s free. I did it all for free. They have overnight trips that you can do, which I think is a couple of dollars and stuff like that.
[00:03:33]
Speaker 2: I didn’t do all that. They said it was going to be cold, but it ended up being like 80 something degrees. I had all these thermals on and other boots and stuff, and I was drenched in sweat by the time I was done because it’s supposed to be cold up there. But yeah, you got to go if you love astronomy. Let’s see. What was the catalyst that made you change your career?
[00:04:06]
Speaker 1: I would say that I went to school for graphic design, so I always had a very creative… I always wanted to do something creative. I always had that passion. And then the pandemic happened, and I really had time to sit with myself and explore what I wanted to do outside of that. It just really gave me time to really sit with Nikiah and figure out, hey, do you like this? Or where do you see yourself in five years? I really had time to plan out a goal. In doing so, I was able to take classes and workshops and things that interested me. I did clay, I did virtual shops and how to play with different programs within Adobe, Figma, and things like that. And then I eventually received a scholarship opportunity to go to portfolio school for art direction. It almost felt like fate. Like I said, again, the stars aligned and it just happened for me. It was really beautiful.
[00:04:58]
Speaker 2: Man, when you say the stars aligned, yeah, they do. I’m just thinking about, we’ve already had the conversation, but when I moved to Mexico and it’s like everything just aligned and it just felt so right. Except for me being lost that one day. But after that, it was cool. I didn’t have any problems, you know what I’m saying? Everything just went so smoothly and cool, you know what I’m saying? I just felt like this is where I was supposed to be in this moment. Then I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen little signs and symbols along the way. I told you I’m originally from Sacramento. I’ve seen a sign that says Sacramento. The cross streets were literally Sacramento, California. I’m like, Oh, okay. Well, that’s a sign. If you believe in whatever you believe in, the universe will come together when you’re on the right path to get you to where you need to be. I’m a firm believer of what’s meant to be, will be. That’s exactly. Outside of that, well, you did talk about what made you interested in that, but all things come out of cost. What did it cost you along the way?
[00:06:10]
Speaker 2: Did you have support from your family? They think you were crazy. Property management, that’s a decent career, I would think. I know sometimes you get free rent and stuff. You want to give up your free rent? Free rent. Then outside of that, people go lease. You know what I’m saying? That’s going nowhere. Did it come at a cost? Did your family think you were crazy?
[00:06:34]
Speaker 1: Oh, my gosh. I did sacrifice a lot. I have actually a funny story. Just along the way, I was definitely, again, putting on many hats. I thought I wanted to do psychology. I thought I wanted to do nursing and help people. So throughout this whole process of 2020 and trying to navigate what I wanted to do, my mom was definitely rooting for me. If I wanted to say I want to join the circus, she probably would have been like, I got you, girl. Where do we need to go? My mom was definitely my all star cheerleader, and I definitely would not have been able to do any of it without her. But just as a sacrifice, again, as I told you, I moved to LA, and that was a very exciting journey for me. Even though pandemic happened in between that, I really found myself there. And I really loved that I was able to come into the person that I feel like I am today and have grown into just for the simple fact that I got this opportunity and Denver was never on my list. It was a full ride scholarship. Denver was never on my list to go to, but I was like, I’ll never get this opportunity again.
[00:07:39]
Speaker 1: I feel like I have to say yes to this. I was very happy in LA, was very scared to make the jump to Denver. But again, my mom was so supportive. She flew out, packed the UHa with me. We took a nice little road trip from LA to Denver. It was beautiful. And it was a really fun experience and bonding experience with my mom, of course. But then when I was here in Denver just by myself, it was just like, I don’t know anybody here, and I feel a little bit out of place, and did I make the right choices, and should I go back to LA? And it was a lot of second guessing. And then as I kept getting, I guess, acclimated into Denver and the program that I was in with the scholarship, it all started to make sense. And I was like, I am in the right place. I did make the right decision. There’s definitely struggles that I’m having to deal with. But I didn’t. I always focused that I had this opportunity and I wasn’t going to get anywhere else. So it was really nice to just enjoy that process.
[00:08:31]
Speaker 1: It was a little turbulence, but I enjoyed it.
[00:08:34]
Speaker 2: Okay. You will find yourself in LA, I can attest. I can attest. I had the time of my life in LA and that was the first time I was single. I was dating and finding myself. That was the first time I was in a real career and I actually had to work. And so that was the first time I didn’t know LA had subways. I’m on the subway, I’m on the bus, I’m in Hollywood, and I’m everywhere. I’m living it up. I can totally attest LA. I’ve never been to LA. LA, I do. But it’s so expensive. It’s so expensive. I don’t know how people do it. But tell people what the process was for the scholarship, number one. And tell people what a full ride scholarship is, because I think there’s a lot of people out there that don’t understand what that entails.
[00:09:35]
Speaker 1: Yeah, most definitely. So just in line of getting the scholarship in general, like I said, I was taking a lot of design classes online during COVID. Everything was virtual. So even though I was working full time after work, I would come home and I would be doing my little graphic design classes and doing my little workshops. My instructor, as well as a previous classmate of mine, told me about advertising and how to get into it. I was like, I never knew how to get into that. I think as black people, we don’t get the insider scoop on a lot of things. And that’s probably why there is such a very low number of us in some of these corporate spaces. We just don’t know how to navigate it. And thankfully, I had an instructor and a previous classmate help navigate me towards that and send me a whole bunch of portfolio schools. That is where you would need to start with this type of career is you want to get a portfolio. You need to show your work and be able to showcase how you concept, how you bring out insights. And so with my instructor and of course, another peer helping me, I was able to find a scholarship that actually catered to black creativs.
[00:10:39]
Speaker 1: And if you applied and got accepted, you got a full ride scholarship. You did not have to pay for anything. All I had to do was bring my tail to Denver. The scholarship did not include housing or anything, so that was a bit of a struggle for me. It was just like, okay, I have to go to Denver. This is also a full time program. How am I going to make my living situation work? So they did have some resources and you could do roommates and things like that. But I do wish that the scholarship, I know you talked about a full ride, it was strictly just the tuition. I had to come up with everything else as far as living, where I was going to live, how I was going to get to school. There was no dorm situation and things like that. So I would say with the full ride and how to do that, definitely obviously talk to people and just do your research and make sure that when I went on to the website of the portfolio school, I looked at all the students that had gone there previously. I had only seen one black girl on the website, and I was like, I need to get her insight and her POV of this place.
[00:11:44]
Speaker 1: Reached out to her and lo and behold, we went to the same high school, which again, I felt like stars aligned. And it was like, oh, I went to the same high school as this girl. Of course, I graduated way before her. But the fact that we weren’t from the small little stupid town in Georgia, and again, it was just stars aligned. And fate was just like, go ahead and do this. So I think definitely networking, putting yourself out there and letting people know what you’re interested in, you have to definitely talk to people and talk it up and share what you want to do. I think sometimes I was a little insecure because I wasn’t sure on how to talk to people and tell them what I did since I didn’t have the work to necessarily show what I wanted to do. So I’m glad that I took that initiative to just take courses and workshops. And then that just obviously opened doors for other things.
[00:12:29]
Speaker 2: Got you. Just FYI people, there are full ride scholarships that pay for everything. They send you a plane ticket, they send you the housing, they give you a stipend to live on, all that good stuff. Full ride is iffy. But yeah, if you can get one of those, then you’ve really made it. There’s another thing I want to touch on was reaching out to people. That is so underrated. One of my favorite models is closed mouse don’t get fed. You can’t be scared of a no too. Just because it’s no today doesn’t mean that it might be no tomorrow. Don’t be scared to reach out to someone and say, Hey, I want to know how you got here and how you did that. Most people will be open to it. Most people will really be open to it. Don’t be scared to ask questions to someone, but there’s a way to do it. Try to do a little bit of research on your own before you reach out to people because someone reaches out to me, Hey, I want to get in tech. Okay, well, tech don’t mean nothing. There’s 50 different languages just for software engineering.
[00:13:50]
Speaker 2: Try to narrow it down to a couple of different things. Next question. You touched on the process. Let’s see. What are some of the traits that you think someone would be successful? What do you need to be in advertising? You talked about the portfolio. Is there a certain way? Do you need a website? What do you need to do?
[00:14:21]
Speaker 1: Yeah. We live in a digital world, so definitely important to have a website. It also is important for that to be on the computer and mobile. Everybody’s on their phones. So if you’re going to obviously reach out to someone and talk to them, whether it’s via email, LinkedIn, you want to be able to have that link, and they’re probably on their phone if you’re sending something through LinkedIn. So just make sure you have your site set up for the way that person is going to view it. And then with my portfolio and just the traits that you… Outside of just portfolio, the other traits that you would need, I would say it has a lot to do with your personality. I know that that’s a little bit cliché in a way, but it really does go far, again, with networking and connecting with people. People want to talk to people that are enthusiastic, and people also love talking about themselves. So just really reaching out and being like, Can you tell me how you got here? People love talking about themselves. So you just like, even just inserting that, being able to, I think, network and also just be your authentic self throughout the process.
[00:15:22]
Speaker 1: If you don’t understand the way the career is set up, I remember emailing people and being like, This is a career switch for me, or I’m actually making a career switch right now. I know I’m going into this male dominated like industry. Can you tell me your perspective as a woman or as a woman of color? And they will be so happy and ready to just share their knowledge, connect you with other people. Just by me reaching out to one people, I was connected with 10 others. It’s just like that one person and just being yourself and being honest as to why you’re reaching out. If not reaching out for a job, I’m really just wanting to know your perspective. They take to that. Again, that odd thing that authenticity is very important and just that personality of being yourself with a very long way. I would also say you have to also want to know, obviously, you have to have some design skills as well. You have to know how to navigate these programs. But again, that’s why I took classes. You can take classes at a community college where it’s really cheap to just go in and do a little course on Adobe Photoshop.
[00:16:22]
Speaker 1: The next semester, go in and do a course on illustrator. Just those basic Adobe programs is going to get you in the door and help you navigate how to use those programs and then showcase your work. But if you don’t have work to show, again, it’s really just your personality and showing that you really are enthusiastic and want to learn something.
[00:16:41]
Speaker 2: Right. One thing I find and one thing I hate in tech is the whole showing thing. I would like in advertising to maybe UI UX design to an extent because I talked to a woman and she was like, yeah, I have to have a portfolio and people still and all this other stuff. And I’m just like, oh, my God. Because in tech, they want to do… There was one I did a presentation. Oh, my gosh. Is my computer trying to die on me? Let me see. Yeah, it is. It’s plugged in now. They had me do a presentation and it was horrible because I only had one day to prepare. And I’m like, these jumping through hoops is really crazy to me. It’s like, do you want people or not? That’s why I tell nobody wants to work, though. That’s another reason why I wanted to do the podcast is because, like you were saying earlier, is that I think a lot of people, more so black people, don’t know about these careers. The career that I was in at Microsoft was in the cloud, and that didn’t exist 15 years ago. There’s all types of new careers that exist now, too.
[00:18:03]
Speaker 2: And that’s another reason why I want to do it. I mean, there was a manufacturing scientist, and I’m like, What the hell is that I had on the podcast? Now he’s a process engineer. So they didn’t talk about that in school. So things like that. So yeah, advertising is cool. I mean, that’s something that I did hear about when I was a kid. But what does that mean exactly? Are you creating the Oreo cookie commercial or are you are you designing the Kellogg’s box or what is it? What are some of the subsets, the sub fields of advertising? Let me fix this. Oh, you can go ahead. I’m asking you, what are some of the fields why I put my computer in? Because it’s dying.
[00:18:54]
Speaker 1: Okay. Yeah. No, there’s a lot that you can do. I feel like in the creative space, you have obviously where the track I went towards, which was Art Direction, which is definitely more of the look and feel and visual, how you’re visually telling a story. So yeah, the commercials, that Kellogg’s box. When you think of Dove campaigns, when you think of Olympics, Super Bowl is coming up. Advertising is really huge on that. It’s the busiest day in advertising, I think. But with that, you also have not just the creative aspect, you have strategy, you have the researching, you have to know who your audience is and know who you’re talking to and who you’re trying to capture. You also have to have a copywriter, somebody who can actually whatever your visuals are saying, the copy or the writing actually correlates and connects that visually as well. So it’s a lot of little subsets you can do in that. But also there’s production. If you like video, you can just go into the production side of advertising. If you like script writing, you can just go into the writing side. If you like experiential, like concerts and doing live events, there’s an experiential side of advertising.
[00:20:01]
Speaker 1: It’s not all just this commercial shoot or these photo shoots. There’s a lot of different dynamics within that. But I think it all just starts with you have to want to be creative and you also have to want to have these big ways of thinking. And obviously it’s really hard to come up with ideas just in the simple fact, a lot of ideas have already been thought of. So the challenge of it is how can I take an idea maybe that’s already been thought of and make it even bigger or show it in a perspective that people didn’t see before? So a lot of it is sometimes recycling or just coming into your own inspiration, your own perspective of your own experiences and being able to tell that story. I think for me, as a black woman, I want to be able to speak to what I’m able to relate to. A lot of the things that I think companies miss is our perspective, especially as black women. I want to be able to be that voice. But it’s also scary because there’s so many ways companies can go left and you don’t want to be that black person in the room who let a campaign get that bad or get that far.
[00:21:05]
Speaker 1: And it’s like, Ewe, who was in the room for this? Excuse me. So I think it’s definitely going into just having big ideas, wanting to explore. But then also, again, you can go in any… If you like to write, if you’d like to journal, if you like to write poetry, you can probably go into advertising. If you like to make logos, you can go into advertising. If you like making package designs and making people remember the product that you’re actually producing, go into advertising. I think it’s a nice start. And then you can find your way, of course, into experiential and all those other aspects of production and things, too.
[00:21:42]
Speaker 2: Definitely. There was someone on Twitter and they were talking about the new society of forcing you to have to have a cell phone and use it. And I was like, yeah, that’s something that… I don’t want to say only in America because there’s other countries, but I lived other places and it’s like, yeah, no, people still physically go pay their bills. You know what I’m saying? With cash. I used to be scared because I would go pay my rent in cash. I literally would go to the bank and pay my rent in cash. It’s like, you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to in the States. One thing that the Twitter person was saying, I said was that, yeah, that’s like an American problem. And they said for now. And I’m like, no, not for now because of the racism and the sexism that goes along with things. That prevents a lot of change. So when you say that there’s no people that look like me in the room, yeah, because of these concerns and it prevents a lot of change. And so, yeah, I think I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future with these things, but something has to give in order for that push to happen, if you want it to happen.
[00:23:09]
Speaker 2: Otherwise, it’ll never happen because of the isms. I don’t hold my breath on a lot of things that they say are going to happen because of the isms. Yeah, it always cracks me up. People are always like, Yeah, we’re going to go here. No, we’re not because of the isms. But outside of that last question, what will you tell someone just in general that wants to change their career?
[00:23:40]
Speaker 1: I think it definitely is important to really sit with yourself and you have I, for me, this is just coming from my own perspective. For me, in making my career switch, I really had to sit with myself and think about where I envisioned myself in five and 10 years. Did I see myself in the same position and role that I was currently in? I think if the answer the answer is no, then that’s when you can start exploring what some of your other interests are. And like I said, I took workshops and other classes to get my brain rewired into thinking more creatively because I wasn’t doing that in property management. So I think you can knowing yourself, sitting with yourself and again, navigating, like, where do I want to be in 10 years? Where do I want to be in five years? And then once you do that, obviously, explore your interests. I think LA was a great place for me to do that. Even though the pandemic was there, I was able to go outside, explore, talk to different people. I was living in Korea town, going downtown, just going and exploring whatever was around me just because I had access to it.
[00:24:38]
Speaker 1: And I know not everybody has that, so that’s why I always I’m really big on just sitting with yourself no matter where you are. It doesn’t have to be this beautiful city like LA necessarily. But definitely sitting with yourself and knowing who you are as a person, where you see yourself going. And then also, I think it really is important to have a support group. Don’t just keep it to yourself that you want to make a career switch. Tell other people you want to do that too, because by telling other people, you have support one and you have people excited for this for you so then you have people rooting for you, which gives you confidence to make the move. And then also you just never know who you meet along that way of making that career change. So I would say those are the two most important things. And obviously, just once you do make that career switch, I think it’s important to just still be yourself and be open to learning because it’s not… I still have so much to learn. It’s still a very new thing for me, but you have to be open to change and enjoy that process.
[00:25:31]
Speaker 2: All right, you heard it from Necaela. Thank you, Necaela. Tell people where to find you. You got your portfolio website out there yet?
[00:25:39]
Speaker 1: I do, yeah. You can find me at necaelmarie. Com. That’s N I K EIA marie. Com, where all my student work and what I did while I was in portfolio school. You can find me on Instagram at Solokey. That’s S O, L, O, K, E, I. That’s where the probably the two platforms I’m going to be mainly on is my website, emails, and things like that.
[00:26:05]
Speaker 2: All right, you all heard it from Necaela first. If you haven’t subscribed, please subscribe. We’re on Spotify, Google podcast, Apple podcast, and of course, on YouTube if you’re watching us. Thanks again. Until next time. Nobody wants to work, though. you..
About
Get ready to be inspired by Federico Urena’s fearless pursuit of his dreams! From a musician in Costa Rica to a data analyst in France, Federico shares his story of transformation and how he did it scared. Don’t miss this chance to hear how he faced his fears and made the leap to a new career and life.
Federico Urena: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fedeurena/
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Musician to Data Analyst: Federico Urena’s Fearless Journey
How Federico Urena Overcame Fear to Pursue a New Career in France
Changing Your Life: One Man’s Story of Courage and Transformation
A Tale of Two Careers: Federico Urena’s Transition to Data Analytics
The Power of Resilience: Federico Urena’s Journey to Success
Chasing Your Dreams: Federico Urena’s Inspiring Story
Doing it Scared: Federico Urena’s Path to a New Life
The Courage to Change: Federico Urena’s Bold Career Move
Embracing the Unknown: Federico Urena’s Journey to Self-Discovery
Music to Data: Federico Urena’s Incredible Transformation
Show Notes
0:01
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
0:19
we are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org. Quite honestly
0:46
recorded Oh, well. That’s
0:49
odd. gotta hear it. Hey, your feedback. Is that near you?
0:59
Yes. I don’t hear anything.
1:01
You don’t hear anything. Okay.
1:04
I hear hear your voice. But I don’t hear feedback.
1:07
Okay, because I hear myself on your in in the background. Okay. I don’t hear it anymore. Okay, maybe it fixed this though. All right. I’ll just cut this part out. But hey, this is Robinson with nobody wants to work though podcast today. I have with me Federico. And he is our first international guests. Tell us where you are, from where you live. And you know where you started and where you went to?
1:36
Yes. Well, thank you very much for having me. First of all, it’s it’s really cool to be here. I didn’t know I was the first international one. So that’s, that’s very cool. I’m originally from Costa Rica, in Central America, where I started a career as a musician. I was a touring musician. I was a music teacher. And that was kind of like my first, my first go around in the professional world. And three and a half years ago, I moved to France, where I now am a market research analyst. And I work for a company that does. Yeah, market marketing, marketing research on social media, mainly for luxury and beauty brands like L’Oreal, Armani, and things like that. So, Morgan, I’m a Marketing Research Analyst now. Gotcha.
2:32
I will say the D spoke speak three languages. Do you speak English? French and Spanish?
2:38
And Spanish? Yes. Yes. That’s right.
2:41
Which one was the hardest to learn?
2:44
Which was a Hartwell Spanish. I learned when I was growing up. So that was the net that came naturally. I think the hardest was definitely French. Because I learned I first learned French when I was around 18, more or less. English I learned in like in primary school, so I was I was young too, so it’s easier to absorb it. French. Yeah, I was older and French is hard. Not just French is sometimes it’s complicated. Yeah. Yeah.
3:14
I was shocked and amazed because, I mean, French is is kind of like Spanish where you have you know, femenino and mescaline. Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. Yeah, English doesn’t have that. So I’m actually shocked. But you didn’t learn English when you were a child, though? So that’s probably
3:29
That’s correct. Yeah, and also French, phonetically, you know, the sounds that you have to produce when he French. Like, they’re hard. There’s so many different sounds and like, like small, small differences that make a small difference in sound that make huge differences in meaning. And so it’s hard.
3:50
Gotcha. And I meant feminine and masculine. I’m using my Spanish. Right, yeah, just branch, um, seventh and eighth grade. I think that’s when I took French but of course, I never used it. So for some reason, it comes up a lot when I speak Spanish Sometimes, though, and I’ll be like, that’s not even the right word. It’d be like, the best French that’s why. So it’s cool. But yeah, I mean, I’m shocked that that French was, was very hard for you, though. It is, it is. Um, let’s see, what was the catalyst that made you change from being a musician to a market research analyst?
4:35
Yeah, I think Well, at first, I didn’t fully like that’s who I am now. But at the time, I didn’t know that’s what I would end up being at the time. I just wanted to switch from music to business, you know. So I wasn’t sure what, like what road I would go down in the business world. But the reasons answer your question, the reason that I were What sparked my desire to switch was I started feeling in music, that I was not adding enough value to other people’s lives, you know, I kind of felt a little bit selfish, because I was playing a lot of guitar, like a lot of hours every day in my room practicing and learning songs. And yeah, we had, like, I had concerts and stuff like that, and I was a teacher, but I don’t know, I just had the feeling that I could do more for, for people. And that sounds like very, maybe very abstract or whatever. But it kind of felt selfish, you know, I was, I was spending a lot of time just playing for myself kinda, and then feet a little time playing for other people. But I felt like there was more that I could do in the world. I didn’t really know what it was exactly. But I thought that business was a good way to start. And also my you know, I come kind of like from a business family. So my dad has been in business for like, 45 years, something like that. So, you know, business was somewhere in the background there all along. And but yeah, what sparked my interest in fishing was was the fact that I was feeling selfish, maybe limit.
6:20
So what type of musician were you when you said, you played a guitar Did you sing or just guitar, you play any other instruments?
6:27
I studied. I have a bachelor’s degree in classical guitar. But after I finished my studies, I kind of branched out into other stuff, I did a little bit of jazz. I did a little bit of singing. I’m not a very good singer, but I gave it a try. I got into production a little bit. So I worked in a couple of production studios. And a little bit of songwriting as well. But mainly guitar, I got into electric bass eventually, later on, but, but that was, you know, I kind of tried several different avenues, I guess.
7:05
Gotcha. So digging deeper into selfish. How is market research not selfish to you, in comparison to being a musician?
7:15
Yeah. That like, originally, I had the idea that if, and this is not true for everybody, of course, it’s just how I felt at that time. I had kind of the idea that, you know, having picking up business skills would allow me to be more useful, even if I stick like, even if I if I had stayed in music, just having, you know, marketing skills and having financial, liberal financial skills and strategic, the strategic side of business business, which is something that I do a lot today, that would give me like a wider spectrum of action, I guess, in which I get be able to get more things done not just for myself, but also for other people, like whoever I worked for. So that was the idea. And the other thing that I forgot to say before is that one of the other things that also sparked my interest was kind of something that happened, by chance, I guess. But I was a music teacher and I had a few friends that founded a music label, and they wanted to produce music, and they invited me to be a part of that. And I came into that experience with the expectation of, you know, musical side, you know, making music and recording. But what they needed actually was somebody who took care of the business side, you know, finance and make deals with artists and stuff like that. So I took that opportunity, and I, I ended up finding out that I liked it. And so it was more both things, the selfish side and also just seizing an opportunity, seizing an opportunity that that came up just without me. Planning for it, I use
9:16
Do you still practice your music? Or you just left it alone?
9:20
No, I play I play sometimes. Whenever I have time, whenever I have the chance. I actually it’s funny. I met a group of people from Costa Rica here in France who are musicians. So every now and then we team up to play we play reggae music every now and then. So I think we have a concert coming up sometime that we do that, you know, maybe a couple of times a year. That’s it.
9:45
Gotcha. Um, all these things come at a cost. What did it cost you? And you know, did you have support from your friends and family? They think you were crazy insane.
9:56
Oh, yeah, for sure. People were my friends were like because it’s uh, you know, when you think about it, to me now it’s it’s, it comes natural. But when you think about switching from classical guitar to marketing research, that’s seems like a huge leap, you know? So yeah, it kind of was weird for some people and I still had the support of my family and my friends, like nobody, like nobody was was weird about it. But it did kind of come off as something that not everybody does, I guess. And what it caused me was, well, first of all, I decided to go back to school. Because I realized when I was at the, at this music production project that I told you about, I realized that I really didn’t know what I was doing. So I decided that, you know, I needed to, if I was going to go down that road, I needed to level up my skills and go back to school. So that was a huge cost, not just, I mean, not financially, so much as you know, time and attention and an effort in starting from the bottom. And I was like, I think it was 32. Back then. I had 20 year old classmates who, you know, so that, yeah, that was like a cost. That was, it was hard to go back to school and start over, having already finished a different career and, and feeling kinda lost, because I didn’t really know how business worked back then. So that was that was, it took a little bit of convincing myself, I think, to be able to say, Okay, I’m gonna go back to school, I’m gonna start everything from scratch. And that was hard. And, and part of the cost also is now that when I started when I when I eventually started working, also, this idea of starting from the bottom is something that is, doesn’t come naturally to you, when you’re, I guess, in your third shift, you know, going back and taking all these jobs and doing all these tasks that people don’t want to do. And, you know, you’re the new guy, and you’re learning, so you need to be flexible. And that was also kind of hard.
12:24
Definitely, definitely, I totally understand. Because as I told you, you know, my mother passed, I was, I had just turned 30, a couple of days before she passed, and, you know, it was life changing, of course, and, you know, I’m like, I have to start over because I quit my whole life to you know, help take care of her and my family. And it’s like, okay, where do I go from here? You know, because people think that your life ends at like, what 27 You’re supposed to be established, and all this other kind of stuff, you know, starting a family. And it’s like, okay, well, it might be Hind, you know, what’s really going on. And I will say, I’m gonna say her name her name, because I mean, she has a, she has a unique name, but she put this bug in me. And I don’t know if she’ll ever see this or whatever. But her name is September browning. And she, she taught me well, in audit, for my, one of my audit positions, and we didn’t leave on good terms, but, you know, keep bugging me about the golden handcuffs. And she was saying that, you know, make sure this is something that she wants to do before, you know, you start making all this good money. And you can’t leave. And so I was like, Well, you know, I’m in my 20s I want to I want to see the world, you know, and that’s, that’s pretty much what I did. And, you know, that blood was already in me, but my mother was was the more some of the catalyst for me to because at that point I had, I really had nothing holding me back. Okay, but, ya know, I totally understand where you’re coming from, because it’s like, okay, that bug is there on you know, am I Am I successful and my goal in the right path? Should I start over what I do? And that’s one of the reasons why I started this podcast so people can see that it’s okay to, I don’t wanna say, bottom, but, you know, I say take the skills that you already have and put them somewhere else. Yeah.
14:37
And that that is so important that I what you just said, like, Yeah, you don’t you I said, I started from the bottom, you don’t really start from the bottom because you need to leverage the things that you that, you know, maybe not the technical aspects of the craft. But you know, just the fact that you are 12 years older than your classmates or your work, colleagues and, you know, just you have to find ways of making, making it positive, not negative, you know, there’s so many stuff that we learned about life and we mature and we, we go through things that maybe other people, because just because they’re younger, and they haven’t had the chance to go to those things, but like you just said, you need to leverage those things when you’re switching because they are a they’re, it’s an advantage that you have over people who haven’t had the chance to go through those things. You know?
15:41
Definitely, definitely. And, and outside of that, I mean, you could be a mentor towards, you know, the younger people. Yeah, for sure. It’s not always a negative, because you hopefully you want to see the next generation be successful. So that’s how I see it. And we can add that to the reason why I started the podcast to like, you know, this, this new generation needs to see that, you know, there’s people it’s okay, it’s okay, you know, I don’t care what your parents say, or your friends say, like, it’s okay to, you know, do things a little different sometimes. And stepping back to, you know, learning about business, I always tell people, please, please take an intro to business course, you know, because I studied, yeah, you know, please take that in your in your college education, or, you know, even if you don’t go to college, I tell people just just please take in to help you understand stuff. Um,
16:35
yeah, for sure. I mean, business gives you a lot of skills, even if you’d like to set even if you don’t end up doing business, whatever you do, just the the skills that you acquire, but by learning how to craft products that people will like, or do things that will attract people, that is so valuable.
16:57
So you kind of talked about the process, you said he went back to college? And so did you get like a second bachelor’s? Did you get a certificate? Um, you know, I want to dwelve into this kind of later about how you got to France? Because I mean, I could talk to you all day about being an immigrant. You know, because I’m one might, yeah, but, you know, did you go to school in France? Like, you know, what was the process on you know, getting to where you got your, your marketing analysts job? Did you What did you say, on your resume? How could How did you convince people to take a chance on you? When, you know, for the past, you know, 10 to 15 years, you were a musician?
17:38
Yeah. That’s a great question. I went back to school in 2017, beginning of 2017. While I worked on the project that I told you about, and so I did both things, I went to school to get a bachelor’s degree. That was in Costa Rica, although I was still over there. I finished my bachelor’s degree in 2019, July or August 2019. And it’s just, it just so happened that the school that I was the University where I was doing my Bachelor’s on Costa Rica had, like a partnership with a school in France. And that school in France offered a master’s degree in data analytics for marketing, which was something that I began eventually to be interested in. So, you know, I applied for the, for the Masters, it was super easy, which was unexpected, I thought it would be like, you know, I you hear this, this complicated paths that people have to go through sometimes to, you know, go abroad and get accepted and all those things. For me, thankfully, it was it was easy enough. And I got accepted and came in late 2019, to France. To do the master’s degree, then COVID hit like, two months later. So we went from, I mean, we had to do the rest. The second part, it was a short Master’s, it took like, the courses took maybe nine or 10 months. And then you had to do like, like a thesis type of thing, like research type of thing. But like, sec, the second half of the courses we had to do online, because you know, we were like it was home because COVID And then this is where where it started to go towards the working part. Like you asked before, how did you get people to, to, like, believe in you or hire you? You know, I think it started back when I was doing my math bachelor’s degree in Costa Rica. I think the answer to that is, I mean, if you’re going back to school to do something that you want to do, it’s not some thing that somebody is imposing on you or anything, you want to do this, then, like, when I went to school, I just gave him my all, you know, I just, I was really so interested in learning, like actually learning because I had the other project on the side. And eventually I quit that project to just study. But the way I got people to believe in me eventually was just, you know, showing that I really wanted to learn, I wasn’t just there to get a degree, you know, like, a lot of people just want to get a piece of paper. And that’s fine, I guess. But like, I really wanted to go beyond the obvious. And actually one of the first people who hired me and gave me a chance on a seasonal job was one of my teachers. And so that’s like, I say that because I feel like the way that you get people or me, the way I got people to, believe me was just showing in the little, little things showing that you, you really want to really want to get better, you really want it to good job. And that goes for if you’re a student, or if you got a job, or both, or, you know, just show that you’re reliable in the small stuff, and people will, will give you larger opportunities. And then when I was in like the same thing, same principles applied when I was in France, we were we had to do like an internship to graduate from the masters that was like part of the program. And I got an internship in Paris. It was a company that did like ratings for TV and radio and movies and stuff like that. So it’s more of a, like the technical side of data analytics for for media ratings. An app after that I did that from 2020, to 22, late 2021. And after that, I switched when I did an internship and a fixed term contract as well in that company. And then I switched to this other company, because I was starting to notice that I was going down to like the technical side of data analytics, which is very interesting, and I really liked but I wanted to try the strategic side of business, you know, how strategy plays into business and marketing. And so I found a post a company that, which is the company that I worked for today, where we do exactly that, what we do, like consultant marketing, strategy consulting, so that’s where I am now I’ve been doing, I’ve been working there for, like, close to a year and a half soon. And that’s, that’s, you know, I’m trying, I’m summarizing, like, four or five years of experience into a few minutes. But yeah, I mean, it’s been a crazy ride. And you get surprised that I never like, back in 2017, if you’d have if you would have told me that I that I was going to get to know so many people and you know, get to work in different things that worked for find a company that did finance in Costa Rica, and I did that media thing. Now I’m doing marketing strategy. You know, it’s just one of the things that I tell people, if you’re thinking about going switching or changing, you’re going to be surprised at how many things you’re going to be able to experience. So I think that’s one of the positives of, of, you know, just just taking the leap. And I’m not saying everybody should do it. I mean, everybody, each person has a different situation, I guess. But I think just for me, looking back and thinking about all those experiences and different opportunities and, and also the bad things because of course, are there things that are not easy. It’s just amazing the amount of things that you you get to experience you know,
24:06
definitely, definitely. I tell people, you know, one reason why I stayed in Mexico was because everything was so easy. Like it just came so easy. I didn’t have any trouble or strife. Either everything just connected, it just connected. So when you said you know, it was very easy to you know, apply for the scholarship and the master’s degree and then just, you know, the visa it just everything just connected and just ran so smoothly. You know, I hear you, I hear you. Um, and so yeah, I haven’t had too many bad experiences, you know? And that’s why, you know, I’m like, it was my destiny. I was I was supposed to do this. Yeah, but yeah, I totally understand. Um, what are some of the positives and negatives of your new career?
25:07
Yeah, I mean, the positives is, I think the first positive which is, which was the first thing that are one of the first things that, that I understood is that I’m doing something that I really like. And of course, I like music, too. I love music, I still love music, but like, if you’re gonna switch, you gotta, you have to switch to something that you like, you can’t just switch because it makes more money or because whatever, you know, you have to be sure that you’d like it, because otherwise it’s going to be too hard. So, so that’s one of the positives, the fact that I like what I do. I think it’s more also more of a dynamic market to than the music was, at least back in where I came from. There’s more space to create new things, and to, there are different types of jobs that you can apply to. There’s just so many, like, in Paris, at least, there’s, there’s so many startups that have, you know, like, do these crazy things that you will never imagined, and that’s one of the positives is that just there’s so much room to experiment and, and try out new things as a, as an entrepreneur, or as an employee to you know, there’s just so many different, like job descriptions that you wouldn’t even imagine would exist. So that’s, that’s one of the positives, too, is it’s more dynamic. I think, on the negative side, one of the things what I mean, something that happens to me, and I’m guessing that, for other people who switch also, it’s the same situation, you kind of I mean, like, I kind of miss music, sometimes. Sometimes I want to play and sometimes I you know, like that side of what you if you if you liked what you did, yeah, you miss it, you know, sometimes you’re at work, and you’d be nice to just play guitar a little bit, right. So that’s, you know, it comes with the, with the journey, I guess, you know, you have to be willing to adapt and adjust to those things. But it is a reality that sometimes you can’t miss that. And that’s okay, you have to like, also give yourself permission to miss it, you know what to say, like that, and find a way to feed that, that motivation in the time that you have. The other thing that I think may be negative about business is the fact that for some people in some, some jobs, it’s very easy to go down the, you know, like, kind of like turn your brain off and go down the path of just, you know, getting up in the morning, going to work and going back at 6pm to your apartment, and then watching some Netflix and eating and going back to bed and then doing it all over again the next day. And I think it’s easy to and this goes for, I guess any career but I think specifically business because you know, it’s easy to find a job that pays well enough, and when you don’t feel like you need to change or need to move so you can many people just yeah, just I don’t know if they turn their brains off, but they it’s just you stop reflecting maybe and it’s easy to start questioning things and you just go and do your job and go into your nine to six and and all of a sudden one day you’re gonna wake up and it’s been 40 years and you’re doing the same thing. So that’s one of the things that I try to guard myself against, you know, always try to find new things and question things and try to find ways of doing maybe the same job but doing it better or more efficiently. I think it’s easy to go down that that wormhole you know, you get sucked into the this idea of Yeah, okay, I have a good good enough job I have what I need and so I’m just going to do the same job for the rest of my life. You know, many years and that is one risk that some people I feel fall into in this industry.
29:31
Gotcha. No, I understand about you know, missing your old your old career, your old life I call it my past life. Yeah, I literally hate accounting, right. But I love audit, like I could never be an accountant or anything like that audit is a whole different ballgame and one position that I had, it was a lot of fraud I would find and those were the juicy stories right? Ya know, people would steal money and you know, go back to their, their home country a lot of times or, you know, they would get arrested times it would be in the news. And so that was the juicy stuff. And I missed that sometimes. Ya know, so I get it from that perspective because I can guess that you know, you miss, you know, the probably the crowds and things like that and yeah yelling your name
30:33
Yeah, yeah, it’s true. And it’s true because with the group of people who Costa Rica that I played with every now and then you do get like that kind of like adrenaline rush when you’re playing in, you know, music. Arts, I guess, in general give you like that. Yeah, that rush. And, but also the other thing that, like I said before, one of the things that I found is that you need to give yourself permission to miss it, you know, like, yeah, because I, it’s also easy, I guess, to just kind of, like, block it out and say, okay, so I switched in, so I can’t look back. And I have to focus on what I do today. And yes, you do have to focus on what you do today. But, you know, I mean, we, we’re human beings, and we have attachments to some things and, and some of them are bad, but not all of them. You know? So so just giving yourself permission to I guess, reminisce a little bit. It’s okay, you know,
31:34
definitely, definitely. And yeah, I mean, art is definitely adrenaline rush. I painted something one time, and a lady said she wanted it. And I’m like, you want this mess? created your no. And I ended up selling for like $20. But I was like, oh my god, I’m like a real market now.
31:57
That’s cool. Yeah, that’s very nice. No, I
32:00
get it from being you know, like a real artist. And, you know, you’re like, people come to see me. Oh, my gosh, like I can imagine. So. Yeah, yeah, I can understand you really missing something like that? Um, what are some traits that are good for being a data analyst?
32:29
Yeah. I think, well, I mean, if you are talking specifically about the data analytics side, you have to have like, some hard skills, mostly related to like, numbers and stuff like that. That doesn’t mean that you have to be like a mathematician or whatever. Because I’m not that, but you have to kind of like to deal with numbers. If you open an Excel sheet and you want to die, then that’s going to be a problem, probably, you’re going to definitely have to do that. Probably every day, or every now and then a lot. I think in the in the market research space, you need to be very, you need to learn how to think strategically. And I think that’s one of the along with the numbers thing. That’s one of the main main skills that you need to develop. Some people are like, naturally attracted to that or others aren’t. That’s okay. But you need to learn. Because business, you know, when you’re like I worked for, like I said before, for a company that does marketing consulting, so part of that is kind of like us, telling the brands, what we think they should do and why and what the results might be from that. So you have to, like, develop that sense of visualizing things strategically. And so what happens if we do this, okay, this might happen? Or if we don’t do that, then okay, what would the competitors do all those things? So, I think that analytical strategic side of how you, you need to learn how to think that way. I think that’s very important. It just, also, I said before, just questions, questions that question things all the time, you know, like, and that goes for everything, not just what I do, but I mean, it’s just like I said, it’s so easy to just sit down and get comfortable into your child every day and but when you’re working with business business is so dynamic, especially when we’re dealing with startups and entrepreneurship and all those things. You need to constantly find solutions you need to be a problem solver is just important. that you develop that sense of, you know, be aware that you’re going to go through a lot of problems in your work, and you need to solve them because that’s your job. I think that’s very important to
35:18
do you think? I mean, you kind of touched on this a little bit? Do you think that you should have become, you know, a market research analyst, like years before you became one? Or do you think that was the right time? Or, you know, do you think you shouldn’t ever became a musician? You know, what
35:35
do you think? That’s a great question. No, I think, no, I think I think things happen in a way that this sounds very romantic, but I think it’s true. Like, if I had become if I had gone into business, like straight out of high school, for example, you know, I would have missed a whole side of who I am today that, you know, a whole side of a lot of things that I learned about, not just about us, but about who I wanted to be as a person. And even even things like, you know, music and studying music in school, you need to be so disciplined, you know, you learn to be disciplined. And I always say that music is like sports, you know, you need to, you need to work out every day, you need to play that guitar every day. And if you skip a day, you’re going to notice the difference. So that side of learning how to stick to something and being resilient and putting yourself out there and being disciplined. I would have liked if I’d never gone to music school, I would have never learned that or maybe I would have learned it some other way. But he will, you know, it wouldn’t have been the same thing. So I think it happened when it had to happen. Like to me that I switch when I was 32, more or less, some people are going to switch later or earlier. But I what I would say just don’t kill yourself thinking that I should have, you know, I should have if I had used the previous 10 years to build my marketing career, I would be CEO, I don’t know, maybe. But that’s not something I mean, I don’t think that’s the right approach, you know, to that, what you need to do is, value who you are and understand that who you are comes from all those different experiences and learn to use that, like we said before, also use that as an advantage. You know, the fact the very fact that you switch careers means that you have this whole other well, to draw from you have experiences and learning so, so I think it just happened when it had to
37:55
know I asked that question, because, you know, when I became the immigrant expats it’s like, you know, I’m thinking to myself, I wish I would have did this earlier, you know, but I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready, you know, I wouldn’t have been able to, you know, move to another country and, you know, learn a language and not know anyone, I don’t think I was strong enough. Yeah, no,
38:21
that’s, that’s hard.
38:23
Yeah. And after, after my mother passed away, it’s like, what are you really scared of, you know, like, when when we’re that I described myself as is fearless. Because it’s like, Okay, once the person that created you is gone, it’s like, what is what is what is the really left? You know, so? Yeah, I asked that question. Because, you know, at certain times, you feel a certain type of way, when you when you make a huge change, you know, you made two huge changes. You went to another country, you change careers. I’m okay, like, how do you really feel about that?
39:04
Yeah, understand?
39:06
Last question is, you know, what, what, what can you what’s the final statement, you want to say to someone that is thinking about, you know, changing I’m gonna say changing careers, it’s like literally changing your whole life around right. So changing your whole life around what what would you say to some person?
39:25
Yeah, what I would say is first, one of the first thing that you need to understand is why you feel the motivation to switch to change. Like to me was the fact that I felt selfish or that I that I had something else to offer to the world or to people. And it’s going to be something different, I guess for every person, but try to even though you’re not going to exactly know why you want to do it, but I try to ask yourself and be as clear as you can about about your why, you know, I think that’s very important part of being successful, I guess, in the switch. And the other side is I call it laying bricks, which is, you know, when you switch, you’re going to maybe have to take jobs that, that, you know, maybe not from the bottom, but close to the bottom, maybe. And that’s okay. That’s just how it works. You have to lay those bricks, you’re not going to be the architect, you’re going to be the guy who lays bricks, which is less sexy, I guess, and less interesting. But you know, that’s, that’s how it works. And you have to, you have to be aware that that’s probably going to happen, because it kind of took me by surprise. When I switched in I you know, because when you start thinking about switching, or when you’re in school, you’re all you know, you’re hyped up about the change and everything. And then you start working. And then you say, okay, so I have to fill in this report like, okay, every Monday morning, you have to have to copy and paste this, okay? So you have to be ready to go past that. Because it’s, it’s something that might happen. And if you lose motivation, because of that, that might be a problem. So just be ready to go pass to go past that. And the other thing, is something that we’ve touched on a lot, I think already, but you have to make your experience count, you know, you can’t see the switch. Okay, I’m deleting everything else that I am or that I know. And I’m starting over. I mean, yes, in a way, starting over switching is a way to start over. Because then you should feel the freedom to build whatever you want to build, and, you know, that’s good. But in definitely going to be definitely gonna need to take advantage of the things that you know, and who you are, that comes from your previous experiences. That’s, I always tell people, people, that’s your competitive advantage. You know, you have you have things that you learn and, and he, you should definitely go back and understand what which one of those things? What can you take advantage of, and use in this new stage of your life? Don’t see the switch as, as, you know, deleting everything and starting literally from scratch. Because you’re not, I mean, it’s okay. I mean, you have experiences and so you better use them, you know?
42:54
Definitely, definitely, you know, I’ve definitely felt like that before, especially when I was younger, like, I don’t really care anymore now, because it’s like, Okay, I’ve done it so many times, like, what’s, what’s another? What’s another switch? What’s another restart, you know, at this point, but, um, yeah, going back to the old experience that I had, I had to, I had to move to another state, you know, within my country, by myself, because, you know, before that, where I was in relationships, and it was like, you know, I had someone to lean on. And, you know, I had to move to this new city where I had no one to lean on, in order to make the switch to another country. That was, that’s what I had to do first. So, yeah. All that to say, you know, you’re basically saying, Time waits for no one, you know, you only live one. And, you know,
43:57
and also, and also, another thing that I think is important is the fact that before you do it, it just seems so scary, you know, you’re so like, it’s the unknown and it’s you, you have no idea what you’re going to be faced up against. But once you start, like, you know, if I go back to 2017, and somebody would magically be able to tell me all the experiences that would I would, I would have in the next five or six years, I would have never imagined that like coming to France and I got married when I came to France, which is one of the reasons why I stayed in France. I’m married to a French woman. So like, if you if you told me that five, six years ago, I wouldn’t know what you know. So, what I’m trying to say I guess is it’s always scary at the beginning when you don’t know what’s coming. But once you take the take the step leap You know, things start clearing out and you start finding ways and that’s just the way it works. You know?
45:08
Definitely, definitely. I don’t really have much else to say that is like, you know,
45:14
do it do it scared. Do it scared? Yeah, I agree that, you know, if someone would told me, you would, you would, you know, get Mexican, you know, residency and you’d be living in Mexico, you know, like, you’re a couple years ago, like, you’re, you’re out of here Damn. What do you mean? So, you know, like, I get you? I do I do. So, Federico, where can we find you? And any last words?
45:46
Yeah, you can, you can find me on LinkedIn, so that he could enter. Maybe I’ll send you a link so that people can find it easier. And yeah, if you want to, you know, contact me how to talk. We want to learn more. Anything I can do to help by sharing my experiences, and people can look me up and just send me a message. And I’ll be more than happy to talk about about my experience and my job. And yeah, I guess the last thing I would say is, like, don’t be afraid of the unknown. And not just do it scared, like you said, but it’s smart to you know, don’t just switch because you feel like you have to switch or whatever. Find ways to do it in a way that might then it’s going to benefit you and it’s going to be okay, don’t worry. I can I can attest to that.
46:49
True. Oh, god, you’re gonna get me started on on the expat immigrant situations where people just come and do stuff, all kinds of crazy ways. But those stories were not today. But yeah, definitely do a smart you know, someone somewhere has already walked the line. And yeah, so most people are friendly enough to where, you know, they’ll they’ll they’ll teach you their ways to an extent so close mouths don’t get fed, you know, utilize the internet. That’s, that’s all I can say.
47:22
That’s right. Yeah.
47:24
Thank you so much for being on the show. already, please hit that subscribe button. Hit the like button. We’re on Google podcasts, Apple podcast, Spotify, so you can listen there. And this is episode number 15. I think so. Stay tuned for some Oregon. We’ve got a couple more coming up.
About
James Angelopoulos is a true inspiration for anyone who has struggled to find their calling in life! After college, he explored various career paths but ultimately found his passion in politics. He worked tirelessly to build relationships and gain experience, ultimately finding his dream career in public service in Connecticut. Angelopoulos serves as a shining example of perseverance and dedication, showing that with hard work and determination, anyone can achieve their dreams.
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Chemical Alchemist turned Process Engineer
From Lost to Found: The Inspiring Journey of James Angelopoulos
James Angelopoulos: How He Found His Passion in Politics
One Man’s Quest for Fulfillment: The Story of James Angelopoulos
James Angelopoulos: Finding Success Through Perseverance
From Career to Calling: The Rise of James Angelopoulos
James Angelopoulos: A Story of Transformation and Triumph
A Journey to Political Success: The Life of James Angelopoulos
James Angelopoulos: How He Overcame Career Uncertainty and Found His True Calling
The Making of a Politician: The Inspiring Story of James Angelopoulos
Show Notes
0:00
Hey y’all this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
0:19
we are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org
0:44
Hey, y’all, my name is Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work though podcast. I’m your host and today we have James.
0:52
James, tell me about what your first career was and what do you do now. Um, hi everybody. My name is James Angelopoulos. I am 24 years old about about to be 25. This upcoming April in 2023.
1:11
When I left college, I was going into education, I had received my degree in history, and Arabic language over at Central Connecticut State University.
1:25
I had had a plan that I was either going to work in some archive or as
1:33
some sort of museum worker, whatever was available, but I also had a dream of being a teacher. In fact, when I first went to Central Connecticut, my original plan was to go in for history, secondary education to be a social studies teacher. But I’d heard some things through the grapevine realize that maybe if I went in as a substitute teacher, or what have you, I’d be able to make some quick scratch and then go through a program called alternate route for certification or arc so that it can become a teacher.
2:08
And then when the COVID 19 pandemic hit, as I was graduating, it became a perfect time to get involved without certification into public education. And so that’s what I did.
2:20
I originally entered as a long term substitute teacher, slash a permanent substitute, which are, which sound like two career paths or not career paths, but two jobs that sound exactly the same, but they’re just slightly different in very important context.
2:40
But then, after that, after many experiences, I moved over into politics. And I did some work as a campaign organizer for my congressman. And as of today, I am an assistant clerk at the legislative office building in Hartford.
2:59
God so yeah, I wanted to have you on here because I thought that was interesting. You know, you got into politics, and you’re clerking and things like that, um,
3:11
what made you you know, go into? Or let me say, change your mind from being like a museum curator.
3:20
To to this?
3:24
Well, good question, you know, when I first left teaching, and that’s a whole bag of worms, which I’m sure we’ll get into later. But I was applying like crazy. And it got, it got to the point where I said, Well, you know, I went from, I need to make money because I need to be able to support myself, I need to be able to support my fiance,
3:50
I need to be able to pay rent that sort of thing to well, I’m willing to work two jobs in order to meet ends meet. So I’ll take you know, jobs that aren’t paying that well, to I’m willing to take an internship at this point, even though I’m fresh out of college and you know, don’t really have the room to take an internship. But it is an incredibly tight field, the field of history in the most visible roles in which a historian can get into it’s not easy without moving out state. And
4:26
even at this time, much, much less at that time. I was not willing to move out of state just yet. I didn’t have the funds to do so. So
4:36
getting into politics.
4:40
Well, I didn’t necessarily intended but I’ve always been someone who’s politically minded.
4:47
My friends would always make fun of me and say, James, we’re just trying to like play a game or do a board game or we’re trying to eat dinner. Can we stop talking about the wide goings on of the country right now?
5:00
Much less estate. And
5:03
it’s just something that I’ve always been focused on. It’s always something that I’ve been interested in. And I’ve always wanted to delve into politics a little bit just never had the means it’s not like, I got a political science degree. It’s not like
5:19
I had an internship or any kind of experience with any candidate.
5:26
But I one thing that I had, which I think we’ll get into, based on the questions list that I have in front of me, is a friend who got himself into politics at a very young age, both professionally and personally. And
5:45
during the course of the 2022 legislative elections,
5:51
he was really, really in need of help.
5:55
He needed bodies on the ground, he needed feet on the ground, and I was one of the first people he contacted, because he said, I know James is looking to start a new career, and this might be a good moment for him.
6:08
Gotcha, gotcha. Um, yeah, cuz I’m like, how do you find, you know, something like that? You know, how do people get into it? But I’ll ask you about that later. Um,
6:21
all these things come at a cost. What do they cost? You did? Did your friends and your family think you were crazy going into, you know, politics, they, you know, politics are dirty. You know, they’re they’re nasty,
6:33
bribe and blackmail and all that good stuff. And then outside of that, it’s the government.
6:40
So what did people think when you were going to go into politics?
6:46
Good question. Well, first, I do want to say, as someone who’s working in politics, and you’re making that statement, Politics does get a bad rap, depending on where you are. In the state of Connecticut.
7:01
You can’t really see hide nor hair of things like backroom deals, blackmail, that sort of thing. Most of what goes on in politics, in the state of Connecticut, and even on the federal level, as far as our representatives and senators go, you know, what you see on CTN, which is our version of you know, C span, essentially, is what happens in the office rooms, what you see on C span for our representatives for Senators. That’s what happens in the White House, or in the Congress building.
7:41
But my family, so there’s a lot of folks in my life, who, you know, they were bouncing around between jobs where they found the job that they needed right away.
7:54
My mother is a nurse, she got her nursing certificate, I want to say over 40 years ago now, and she went straight into nursing. She got started at the local hospital near where I live and has never left. That’s what she’s done her entire life. My father, he’s bounced around between restaurants, but ever since he left college, he’s been managing restaurants. He never got his college degree, but that’s what he’s been doing.
8:26
My grandmother was always a seamstress. My other grandmother was always a Spanish teacher.
8:34
My aunt, actually,
8:38
who I would say is probably the person I look up to most my family was a little bit flabbergasted that I wasn’t staying with teaching because there was a time between when I stopped teaching. And when I started politics, where I was just doing odd part time jobs, you know, I got a job stocking shelves at Costco. I got a job, you know, running the package store over in a neighboring town. And she was sitting there like, hey, you know, some schools are recruiting in the in it. And it was a little bit heart wrenching every time I tried to explain to her, you know, no, I do not want to go back into teaching. She’d look at me and say, Well, what else are you going to do? You know, this is what you put your your lot in. And clearly you’re not getting hired for any museums or anything. And the schools are hurting, so you should probably stick to teaching. But I just knew that it was not what I wanted to do. And it was it was not all was cracked up to be. In my experience. It was not something that I realized that I wanted to do with my life. So yeah, there were quite a few people who doubted me. But you know, those same detractors whether it was my mother, my aunt, my father,
9:58
brother was a little
10:00
It shocked because he’s, you know, totally anti politics. They ended up being some of my biggest supporters. Gotcha. I’m over here cracking up.
10:12
Um, yeah, my, my mother and father were government workers. So, you know, I knew that that was easy street, you know, some parts of the government has that reputation for sure, for sure.
10:29
And, you know, they retired from government, you know, they got their pensions, and you know, they there, they didn’t work to death in order to get that. So, I was like, okay, you know, my parents didn’t go to college. Um, so, you know, they push college or whatever, I became an auditor, and, you know, when, when work for government? So, when I left, my father was in a tizzy. So I understand he was like, you affect the government job, you know?
10:58
Like, bother if I got it one time I can, I can get it again, just like, you know, if you want it to, you can go back to teaching, right? Like, there’s, there’s so many different things that you you can do. And I say, my parents are boomers, so they’re really in that generation, to where you stuck at one place and didn’t really move.
11:18
But yeah, I’m over here cracking up? Because yeah, I mean, my father thought I was insane.
11:27
Um, let me see.
11:30
You he kind of touched on it that, you know, you had to connect and things like that. But was there anything special that you did? When you went from college to you know, teaching to to being a clerk? Did you have to reword your resume or, or anything like that?
11:52
So, it you know, it was going from college teaching to going into campaign organizing, and then to being a clerk. So yes, I did have to reword my resume quite a bit. Because, you know, I’m going from a field that is all about presentation.
12:12
And
12:15
disciplinary, what have you to go into fields where, yes, it’s partially all about presentation. So, you know, I could put that in there as well. But it’s also about not so much discipline, but recruiting charisma, how you can motivate people, that sort of thing. So
12:39
when I was able to apply for the second school that I started working for, I was able to sit there and say, Yeah, you know, back when I was at the first school,
12:50
I did a, you know, this sort of job with the kids, the kids grades increase, so their averages were better, the work didn’t change, but the averages did. So, you know, the school was able to sit there and say, okay, you know, that’s, that’s a good pedigree to hire someone. Whereas hopping over from education into politics, field organizing, which is what I did, from August, all the way into late November.
13:22
That it changed over into Okay, so you got people’s grade points up.
13:29
But how does that figure into politics? Well, it really doesn’t. So I have to, you know, change gears a bit. When I was working in education, I was able to encourage students to do X, Y, Z, I increased attendance in classes during a time where the pandemic was lowering attendance drastically and increasing truancy. I gave people reason to come in. And at first you might think, well, it’s campaigning, if you’re not attached to politics or campaigning whatsoever. You sit there and say, How does motivating people to listen to you really apply to you when you’re not the politician? Well, it happens all the time, right?
14:15
You
14:17
during a campaign ain, are out there, depending on your job recruiting people to do your job for you or with you. So I have tons of stories as to what I did during the campaign, but to just touch on it briefly before we may haps go into detail. You know, we’d be knocking on doors, we’d be calling phones, we’d be texting phone, so if any of you out there, were super annoyed that you were getting calls from people saying, hey, we’d like you to come out on November. God when was Election Day November 8. We’d like you to come out on November 8 and vote for your local state senator candidate.
14:59
In order to vote for your Senator, your congressman or vote for your governor,
15:05
I’m sorry if you were annoyed by that, but that was probably me or one of my folks, that that was our job. We had to encourage a lot of people to do that. It’s not like we have a staff of hundreds of people going, we are always, almost always grassroots. And every effort we take in politics, there are very few efforts that have a huge staff of hundreds of
15:28
people. And they’re usually the big frontline races that have a lot of money invested in them anyways, you know, John Fetterman and method oz over in Pennsylvania, or
15:40
Raphael, Warnock, and what’s his name, the football player can’t believe I’m forgetting his name. But those races, those were the ones that, you know, got a lot of people, they had hundreds of people there knocking on doors, we don’t have that benefit. We don’t have that power in a place like Connecticut, where yes, we might have a frontline race. But it’s not as big focus. It’s not as big worry.
16:03
So yeah, that’s where, you know, changing up my resume applied, I need to show them that I’m able to get people to do work for me, if I really want them to, and then going from that into working as a clerk, you know, it stops becoming about how can I motivate people to work for me, like I did with my students, or like I did with my volunteers. It turned into how effective am I? Am I able to meet schedules make schedules? Am I able to make hard decisions as to what meetings to cut? What meetings to continue? Am I details oriented?
16:41
Am I able to use computers effectively, which, you know, thankfully, I’m 25 years old, you can expect that is a 25 year old American, I’m pretty good with computers.
16:52
I at least know how they work. I know how to turn one off.
16:56
But jokes aside, yeah, yeah, changing your resume, it’s very important.
17:01
I encourage people all the time, if they plan on, on going into just even a slightly different job to what they were doing previously, to just look up online, what kind of things people in the same position you’re applying for.
17:18
will just have a describe the job and just changing little bits of your resume or entire chunks of your resume, and throwing in things that could make you more attractive as a candidate.
17:31
At the same time, who think I just lost my train of thought when it came to the resume, but but
17:40
sorry.
17:44
Um, you kind of touched on this a whole lot. But in your your clerkship, and the campaigning and you know, being in politics, what are some positive and negatives of your new career?
18:00
Oh,
18:02
I’ll, I’ll be honest, it’s hard to find negatives right now. But, you know, there are some obvious ones.
18:11
When I started as a field organizer in late August, to campaign for Joe Courtney, who is my congressman,
18:23
the commitment is very deep, it goes very deep for all the months that you’re working on this campaign or for however long you’re working on a campaign.
18:36
So there can be a lot of wear and tear on your body. Hopefully not in a violent way. But there are rare cases where that does happen.
18:46
But I wouldn’t put that high up on the list of something being that probable. But when I say wear and tear, I’m more so mean. You’re looking at a minimum six days a week commitment during the early goings of it. And then when you hit the final stretch, you know, it’s wall to wall every day for seven days a week.
19:10
You know, when when we start our workday, you know, I thought it was nice to be able to get up at nine o’clock in the morning, and then just get ready for 10 o’clock day. But your day goes a lot later. We’re talking going you know, the late the earliest you might get out might be 8pm.
19:31
I think one of my earliest days started at nine o’clock ended at 10pm.
19:37
That, you know, it’s not easy to be up all those hours the day 1213 hour
19:43
just working. But most of your work aside from talking to people, recruiting people, calling people that are on lists of these people volunteered in the past. Is is the driving depending on what your what kind of campaign you’re doing
20:01
Right.
20:01
Because some people, they might be campaign organizers for a local candidate. So I remember there’s this one kid, his name’s Sam. So shout out to Sam, if you ever end up hearing this. He was an 18 year old kid, freshman in college. And while he was taking classes during his first semester of college, he was also running the campaign of a state representative candidate, probably one of the better state rep candidates to and he had to organize volunteers and everything throughout the entire town that he lived in and organize meetings and walks to knock on doors and the three towns that he was campaigning in.
20:46
And that and that guy was just running for one state rep. I was doing a congressman and in the state of Connecticut, I had the largest district by area, because we are the
20:59
lowest population density
21:03
part of the state. So
21:08
you know, I had, I had only two other peers. Both of them were fresh out of college. You know, I was two years out from college, but you know, I was still around their age group.
21:20
One took everything west of the bridge of the Old Iron Bridge for anyone who knows what I’m talking about. But you know, it’s vague, Connecticut, local geography. So she took all these towns west of this bridge. My other coworker took what we call the quiet corner, which is the entire northern half of the district, it is the lowest population density. And then he took the, you know, the towns of Thailand, which is the highest populated part of the district. And he also took Willimantic and Yukon.
21:56
So he had the lowest population density, he had the most towns, he had the most driving for sure, depending on his day. And then I took the most densely populated part of the region, which was everything east of the old line bridge, but not in the northern part. So I’d have two cities like New London cities like Norwich, I had the entirety in New London County, I had,
22:20
I think the entirety or about half of Windham County, the entirety of the Norwich County area.
22:28
And that was like an ever growing spot because we thought we’d have another coworker who could take the center of the district, but we never got that. So we had to shift gears and we need to pick up the slack in towns that we weren’t working on.
22:41
So for me,
22:45
I’d be driving to towns that from my house would take me half an hour to get to which no big deal. You know, depending on the town, it could have been 20 minutes from my house. But then you remember, I’m not just going to one town for a day, I’m going to five or six. So I’d get up in Groton. Well, that actually inlet shirred. Again, local state geography, apologies to your listeners who are just sitting here like I’ve never heard of these places before. But I’d wake up and lettered, I drive over to Norwich. That’s how I’d start my day. Then I’d drive down to Groton, which is basically like turning around and then moving further. Then I’d go to New London, then I’d go to East lime, then for some reason, there’s an emergency, I have to drive back up to Norwich, then I drove drive over to volunteer town to meet with some grassroots volunteers, then I’m down in North Stonington and stoning 10 For the rest of my day. And then I drive back to ledger. So all in all on the road, you know, for 15 to 30 minute drives, which aren’t really that bad for most people, and a given day went into I’ve spent about four hours of my day driving.
23:59
So it can really hurt your car. And I’ve got a
24:05
My car’s 17 years old now. So at the time, 16 years old now 17 years old, my car is pretty old. And you know, I’m constantly worried like how much how many oil changes am I going to have to do how often am I going to have to worry about something getting thrown out of my car.
24:24
And you’re carrying a heavy payload to you’re carrying signs, you’re carrying pamphlets, which we call literature.
24:31
You’re carrying, you know, tchotchkes whether, you know our opponent, he had, you know, a little submarine
24:40
Stress Balls whereas we had like, and the these were older we recycle a little bit we had sponges with our candidates name on it, which not a lot of candidates have ever done, but you know, it was it’s a pretty cute sponge. It has his name Joe Courtney, and then on
24:59
underneath it says for Congress and then cleaning up Washington or scrubbing up Washington or something like that.
25:09
So aside from the wearing to Oh and another wear and tear on your body before I get off that part of the topic.
25:18
Don’t expect to cook a lot of your own meals anymore. Or if you have a family who might happen to cook meals for you, I knew this was the case for my younger coworkers. You know, they couldn’t have dinner with their families, they rarely could have breakfast with their families.
25:37
Expect to eat pizza, fast food,
25:42
takeout, things like that. Because there’s going to be many times throughout your day, especially when you have a packed day like I might have had, where Burger King all of a sudden becomes your main go to,
25:55
there might be an Indian place around the corner that you’d really need to go to, because so you call in, you want something that’s a little bit healthier than Burger King. But you know, it’s fried Indian food, it’s not necessarily the best for you, you take that, you take that with you on the road, and then hope you have enough water if it’s too spicy.
26:14
Sometimes you don’t.
26:18
So you gain you gain a lot of weight. And everyone in politics will tell you this, it’s like campaign season, everyone gains weight, except for one on Senator and Connecticut, who always seems to stay thin, we’re all very jealous of him.
26:34
But off of wear and tear from your body. Another thing that can really get to is some of the personalities you might encounter. So I got really lucky with my congressman, my congressman, Joe Courtney, he’s probably the best guy I’ve ever met. And I’m not kidding. I’m not just saying that because I work for the man. He has been a life changing.
26:59
personality in my life, career changing.
27:04
Just he’s done everything right by me. And he’s also a great representative. If he does, right by our district, he does right by the people who live in it. People who say that he doesn’t just don’t know what he’s doing.
27:17
Which, you know, there’s a lot of people not keyed into politics who think they are.
27:22
But there are other people what they’re they are your opponents. Naturally, you might see your opponent as the enemy.
27:31
So maybe that might be clouding my judgment a bit. But, you know, I personally did not care for my opponent, I or our opponent, I should say, I did not care for his team, I thought the way they did some things was a little nasty. They ran attack ads, I’m not a fan of attack ads, I don’t think that that’s that should be how politics is unless it’s extremely egregious, like this person violated our basic rights,
27:58
which Joe Courtney certainly never has done.
28:02
But there are state reps, both on your side and on the opposing side, where you will sit there and you will go
28:12
I cannot work another day with you. There was one person who was central to my campaign efforts.
28:21
And I will not say their names. I will not say where they’re from or what they were doing. But this was a person who I was warned ahead of time James this person is nuts. And I was like, I dealt dealt with crazy people all the time when I was working, you know, as a as a as a permanent sub slash long term substitute teacher. And they’re like, Okay, well, if you assess, you know, if you’ve dealt with hard personalities, and you’ll, you’ll be able to manage and yes, I have dealt with hard personalities before. It’s tough, but I’ve been able to deal with them, I’ve been able to work with them. This personality was like,
29:00
if any of you had that one person who’s like the mean girl or the mean, boy, you know, the stereotypical type of person who spread rumors and gossip and you know, just does whatever they can to just create this web of gossip and rumors to make everybody’s life hard for their own personal enjoyment. Like, take that stereotype, dial it up to 11 I had this one personality and
29:28
on the first day, you know, they knew the person that hired me, I guess, and they texted my boss. The first day I met them saying, you know, James seemed very aloof and I’m really worried he doesn’t like me. And
29:47
you know, my boss was sitting there like, well, I’ve known James for a while he’s proud. What he probably did was he sat in the room and was very quiet while they were talking.
29:58
Which I do you know,
29:59
I did that with all the people, I met all the representatives, I met all the representative candidates I met, you know, I’m just quiet, I want to listen to them. I want to hear about who they are before I start warming up to them.
30:13
And so he kind of explained Oh, no, that’s just the way James is. He has nothing against you whatsoever. Just give him some time. Well, he tells me about that I go, okay. Yeah, no worries, I’ll try to be a little bit more chipper around them.
30:27
The next time I come in, you know, I’m knocking doors for them. And then they call and say, James said some stuff to two voters that I didn’t really agree with, and said XYZ. And then he’d come from me and he said, What do you say to the voters? And I go, I told them this. He says, Okay, well, this person is saying that you said something else. And I go, Oh, well, I guess in some way, it might sound like that. But contextually No, that’s not what I said. And you know, just time and time again, this person would whenever I had to work with them, they’d call my boss and start complaining, I guess an archetypal care. And in that sense, you know,
31:08
and it all culminated in I had spent hours cobbling together, this phone bank, right. So phone bank, for those who don’t know, it’s when you have a group of people calling for like, you have them all, usually in the same room, or maybe it’s virtual, phone bank, so a bunch of people in the same Zoom meeting, and you give them access to this website, which gives them access to a list of voters, and they call a bunch of phone numbers, log responses as to who they’re voting for, if they’re planning to vote, if they need help voting on voting day, if they need an absentee ballot, that sort of thing.
31:49
And two days prior to a virtual phone bank that I was doing with the state rep candidate, you know, my Congressman’s scheduling team looked at the schedule, because we all share a Google Calendar to show off all the events that we’re doing in case the Congressman wants to attend one, you know, for appearances, or to help out whatever. And they saw that one was happening on Wednesday did I first got to put down that it was virtual. And so he came up to me and said, hey, you know, I saw you have this phone bank in two days, I want to, you know, join you guys. And I’m sitting there and going phonebank on Wednesday, and that sounds great, sir, you got it. And I’m looking at my phone, I’m like, Oh, God, I only have a couple people that are going to show up virtually. So I’m recruiting a bunch of people from surrounding towns to go help out this other representative with a phone bank? Well, every time I did any kind of event near the town where this representative candidate was from and where they were running, they would call as many people as possible, including my boss, and start claiming, James is stealing volunteers. For me, James is tanking my event that I’m doing in my hometown, James, is emailing this person, even though they know that I have something going on that day, which I did. And I never knew what she had going on during any given day, it felt like she had something going on every day, and that I was somehow messing it up.
33:18
And, you know, there were so many events where I had to cancel them. Because I’d get complained about and they’d say you need to do this, you know, James is, you know, ruining my event. And I just say, you know, how about this boss? How about I just tell all my volunteers who are going to come to go to her event? And I’ll go help out with her event. That’s what I do every time. Well, this time it was it was a no fly zone. It was the congressman is coming. You’re not changing plans. Now. You know, the congressman planned this out. You know, James had nothing to do with it. He tried to cover for me because he’s a good boss. And she immediately switched gears started blaming the representative candidate that I was working with saying that I was his pawn, and it trashed the entire Democratic town committee, you know, circle in that area. Democratic town committee for those who don’t know, so in the state of Connecticut, a DTC or an arch, an RTC town committees are groups of people that get elected every year during your municipal elections.
34:25
You vote for that for a town committee based on what party you’re in. And they run the state of affairs for electing people of a given party in your town. Some DTCs have like 40 people, some have eight people. It all depends on interest. That won’t apply for people living in other states of the country. The DTC format is, you know, not used in many states outside of Connecticut. It’s mostly like democratic town counties or, or democratic county committees report
34:59
Republican county committees, they run by county, but Connecticut wants to do it in a very, you know, spread out way.
35:09
But yeah, to make this long story and at least I’m sorry, I’m holding up with a story about this one representative, I, I do hold the grudge a little bit.
35:18
This representative, you know, got in trouble with the higher ups in the political ladder, to say the least basically got told off like, you know, we’ve heard that you’ve been complaining every time this guy tries to set up events. And often, these events are meant to help you, and you’re hurting the efforts of other candidates, and it’s not flying. But you know, you may not get that kind of support, you may be left on your own because you’re more of an unknown than, say, a state rep candidate, when you’re getting involved in politics. On the campaign side of things, if you decide that you want to be a career organizer, and you’re bouncing from state to state, you have much less presence already.
36:06
You had less presence to begin with. And now you’re having even less your presence, because you’re not even a local.
36:12
It can be tough. Like I said, personalities can be tough. Some people who want to be in politics, want to be in politics, maybe because they’ve got some good ideas, but more because they want to be the center of attention more, because they want to be the person that gets the most likes on Twitter, or Instagram or Facebook.
36:33
I am happy to say that of the people that I ran with most of the people who won their elections were the people that I can say, yeah, these are the people who don’t care about, you know, their personal profile. They care about taking care of the state.
36:52
And, you know, handful of those people also last, including that person, you know, who I referenced, had an 18 year old campaign manager. That guy was great. And, you know, I hope he runs again, because he came so close to winning that, you know, you got to try again at this point. But yeah, they’re the people that are very fake. The people that just want all the glory for themselves as weird a statement as that is, thankfully, a lot of voters see right through that and can tell, and they’re just like, yeah, we’re not voting for this person. And it’s a shame because, you know, like I said, I’m a part of the Democrat Party. And the group of people that run the democratic town committee in that representatives area, again, not naming names, not saying towns, they are a wonderful group of people. And they did an excellent job. And they worked their butts off every day during that campaign. And I just hope that that Representative candidate, did not leave people in their town in their town, they did not give them a bad taste for the Democratic Party.
38:00
I could totally understand all that. I would assume that a whole bunch of in quotes, big personalities tried to be in politics, and what is it called a personality.
38:14
And it’s like a constant, a constant fight to one up on one or something like that.
38:24
If someone wanted to get into politics, I know that’s a very general statement, because like you’re saying there’s different types of
38:33
seats and things like that. Where should they potentially start? Should they start off as a campaign organizer to get you know their name out there? What should they do?
38:47
Well, for me,
38:51
and for quite a few other people too. So there are some amazing
38:57
state rep candidates, Christine Connolly, who represents the towns of Groton in New London. She is a fantastic state representative, probably one of the best people I met during that entire campaign.
39:10
She got her start as a field organizer. I am fairly certain she said that she worked for Joe Courtney at one point, but I may be misremembering.
39:18
Yeah, she started as a field organizer. Now she is a very successful lawyer. And, you know, she really breaks the mold, because you know, everyone has stereotypes about lawyers, and none of the negative stereotypes apply to her. She is literally one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. And, you know, she is a very well to do lawyer. And she’s also a very great campaigner. And she probably got a lot of her campaign experience by field organizing by knocking on doors by volunteering, and, you know, that’s how she worked her way up to State Rep. From the little I’ve asked about so how did you become a state rep to her
40:00
For other people, it’s different. So
40:04
my, one of my current local representatives, the representative for my mother, actually, his name is Kevin Ryan. He is a physics professor.
40:16
He got involved by being a large enough presence in his community, he ran, you know, a number of years ago for his first term, knocked on doors, you know, he did things the old fashioned way, he didn’t use the computers or the phone, or, you know, the digital phone lists. He went all paper, a lot of the folks that he worked with did all paper and he’d knock on doors, and he’d get elected, and he did a good job by his people.
40:44
But he, you know, had some sort of background in being, you know, an educated individual, you know, people respected him, people knew who he was, you know, he was a, he wasn’t a type A personality, like the ones that, you know, I want to be the center of attention. He was, you know, just a strong personality in terms of people know who he is people, you know, he, he’s gregarious, that’s the word I’m looking for. It’s a gregarious individual.
41:11
For others, it can go many different ways. You know, there are people who, you know, start as
41:21
DTC members, and then maybe DTC chairs, and then they work their way up. I know, that type A personality that we were that I spent a long time talking about. They started infield organizing, technically, but they started to get recognition as a potential choice for a Democratic candidate in their town by being a member of their democratic town committee. And, again, this is a Connecticut State represent perspective. In other states, it’s far, far different.
41:55
But in Connecticut, basically, every year, you want to get in touch with
42:05
either your democratic town committee or your Republican town committee, or if you live in the city of New London, and your green town committee, Green party town committee, I should say.
42:18
And, you know, get information as to how you can run how you can help. If you volunteered before, they’re probably more than happy to, you know, give you a shot. If they’re low on members, they’re also more than happy to give you a shot. And what you’ll do is you’ll go to your town hall, it’ll be like, you know, maybe an hour or two long process where they ask people, okay, this person has been elected, are there other people are nominated? Are there other people who are looking to be nominated to join this town committee. And, you know, people will nominate themselves, people will get nominated by others, and then come the municipal elections. There will be, you know, vote to vote these people in generally, the people who get voted on for democratic town committees or Republican town committees, or green party town committees are the same people that were nominating each other. It’s kind of, you know, a very insular environment in terms of getting elected. So if you can just make a couple of friends amongst the town committees and show to them Yes, I am a member of this party. Yes. I believe in these values. Yes, I’m, I’m willing to do some work, you know, the, they’ll help you out. They’ll vote you in, you just need to meet a certain vote threshold
43:37
and surpass, you know, at least 40th, depending on what town you’re in 40th place and the election in order to become a member of the town committee. And like I said, there are some committees that are low on membership. So essentially, if you vote for yourself, you’re on the committee.
43:59
So that’s an avenue to get in. But understand when you’re a part of a town committee, you’re not getting paid. It is volunteer work, it is meeting to discuss who would be a good representative candidate for the following year.
44:14
It is it’s a ton of stuff. And there are middle aged to older folks, some pensioners, senior citizens who are members of town committees, mainly because well, I have a job but I also want to support my party or I’m retired and I really want to do some work and I want to do something that matters to me. So they’ll support their parties. But if you’re younger, like me, you might not have the same amount of time. You might not have the same amount of money but doing some work and being visible is enough for them to go well. Hey, this guy’s young and you know full of spunk
44:53
and PEP, so we might see about nominating them. It also
44:59
We’ll get you recognized by more federal candidates. So I got very lucky. And so did my fellow field organizers for Joe coordinate where we did not have a history of campaigning or working with our local town committees. But we got hired on because we were interested. And we had, you know, with me, I had a tiny strand of a connection with other people, they had more connections.
45:21
So sometimes it can be by chance. For me, like I said, if you want to get in, into politics, the way I did find someone at your college if you’re still a college student, any of your fellow alumni, talk to some of your friends who might be involved with politics, even the ones where you see their Facebook posts, and you’re like, Oh, my God, they always preach on the internet, about politics, politics, politics, well, if you’re interested in politics, talk to that person, they might know exactly who to point you towards. In my case, my friend knew that I wanted to be in politics for quite a while, or I had a mind for politics for quite a while. So he got me involved as soon as he could, and I got brought on and I started doing work. And it all worked out. Well. If you don’t have a friend, if you don’t have a connection, how are you supposed to know where to apply? It’s not like field organizer positions are like shown off on LinkedIn all the time, unless, you know, they’re really really big campaigns.
46:20
You usually need to get a start somewhere. So if you don’t have the connection, like I did, I recommend running for your local town committee or your county committee, if you’re from a different state.
46:33
Gotcha. Appreciate that information. Because yeah, I mean, I thought about it when I was younger. Because, like you’re saying, I understand that you have to put in lots of work going door to door and all that all that good stuff. So I was always curious what the process was on how to get started. Um, outside of that last question, um,
46:56
what would you tell someone that wanted to change careers?
47:00
Any advice? Last words?
47:05
Yeah, sure. And I realized I should probably talk about, you know, getting into the clerk job real quick, but I’ll put that into, you know,
47:15
advice.
47:17
You know, we’ve kind of touched upon it quite a few times, in my, you know, inane rambling,
47:24
which is, the first of all, find connections wherever you can. There are tons of people who are in fields, whether they’re on LinkedIn, whether they’re on that other job recruitment site that I can’t remember right now, that’s really popular, or whether it’s locally or whether it’s friends, or even if you work at, say, a package store, and you get a customer who you know, does this kind of job, but he comes in all the time or, or a grocery store, you you work at your local wings place, as a waiter, or a server or some kind of a line cook, you can find people who have done or are doing things that you’re interested in doing all the time. It’s just a matter of talking to that person, showing them that you have interest, showing them that you have some sort of expertise in the realm of knowing what you’re talking about.
48:15
Even if you don’t fully know what you’re talking about just the tiny inkling that you know what you’re talking about, will give someone reason to look at you and say maybe they could do this that I’m doing right now.
48:27
It’s never too late. I know I’m wanting to talk. I worked two years out of college and decided I wanted career change. But there are folks that have done my job before, you know, starting in their mid 40s, mid 50s. You know, they went from a totally different career coming into this, you know, I wish I could recommend to you, another friend of mine, who is who was also a teacher, she’s 38. Now, I believe I shouldn’t say her age without being completely sure. She looks extremely young. And I remember hearing her age and I was like, I’m not sure that’s true. You look like you’re in your late 20s. Rambling aside, she went from teaching after 18 1518 years, something like that, and then went into field organizing for the gubernatorial candidate, Ned Lamont, and she killed it. And she’s in a totally new career now living in a totally new state being Connecticut because she’s not originally from Connecticut. And you know, she’s a legislative aide at the Capitol building, she’s doing a great job.
49:28
So it’s never too late to get involved in politics.
49:31
There are jobs that are more adjacent to politics than others. But, you know, we’ve got engineers who’ve gotten involved in politics. We’ve got teachers who’ve gotten involved with politics, nurses who’ve gotten involved in politics, union members being you know, some some of the highest pedigree some of these people have gotten, and they’ve gotten involved in politics and they have made quite the career for themselves. You know, no job, except for maybe a handful that are more you know, these are the kinds of jobs you don’t want to tell people you have
50:00
Have our you know, perfect to to base a career off of, you know, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, whether you like her or you hate her, no matter what side of the political spectrum you are on, acknowledged, you know, she’s she’s she she was a bartender, she was a server, and she is now a member of the House of Representatives,
50:23
the Capitol building, you know, you no matter how low you think you are on the ladder, in terms of what career you have, just hard work, and dedication. And really being willing to sacrifice your own physical well being in terms of how hard you’re working, will get you somewhere in life, it really will. And it will get you somewhere in politics.
50:53
And even if you don’t want to get involved in politics,
50:57
you know, people switch into teaching all the time. Friend of mine from college, was in his mid 50s, he worked in mental health care over in Illinois, had to move to Connecticut with his partner, because of health reasons, because of quite a few reasons. And he couldn’t work in mental health care without a master’s degree minimum. And he didn’t even have a bachelor’s degree. So he went to college, got himself a bachelor’s degree, put himself into some debt. But now he’s teaching. And he’s really good at it. And he started in his late 50s. To start teaching, it’s never too late. Just always look at what other people are doing. Always look at other people’s resumes, always look at what people are doing during the interviews. And another thing, look at people, if you’re older, what people in their late 20s, early 30s are doing on their resumes and during their interviews, because there’s a lot of things that say your parents are telling you like, at least when we were talking, you mentioned that your family is a part of the boomer generation. The Boomer generation is you know, a bunch of people who have found their forever jobs, they found their forever jobs. But forever jobs isn’t something that a lot of us from Gen Z, Gen Y, Zoomers, millennials that we really see that that often anymore. Well, they’re the ones that have successful jobs right now they have seen that how the job scape has changed what it’s doing, pay attention to what they’re doing, and you’ll probably be able to find a way into a job real quick.
52:36
Definitely.
52:38
At this point, I think that most people will probably have a minimum of probably three careers in their life, you’ll probably have one in your 20s 30s you like I did that a long time, you know, and then you’ll switch
52:54
have one in your 30s 40s. And yeah, you probably have one your 50s and 60s the way it’s going at this point. And I believe that
53:04
you know,
53:08
you have to have those two or three careers because I mean, one will be down and one will be up, ya know, and you’ll have to have a fallback plan. Um, one of mine is insurance, I keep my insurance license.
53:28
And so when COVID hit, I had to swing to insurance and to pay my bills, you know, so, you know, I, I appreciate you coming on the show and sharing all your information and I don’t know, did you say that you fully pursued your your teaching license or, or or no, because I’m gonna say you probably you probably should just to have something to fall back.
53:53
On? That’s a good question. No, I’m not currently pursuing my teaching license anymore. Even though alternative route for certification is pretty cheap. Yeah.
54:08
I, the, I guess I shouldn’t say why I left education is because I love the kids. I realized that I was 100%. Right as to why I love teaching, which was I love the kids. I loved teaching the kids. Even the kids that drove me off the walls bonkers. The ones that I went home at the end of the day and when I can’t stand this kid, I can’t stand this kid. I can’t stand this kid. And for those of you who are still in school, if you know, you’re a younger than 18 and listening to this podcast for some reason, you one of your teachers might hate you. They love you. They love you too.
54:51
The real reason why I left was administration, you know, administration was okay and the first school I went to in the second school I went to is horrible and
55:00
But the students I saw during my first school, they were amazing the students I saw during my second school summer great, but most of them are pretty bad. But I was willing to do whatever it took to work for them to work with them. But when you have an administration that puts the entire weight of the world on your shoulders, and just ignores the plights of you and your students, that can be soul breaking. And I knew that I couldn’t take the risk of going to bad school, I couldn’t take the risk of going to a good school and still having same problems, still having to put the weight of the world on my shoulders again, and again and again.
55:35
Politics is far less stressful than being a teacher. So and but you are right. You know, you do need to plan for career changes.
55:45
Right now.
55:47
I really love the job that I’m doing. I really love being a clerk. It is great job. It is the first job where I don’t have to drive to work every day, I can work from home sometimes. Because if there’s no committee meetings, if there’s no public hearings, really all you have to do is be keyed into your phone and your email and answer
56:07
service related questions. And you can do that from home. They believe that you can do that from home, at least where I work.
56:14
But I’m applying for my master’s degree right now.
56:18
One of the reasons why I say how much I loved working in politics is because a lot of these people who have this big pedigree who are very successful, after working for them on the political stage, they’re willing to help you. You know, I’ve got letters of recommendation coming in because of my job in politics, to Georgetown, I got decent enough grades to apply to Georgetown. And now I have some level of success that I can put on a resume to apply to Georgetown for their foreign services program. For those who don’t know, Georgetown Foreign Services Program is the number one in the country, if not the world, and I’m going for Master’s of
57:03
master’s in Arabic studies and the Foreign Services Department, I want to do embassy work, I want to do diplomatic work, that’s going to be a huge leap away from being a clerk.
57:13
But if that application doesn’t work out of schooling doesn’t work out being a clerk would, you know, when you start as a clerk, you can move your way up from assistant clerk to, you know,
57:26
had clerk to nonpartisan clerk, which is one of the higher positions in clerkship? I don’t know is that a word clerkship? But also you can move round? Oh, well, there you go. clerkship made sure I learned a new word by chance today.
57:44
And, you know, there’s other things that can happen to depending, cuz, okay, this is another thing that people should be made aware of, I guess, when it comes to being a clerk, I suppose.
57:55
Most of the time, when you get hired as a clerk, at least in the state of Connecticut, you are getting hired by a political party. So you know, there’s the House Republican office, there’s the Senate Republican office, the Senate Democrat office, the house Democrat office, you are being hired by one of those offices.
58:15
And usually you are working specifically with one party being the one that, you know, you were hired by.
58:23
And before people, you know, start going, Oh, how partisan is that I helped my Republican colleagues to when in fact working in a legislative office building, you, you know, you, you push out all the craziness of the people who think they know what’s going on in politics are the people who believe all the crazy stuff in politics, to the same people who are like, Yeah, I’m a Democrat. You know, this is what I believe in this guy’s like, Yeah, I’m a Republican in this what I believe well, that’s pretty reasonable. Yeah, well, we’re all Americans here. We’re not trying to burn down the state, for our political, you know, beliefs.
59:00
You know, I work you know, if a Republican Representative comes up to me and says, James, do you know where the executive nominations committee meeting is? I totally forgot. I’ll go, no worries, looking it up. It’s in room 1000. I’m not going to sit there until the representative Hall tough stuff, you got to go find a Republican clerk.
59:19
That kind of nonpartisan attitude is surprisingly, a really, really attractive factor in hiring people into politics. You know, already people are like, you know, maybe one day we can get you down to DC and you could be a legislative aide you can be part of our LFA
59:41
LFA for for people who don’t understand there are two offices in your legislative office building in new capital. There’s the Oh fan the Oh La. Oh, fa stands for Office of fiscal analysis, or financial analysis.
59:56
Oh, LA is Office of Legislative Analysis, though.
1:00:00
are the folks that look at bills and break down the legalese into more
1:00:05
easy to swallow terms so that an average layperson can read it and go, Okay, I know what this bill is going to do, or how much or how much of a dent this is going to put into our economy or whatever.
1:00:18
Or how much money we’d make off this spell, whatever. But there are a lot of things that you can get involved in through one position in politics. So
1:00:27
yeah, even if politics isn’t around, for me, it’s going to be another huge career shift that I gotta get ready for later. But when it comes to jobs, within politics, you can expect a job shift all the time. Like I said, from assistant clerk, legislative aide.
1:00:47
Anything, literally anything. It’s a huge, wide world, politics is not constrained to like two or three different jobs, there are hundreds of jobs that you can do with politics.
1:00:58
Sorry, I know, I’m such a Rambler, I can’t help. No, it’s fine. It’s fine.
1:01:03
You know, this podcast is created, so people can get a sense of, you know, what these jobs entail?
1:01:09
And, you know, like, we were discussing earlier that, um, a lot of these jobs people don’t know about, and you know, a lot of these jobs are brand new, like the, you know, I was in the cloud, and that didn’t exist, like 12 years ago. So, ya know, I believe, because I’m asking my friends that have kids and stuff like that, and we’re older kids, when we say older kids, because I’m still relatively young.
1:01:39
And I have older friends. And I’m like, you know, is your is your high school student? are they learning about these new careers? And they’re like, No, you know, they’re still learning about the basic ones accounting, you know, doctor, lawyer, engineer, things like that. Um, and, you know, we have, I mean, just the fact that AI, you know, are creating all these new jobs now.
1:02:02
I think these stories truly need to be told just just because of that reason alone, you know?
1:02:10
So yeah,
1:02:12
I so appreciate you coming on the show. And oh, good. I meant to tell you good luck about the Foreign Affairs degree. I know, I know about that degree. And I considered applying to it at one point myself, I don’t remember why I didn’t, but
1:02:29
maybe because I don’t want to live in DC. And I can’t do cold ever again in life. I used to live in Boston for years. And it just about killed me because I’m a Cali girl. So no, I totally get it. There’s a reason why my brother left Connecticut. Go to Cali. You know, the cold does suck. People are like, Why are you here?
1:02:51
But But yeah, you know, life circumstances, dictate things, you know, you have no control over. But once again, I thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your experience with you know, being in politics and things like that. Tell people where they can find you. And we can close it out.
1:03:12
Yeah, sure. Well, before I tell people where they can find me, I want to thank you as well. I think this is a really interesting podcast. You know it and you’re right. You know, there are a lot of jobs out there that people have never heard of before. I know I would have loved it if my teachers did not tell me about you know, oh, well, you could be a plumber. You could be a doctor. I wish they told me Oh, you could get involved in tech. But they don’t know what tech is over at my old
1:03:41
but this is a really, you know, commendable idea. commendable, you know, podcast concept and I really love it. And again, thank you so much for one finding me. And to
1:03:56
sorry, to, you know, just thinking I was good enough to throw onto this podcast. It’s awesome.
1:04:04
But where to find me. So my name is a little bit of a mouthful. My name is James Angelopoulos, you can find me on LinkedIn.
1:04:13
Do not find me on any other forms of social media. My other forms of social media are private and left to me and me alone.
1:04:23
Because working in politics, you want to make sure that your social media is secure. But if you want to find me on LinkedIn, it’s James Angelopoulos and my last name is spelled ANGLOPOU l. O. S. If you want to email me, I’m going to give you my more personal email because I don’t mind receiving work related emails and I actually don’t want to give out my work email here.
1:04:51
James Angelopoulos 60 seven@hotmail.com So James Angelopoulos 60 seven@hotmail.com
1:04:59
Um, if you can find me through LinkedIn, or if you could email me and you have any questions about getting involved in politics, if you have any questions about getting involved in education, because education is still very commendable field, I do recommend people go into it. It just wasn’t for me. Or if you know, God Willing fingers crossed here, you have some crazy job opportunity that, you know, I could get involved in, you know, career switching is not a one time thing. We’ll see.
1:05:28
But yeah, that’s my contact information. Feel free. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you, James. Yeah, I put it out there all the time. Yeah. Yeah. I’ll try it try once.
1:05:40
Thank you guys for listening to nobody wants to work though. Podcast. My name is Elyse Robinson. And this is number 14. Number 14. So
1:05:50
I think we have like three or four more people up after this. So um, so yeah, well, we’ll keep it rolling. So I can’t roll anything more. Please subscribe, and you can find us on Google’s Spotify, Apple, all that good stuff. And until next time, take care.
About
Get ready to witness the incredible journey of Joseph Azzarella, a chemist who has transformed into a process engineer! Armed with an unstoppable passion for scientific innovation and a determination to succeed, this trailblazing professional has navigated complex challenges and overcome daunting obstacles to achieve greatness. Join us as we celebrate the amazing career of this brilliant mind and revel in their groundbreaking achievements!
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Big Tech to Better Attitude: Sonia Cameron’s Journey to Thriving
Falling Up: How Sonia Cameron Found Success After Losing Her Job
The Unconventional Job Search: How Sonia Cameron Found Her Way Back to Tech
Turning Setbacks into Opportunities: The Story of Sonia Cameron
Fired Up: Sonia Cameron’s Resilience in the Face of Adversity
Learning to Pivot: How Sonia Cameron Navigated Tech’s Turbulent Waters
Defying the Odds: Sonia Cameron’s Rise from Job Loss to Success
The Power of Perspective: Sonia Cameron’s Journey to Career Triumph
Breaking the Mold: Sonia Cameron’s Quest for Career Fulfillment
Thriving Through the Struggle: The Story of Sonia Cameron
A Journey of Reinvention: Sonia Cameron’s Inspiring Tale of Triumph
Discovering a New Path: Sonia Cameron’s Quest for Career Reinvention
Surviving and Thriving: The Sonia Cameron Story
Picking Up the Pieces: Sonia Cameron’s Journey to Rebuilding Her Career
The Road to Resilience: How Sonia Cameron Found Her Way Back to the Top
Never Give Up: The Inspiring Story of Sonia Cameron’s Rise in Tech
A Second Chance at Success: Sonia Cameron’s Journey to Redemption
Changing the Narrative: Sonia Cameron’s Story of Triumph Over Job Loss
Overcoming Adversity: Sonia Cameron’s Journey to Finding Her Dream Career
Show Notes
0:00
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With Nobody Wants To Work Tho podcast I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an Auditor in my past life and I’m in Tech, then let’s get to it
0:19
We are Switch Into Tech, tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org
0:44
Hey, y’all this Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work though podcast today we have is a Joe or Joseph. Joe. Joe. Okay. We have Joe today. Where did you start? And what do you do now?
0:58
Sure. So I started in the pharmaceutical industry as kind of a manufacturing scientist. And then I ended up becoming an engineer within the pharmaceutical industry. And now I am a in a software company.
1:16
Uh huh. And what is what is your background when it comes to like, what is the manufacturing scientist?
1:23
Sure. So I it’s been a wild ride I started is like a traditionally trained chemist. And my first job out of college was working for a company that built industrial equipment to support the pharmaceutical industry. So they needed someone that understood the processing side. And like my first day, what I was putting up drywall for a laboratory in the morning, and then in the afternoon, I was actually writing like, validation protocols. So it was really just this trial by fire. I did that for a few years, kind of moved around a couple different positions. And in that role, it was kind of funny, most of our customers were in the pharmaceutical industry. So you had to understand what they were doing. You had to understand good manufacturing practices and all these rules. But I never worked in it. So I didn’t really understand. And every year like my performance reviews, they would say, Well, you know, you’re doing great, but you don’t understand the pharma industry. And after like two, three years of getting that same comments over and over, it’s like, Well, okay, I’m gonna quit and go work in the pharmaceutical industry. So I made the jump, and I went into what’s called technology transfer, which is kind of like the crossroads of the pharma industry, you have to know, like compliance and regulatory affairs, you have to know like, traditional r&d, you have to know the manufacturing science. So you know, if you’re making 2000 liters of an antibiotic, you have to know how do I fill all the vials? How do I do it as quickly as possible for the lowest cost? But it was really great. You got like a crossroads of all those skills?
3:16
And what did you study to become that it was a chemistry? Yeah, so
3:19
I started with chemistry. But honestly, especially for technology transfer, you can go into that field doing basically anything. I have a really good friend, she actually has a music background.
3:32
So what is technology transfer?
3:34
It is it honestly, it’s just being like a scientific translator, right? Like the r&d folks may have this brand new drug that they want to make on a large commercial scale. But they don’t understand large scale manufacturing, they don’t understand the equipment that’s involved the impact of, you know, let’s say you’re making instead of 200 milliliters of a drug on a lab bench, now you’re making 2000 liters of it. So some of the some of the parts of the manufacturing process will change that because it’s the pharma industry. It’s all documentation regulated. So now you have to qualify every part of that process. And now, you’re also training people that sometimes it’s the, you know, Vice President and explaining to him like, why you need to buy a $2 million tank. And other times you’re explaining to an operator who might have a high school degree, like why certain stuff is important.
4:34
Interesting, okay. I mean, this is one of the reasons why I do the podcast, but I find all kinds of interesting careers. And I’m like, Okay, what is that? So when you talk about the technology transfer, it reminds me kind of like audit because I go in there and I don’t necessarily understand a topic, but there’s rules and procedures that go along with the audit. So I read through those, and then I come back and say Hey, well, you’re not following this, do we need to update the rules and procedures, or you know, you’re not doing your job or you know, you don’t have the tools or et cetera, et cetera, et cetera? Like, what is the root cause? And then after that, I’m an expert on what that person I talked to them, interview them and read through every day. Um, so talk about more what you do now with on the software side?
5:28
Sure. So very similar to auditing, right, you have all of these rules and procedures, and you have to make sure that all your procedures like connect to each other, right. And pharmaceuticals, generally, that’s all been on paper. So no exaggeration, like the manufacturing of a normal, I’ll say, like batch of drugs, a couple million doses, it can easily be 535 1000 pages worth of paperwork involved with it. That’s a lot of paperwork, especially if you’re making 60 batches a week. So what my company does is we have a digital solution for that. And my job in particular, is taking those pharmaceutical folks that don’t really have a strong tech background, but they know what they want, and actually guiding them through and setting up that process for them.
6:22
Gotcha. So more so of like, on the tech side, that would be called like a sales engineer is the person that demos the software, and they may configure this offer to an extent. Or it could be like a solutions engineer.
6:37
Yeah, yes. And like we have solutions engineers that are closer to the sales side. It’s nice for me, because by the time you get to me, you’ve already bought the software, you’re paying for the license. So it’s a much happier vibe in that regard, right? I don’t have to try to sell you anything new, we can really just focus on making sure that you get like the best product possible.
7:00
The more thorough of like account management. Kind of Yeah, gotcha. Okay. You kind of touched it a little bit, but the catalyst that made you want to change your career, and how did you find out about this career?
7:19
So I knew I was going to be in pharmaceuticals forever, right? It’s, it’s a very different mindset. business practices are different. And pharmaceuticals in general is very risk adverse, right? Risk means that something could go wrong, it can cost you a lot of money, you have recalls, things like that. And I just I couldn’t stick with it. I as part of my grad work, I have a degree in chemistry and also like an MBA combination called Professional Science Master’s. And it was just weird learning about like, all these new methods, new leadership styles, ways to run a business. And then I was working somewhere that just didn’t do that. So that alone was like, we’re not going to be pharmaceuticals forever. But going like into software, honestly, at first, I didn’t think I was cut out for it. I had a bunch of skills that I didn’t really get to use locking pharmaceuticals, like a sounds really silly, but like I enjoy statistics I enjoy kind of like the basics of data science, mostly because of my grad work. And during that time, I got like my Six Sigma Black Belt, right, just for the sake of getting it. When COVID hit, I took a class in data science through Coursera, which was really good. And so I kept like, acquiring all the skills with really no idea what I was going to do with them. I was just excited to learn about it. And I was lucky enough I had a recruiter reach out to me to tell me about this position. And he’s explaining and the entire time I’m like, oh, oh, this does combine everything together, doesn’t it? This is great. So that’s that’s kind of how I made the jump. I just kept picking up all these skills not really concerned what I was going to use them for just that I wanted to have them and then you know waiting for a recruiter or someone else to kind of see that value.
9:17
Gotcha. Gotcha. All these things come at a cost. What did it cost you to make the transition? And did you have support from you know, your friends, your family, you know, do they think you were crazy trying to make this transition?
9:33
Oh, they still think I’m crazy. They honestly I keep trying to explain to them what I do and they don’t they don’t understand that’s fine. Um, I guess I know of making the jump. You know, when my old life I had a couple of academic papers published I had some work that ended up in like a textbook. Now in this new role, that prestige is kind of gone, right? Which is fine. It was just kind of something I didn’t really think about until I made the jump and then had to stop and think like, oh, it was this good idea. And, you know, of course it was. But as far as like, kind of in the process of making that jump, like where I’m working full time, I’m taking classes full time on learning this and learning that it had an impact on my social life a little bit, right. In a way, COVID was kind of nice in that regard, because, well, no one had a social life for at least a year. But really, it was my wife. She was the one who just every time I wanted to do something or try something, she was just like, Well, yeah, don’t, you don’t need my permission, I want you to go do this go. Like, we’ll figure it out later. So it was it was really nice.
11:02
You might be muted. I am muted. I said, it sounds it sounds like me. When I when I first moved to Mexico, I came to morning to Hill and, you know, maybe take a couple of Spanish classes or something like that. Because, you know, second language is always great, great. And I never learned when when I was younger, so I was like, Okay, I’m adult now I want to try something. And people thought I was insane. Putting my good government job and all that good stuff. And then I called my father up about a month and a half. And it was like, Yeah, Daddy, I’m not coming back.
11:36
Right. And it’s so weird. There’s just there’s something that tells you like, this is the right decision. And when people ask you about it, and like, especially for me, or and you probably have the same thing, right? You’re so used to kind of rules and regulations, you have like that engineering lizard brain that, you know, tells you you have a certain path. And then you get to those points and you’re just like, why are you doing this? You’re like, I don’t know what we’re going to do it?
12:05
No, the podcast that I talk about myself is called my business brain versus my tech brain. And you know, as auditor, I studied business, right. But my first love was tech. And so yes, I had the engineering skill set, because you know, I love math, I love chemistry, and physics and all that stuff. But I also love business. And it’s a real struggle sometimes, because my business side is like, be adventurous. Do it now do it right now. And then the tech side is like, now you got you got to do this this way. And, you know, walk the fine line and stuff like that. So it’s a it’s a huge struggle. So yeah, I totally understand. And, ya know, at this point, I guess my adventurous side is, is winning more so than, than the tech side. But, but ya know, I get you. What was you kind of touched on this a little bit, but what was the process of switching careers? You said you took classes? Why did you think that you waited for someone to see your value instead of, you know, pushing your value out there on people, you know, did you post about what you were doing? Did you apply for different positions? You know, what was the process on that?
13:28
Sure. So at that time, I was applying for different roles within the pharmaceutical industry, but more like business focused, right, are more kind of a higher level type position. And as I was getting all of these different certifications, I was just updating my LinkedIn, updating my resume, I really wasn’t doing a whole lot with it. It wasn’t until the recruiter for the company that I’m with now had reached out to me and said, Hey, I see you have the strong pharma background. But you also have a lot of like these really interesting like tech pieces to it. So there’s something else going on there. And honestly, part of the reason I did it was I, I didn’t even know what I wanted to do. Specifically, I just knew like taking a data science class, I was like, Oh, this is really fun. Like, maybe I’ll use it for I don’t know something at home or just it was just a nice skill to have. I didn’t take it thinking, Oh, this is going to directly impact my job and it’s going to, you know, set me up for this position within the industry. So in a way I I just kept focusing on what skills do I want to learn and what do I want to use every day? And then, like I said, hope that someone can kind of put those pieces together, right? Because if nothing else, that’s what makes a good recruiter is someone who can look at those
14:55
kinds of parts. Yeah, don’t get me started on recruiters. You But what did your did you change your resume in a certain kind of way? Did you reworded? You know, um, you know what what did that look like to have someone try to take a chance on you?
15:13
Sure. So I, I had paid a company to redo my resume and they did a good job if I wanted to stay in my same position forever. You know what I mean? Like if I wanted to just follow, just follow that technology transfer tree, they did a great job. But it was really hard working with them and saying, like, Hey, I’m trying to break out into a different industry. I’m not 100% sure where it’s gonna go, what do I do? And, you know, they, it just didn’t work out. Right? So they kind of kept it very traditional. So then, when I was going to apply for jobs, I would kind of get the oh, well, you have some of the skills, but you’re really more fit for kind of this traditional role. And I was like, Well, fine, that’s not really what I’m looking for. So what I ended up doing was, as I was getting kind of these skills, you’re trying to put them to the forefront, you have to you have to reword things, and try to put them in a different light, which I think is really fair for a lot of people to struggle with, right? Because you you never want to misrepresent yourself, right? That no one wants that. But if I’m taking, you know, tech classes and math classes, and I’m using those things to solve my problems, well, I shouldn’t be allowed to put it in that light. So I tried to do that as best as I could. And then when I got to the actual interviews, like the one thing that kept sitting in my mind was, even with all the work I did on my resume still said I was a technology transfer expert. So I really had to bang on the drum of, you know, I’m not in a silo, I can do a little bit of everything. I just happen to be very good at this one thing. And so what I kept kind of reiterating in my interview was, I did it once. And I started with basically zero background, right, I was putting up drywall on my first day. And honestly, I think that’s the reason that that company had hired me was because I used to do it as a kid. So I really pushed it was like, you know, I started not knowing much. And I became an expert publishing papers in like six or seven years, I did it once. Let me show you, I can do it again. So it’s just about I guess, translating some of your previous work in your accolades for wherever you’re gonna go.
17:42
Yes, that’s why I asked the question, because a lot of people want to transition. But, you know, they don’t know the steps to take to do that. And as someone that has switched careers, have all these varied skills. You know, I’m entrepreneurs, like, it looks like I’m crazy. So it’s like, okay, where do we put her? Because, honestly, you know, what, I enjoy a lot of different things. And so it’s like, okay, well, I don’t, I don’t like to focus on one thing. And in a job, I like to move around, and all this other kind of stuff. So it’s, it’s very hard to find just one thing to focus on. So this is one of the reasons why I started the podcast, I’m not gonna say people like me, but other crazy people that want to, you know, move and move and shake. Um, what are some of the positive and negatives of your new career?
18:46
Sure. So, positives. I mean, to be quite frank, the pay is much better. And that I think, is just, that’s the law right now with the tech industry, right? Even if we’re going through massive amounts of layoffs, people still think, Oh, if you want to make really good money, go work in some sort of tech. For work life balance is also a lot better. In my old life. I used to get phone calls from third shift. Production folks at 2am yelling at me because they didn’t agree with something that I said, and they said, Oh, come in, you know, rewrite this, change it right now. So that part’s been really nice. And it’s kind of cliche as it sounds, the product that I that we deliver and being able to make unnecessary paperwork and processes a lot more condensed. It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling, because I’ve been on the opposite side of that before. So to me, it always feels like I’m solving a problem that I know other people have, right? There’s always a good intrinsic feeling there. I guess as far as negatives go, it’s it’s a very young company. They’re not quite a startup. More. So just how quickly things can change, I’m still adjusting to that. But that’s more on me than anything else. We’re up, we’re also 100% remote. So I have to be a lot more conscious in my communication, right? If you’re in an office, obviously, you can just walk down the hall, talk to whoever. But now instead, I have to make sure that I am talking to my co workers all the time. But honestly, if it’s, if that’s the big problem that I have to deal with, like, then I’m doing great.
20:35
Gotcha, gotcha. Um, what are some of the traits that you think is valuable in this position?
20:43
Sure. So I guess kind of touching on the being completely remote. I learned really quickly, you have to plan your day, you have to know what you’re going to work on, you got to schedule the time you’re going to work on it. And then my own little pet peeve is that if you’re going to a meeting, or you’re planning something prepared, right, you don’t want to be that person that has to say, let’s have a follow up meeting for something that I should have known the answer to, right? Because everyone makes sure to mute themselves and everyone groans everything else. So don’t be that person. I guess being generally computer savvy helps as well, right? Like I can, I’m by no means a programmer, but at least I know enough so that I can talk through like, you know, something in SQL with the developer if I need to if we have an issue. So I guess, you know, it’s really just be prepared and understand the expertise that your coworkers have.
21:47
Is there a certain pathway into this type of position, this career field, you briefly mentioned that someone had a music degree that work with you, but is there a certain path that someone should take
22:00
for for my current role, you have to be able to show that you’ve done worked in a regulated industry. So whether that’s pharmaceuticals, food, financial, what have you. So being able to work in that, and then also having called a call like that general tech competency, right? Again, I don’t need to be able to walk my customers through a whole SQL database. But if they get a certain error message, I need to know enough to go, okay, it might be this, let me bring that to a support team. In my old life with a technology transfer you, you have to have some sort of a call it complicated skill, competency. So whether that’s a hard science, your chemistry is biology is all that, or whether it’s music, and you’re just to be fair, I’m not a musician, by any stretch. But like, honestly, she just she interviewed really well, she was able to take really complicated things like the circle of fifths, and like, walk me through it. And by the end, I thought I knew what I was doing, you know. So just kind of having that strength and then being able to communicate to a wide group of audiences. I said it earlier in tech transfer, you have to be able to talk to a CFO who only has five minutes of your time, versus someone who has, you know, a GED, but And you always have to remember that they are both equal in terms of their importance to a process
23:41
actually played the clarinet in middle school. Oh, nice. Yeah, I loved it. And I wanted to continue, but I didn’t want to be in a like band class, where you have to be in a football games and stuff like that, but didn’t want to freeze. Um, what did you wish you knew before starting this career?
24:08
I wish I knew how different industries could be. You know, when, when I was in grad school, we were looking at different organizational structures with like, their strengths and weaknesses. And I was always like, oh, you know, a certain type of organizational structure or we got into things like compensation structures and things like that. And I would always look at it and be like, you know, this is theoretical, no one actually does this in the real world. And it was, it really caught me off guard when I had jumped over to TAC and I was like, oh, oh, okay. People actually do these things that I had learned about. So I guess if anything, I feel like I earlier on in my career, I think if I jumped around a little bit more, or in really tried different industry is instead of just pharmaceuticals, I think I would have had kind of a better grasp of how different workplaces operate. And for me that was, and it still is like the biggest lesson to learn.
25:13
No, I get you because I get a lot of federal stuff. And it’s like, I don’t mind being in the federal space. I love it. I enjoyed that. You know, that’s, that’s what I do. But, you know, I want to try outside of the federal space. So I totally get you because even when I worked in big tech, I was on the federal side. And I’m pretty sure that’s one of the reasons why I got recruited was because of my federal experience. So honestly, I’ve haven’t really had a huge opportunity to work outside of the governmental space. So I guess my next question to follow up with that is how do you not pigeonhole yourself in one industry? Because, you know, just like they try to pigeonhole you in one job, how did you work it to where you can move to different industry?
26:15
That’s a great question i and that was my biggest fear was, I thought I was going to be stuck in the pharmaceutical industry forever. Again, because there are just certain things about it that just didn’t sit well with me, it was something that I wouldn’t be able to keep my sanity and have a full career in. And as far as trying to get out of that hits, it’s really hard. I, the thing I kept going back to was like, what skills do I want to use every day? And let’s bolster those right, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to jump from pharmaceuticals to like tech that had nothing to do with pharmaceuticals, right? Like you still have those skills, you’re still going to rely on them, right? Like you had done a lot of work with the Fed. So even if you transition, you’re still going to keep some of that previous life with you, right? Because your future employer sees that value and wants to take advantage of it. And that’s all well and good. I guess the only thing you can really do is you kind of make little sidesteps. Right. So if you say I start in pharmaceuticals, I take a little sidestep towards tech, and then maybe sometime in the future, I sidestep towards something else. I think that’s the only the only really consistent way of doing it. I know there are people out there who can go and especially for tech, right, where it’s more about certifications and things like that, where they can go and get a couple certifications, do a couple boot camps and then they are completely out in left field. I think that works great for some, I think that makes for a really nice Tiktok to inspire people, but I don’t think everyone can do that. You know?
28:04
Now I have to agree because yeah, it’s stuck with me. They’re like, Oh, you work for the do you want to work on the federal side? Not sure I guys, you know, I gotta eat. So yeah, no, beggars can’t be choosers. So no, I get you. I was I was just curious about you know what your answer is on that. And that actually might be one of my follow up questions. I need to add that to my list. You know, how did you get out of your, you know, your industry? Because that’s, I don’t pigeonhole you to, um, outside of that, I don’t have this whole list ready to add it to my list is Do you think that you were too early? Too late? Do you think it was the right time to make that transition? Any regrets?
29:02
Um, I think if I’m, if I had to just kind of bounce between too early and too late. I’m probably closer on too late. Because a lot of the stuff I was doing ords, kind of like my end in pharmaceuticals didn’t really translate over very well, or at least didn’t bring a lot of value to the new job. I probably could have made the switch earlier. I’m trying to think so. If I don’t know if there’s anything I really would have done differently, though. Again, I was kind of in this position where I was lucky enough to have a recruiter that saw kind of all the different pieces and said, Hey, this guy is going to work for what we need. Yeah, I guess if I was trying to reach out to recruiters and trying to get into different fields, things might have gone differently, right. Maybe I would have taken a couple different classes and Maybe I would have applied for different positions, or maybe reached back out to the recruiters that I had worked with previously, just to say like, Hey, you talk to me about this position, but this is really what I’m looking for. Please just keep me in the back of your mind. Which is tricky, right? Because now you’re kind of at the whim of this recruiter. And there’s a whole different dynamic there.
30:26
Right, and I can I can relate. Because I was applying and applying and applying for all these different positions in the cloud. You know, AWS Azure, were the ones that I knew. And I was interviewing, and next thing I know, it just, it just came so easy. A recruiter hit me up on LinkedIn was like, Yeah, we want to interview you. Next thing I know, you know, I had the job. So I was like, like, I wasted all this time when it was it was that easy. And it kind of hurts. And it’s like, whoa, you know, I wasted this time, this energy and blah, blah, blah. But it’s, it’s really just a part of the process. Because at that point is like, I’ve kind of fine tuned, I had more visibility into the type of positions that I wanted. And, you know, the companies I wanted to work for, too, because I didn’t work in tech. I never worked in private industry. I was always federal, like, I knew what that was about. But, you know, I had to learn a whole new process on negotiating pay. And this is, you know, three rounds of interviews. When the Feds I only did one interview in a lot of times, it was under our, you know, this, this, this was all new to me. So, um, I don’t want to say it was a waste of time, but yet it was.
31:52
Yeah, it’s just it feels underutilized, right. That’s a nice polite way of putting it but like, yeah, you’re just kind of waiting for that recruiter. And I, I personally, I’m a huge fan of them, compared to a lot of the automated application processes that are out there like, I, I know companies where if your resume is not formatted a certain way, if it’s missing certain key words, and it’s not tied, like with like the correct phrase, it just tosses you out? There’s no second look at it, which it to me is mind boggling, right? You can have a lot of great talent out there. You just need someone who’s willing to spend a lot, I don’t know, 30 seconds to look something over.
32:43
It’s really crazy nowadays. In a plug, I do live resume review that my LinkedIn reviews, that’s my give back. And they will always always be free to check me out on switch into tech.org. And the final question is, what would you tell someone that wanted to switch their career?
33:05
I would definitely say, look at the skills you want to use every day and start training those right? No one just wakes up and decides that they want to be like a bodybuilder or strongman, right? They they have to go on they have to train for it every day, even if they don’t use that in their daily life. I think when it comes to making a transition to your career, you have to do the same thing. You keep making those changes and keep asking yourself what are why are you stop asking like what do I need to do to get this job but start asking like what do I want to do every day? It because those intrinsic motivators like what I want to do versus an extrinsic motivator. You know, this job is much better in the long run.
33:51
Gotcha. Yeah, heard it from Joe. Where can we find you Joe?
33:57
On LinkedIn, I guess. Yeah, yeah, that probably be the the best place.
34:04
All right. Thank you for watching The nobody wants to work though. Podcast. My name is Elyse Robinson. Joe used to be a manufacturing scientist. And now he is what’s your title?
34:17
So my title is Process Engineer,
34:19
Process Engineer. Gotcha. Gotcha. He is now Process Engineer. Thank you for watching. And if you haven’t subscribed, please subscribe and subscribe on the podcast too, because we’re on Google, Spotify, Apple, all that good stuff. And this is the 13th episode. Um, I have more more coming up, give or take hopefully. So um, and then I’m probably gonna close out the season, because I got stuff to do. But again, thank you for watching and take care.
34:54
And thanks so much for the opportunity.
About
sponsored Sonia Cameron’s journey through the tech industry has been one of resilience, perseverance, and faith. After completing her master’s degree in computer science, she worked at some of the biggest names in tech, only to be let go when the companies folded. Despite the setbacks, Cameron refused to give up and instead decided to change her approach. She realized that she needed to shift her outlook and attitude on the job search, and with her renewed mindset, she not only found success in the tech world but also wrote a successful book about her experience. Today, Cameron is thriving and using her story to inspire others to persevere through life’s challenges.
Sonia Cameron:
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Big Tech to Better Attitude: Sonia Cameron’s Journey to Thriving
Falling Up: How Sonia Cameron Found Success After Losing Her Job
The Unconventional Job Search: How Sonia Cameron Found Her Way Back to Tech
Turning Setbacks into Opportunities: The Story of Sonia Cameron
Fired Up: Sonia Cameron’s Resilience in the Face of Adversity
Learning to Pivot: How Sonia Cameron Navigated Tech’s Turbulent Waters
Defying the Odds: Sonia Cameron’s Rise from Job Loss to Success
The Power of Perspective: Sonia Cameron’s Journey to Career Triumph
Breaking the Mold: Sonia Cameron’s Quest for Career Fulfillment
Thriving Through the Struggle: The Story of Sonia Cameron
A Journey of Reinvention: Sonia Cameron’s Inspiring Tale of Triumph
Discovering a New Path: Sonia Cameron’s Quest for Career Reinvention
Surviving and Thriving: The Sonia Cameron Story
Picking Up the Pieces: Sonia Cameron’s Journey to Rebuilding Her Career
The Road to Resilience: How Sonia Cameron Found Her Way Back to the Top
Never Give Up: The Inspiring Story of Sonia Cameron’s Rise in Tech
A Second Chance at Success: Sonia Cameron’s Journey to Redemption
Changing the Narrative: Sonia Cameron’s Story of Triumph Over Job Loss
Overcoming Adversity: Sonia Cameron’s Journey to Finding Her Dream Career
Show Notes
0:01
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts, I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
0:19
we are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to meet courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org.
0:45
Hey, yah, this is Elyse Robinson with the nobody wants to work though podcast today we have Sonia. And she is a technical support engineer. And she’s gonna tell us how she got into big tech. And she has a book now. So go ahead and tell us about you know, your your journey, your introduction? Yes. Thank you for having me on your show. Um, I started out in college, looking for an internship. And I actually I wanted to be an accountant. And
1:23
they didn’t have a whole lot of accounting internships at the time. And what was available was computer science. So I said, Okay, I’ll switch my major. And that’s how I got into big tech. I started my career
1:42
with a
1:44
company that no longer exists, but at the time, it was big time. It was Nortel Networks, and Nortel. You know, of course, it’s out of business now, but at the time, they were selling trunks and networks for too little baby Bell companies. And they thought the phone lines were gonna be
2:11
the next thing forever. Until mobile phone came mobile phones came along. So that’s really where I got my start and end to left to telephony, I guess you could call it.
2:28
Wonder how you say it’s not telephony,
2:32
telephony?
2:35
telephony? I’m gonna Google it later and be like, No, really.
2:43
And counting to computer science now. I mean, I love me. So computer science and accounting like I can. I have a whole podcast business brain versus my tech brand, because I can use both. And I love math. I love chemistry and physics, but I also love me some accounting.
3:01
And it’s definitely a huge change in a job. Like, how did that work?
3:08
Well, I was motivated, because, you know, my, I came from a middle class family. And my mom worked two jobs and put me through school and light when it was time for me to start school. My father lost his job
3:27
from a company called Dupont, DuPont.
3:32
And so he, he went on his own career transition journey. And so I just basically left my mom trying to support me in college. So I was serious about making money after I got out of college. And when I started
3:51
my college career in computer science, I had professors coming to me and saying, Oh, you’re a minority, you know, and you’re doing well in computer science. You can’t go to graduate school for free.
4:08
And so that’s what I ended up doing. I ended up leaving, graduating from UNC Charlotte. And then I went to University of Virginia graduate school, and in there in School of Engineering, and I got a master’s in computer science there. All right, okay. You did that you did that. Yeah, yeah. Your your views is big. Um, gosh, I’m, I’m sitting here like, what I want to ask you after that, because
4:41
I’m just like, yeah, we’re motivated. Yeah, cuz I tell people all the time, like, I loved audit, but I hated accounting. I would never be an accountant.
4:54
I took like accounting wanting to like I think like I tried like three times before. I was like,
5:00
Okay, I’m gonna buckle down and get it done. Because accounting is the Language of Business. You know, I saw that the auditors could work from home. I mean, you could work anywhere on the globe. So I was like, yeah, let me let me get it done. So, you know, for those out there that are watching, listening, you know, even if you hate it, there’s there’s good parts in it that you will like eventually.
5:24
Because yeah, I love I love the audit. I love tax. I love tax too. But accounting, accounting, managerial accounting cost accounting, I could never never touch it.
5:36
So yeah, um, here’s a fun question for you. What did you want to be when you grew up?
5:43
When I was a kid, right? When I was 10 years old, I wanted to be a missionary doctor, when I was 10. Yeah. Why did you want to do bad, like, you just want to, like, help people and go travel around. Basically, I wanted to travel the world and help people and you know, I liked little kids and I wanted to, you know, how you see these commercials on TV, or they had a lot of kids that are sick, and he’s missionary darkness, come through and fix their cleft lip or whatever. That’s what I wanted to do. And I was 10
6:21
That’s funny, because my sister she is in healthcare, and she’s been traveling around for the past three years because of COVID. And so, you know, when I was in Houston and stuff like that, and working for you know, in big tech, you know, I would I would help out with my nephew and stuff like that, and she would be gone. But I mean, the money was ridiculous.
6:45
But yeah, I can I can definitely relate to that, that hope and dream.
6:52
So mostly, you talked about where your career began and what your first career was, what was your first career when you got out of grad school?
7:02
Like I said, I work I worked for Nortel Networks and yeah, you did.
7:08
Tell him telephony.
7:13
telephony.
7:15
It was basically networking. So you know how, as a programmer for them, my program then the proprietary language called protel, which was a mix of Pascal and that that ages me there was a lot of
7:34
talk about it. You guys talk about Pascal.
7:40
Yeah, I’m in and then I started programming in Perl.
7:49
And C Plus Plus, while while I was at Nortel, so they weren’t too far behind. But they did have a proprietary language for their switches and trucks and switches that they had.
8:07
Then I left there, I left Nortel in
8:13
2003.
8:16
That was 2003. And I went to work for Sony Ericsson testing. Cell phones
8:25
and texting had just come out.
8:29
And so I was testing cell phones and stuff like that.
8:35
But um,
8:37
and then after I left Sony Ericsson, I worked for a financial company. And I got fired on the financial company. This is my horror story.
8:55
Interview,
8:57
went on the interview. And I was really embarrassed. I thought no one would want me ever again after being fired.
9:09
And the reason why I got fired is because I was an underperformer.
9:14
To me taking some medication that caused me to have like a slow reaction.
9:23
My my motor skills weren’t quick. I was at like this, in that particular company
9:34
was based out of New York City so can you imagine me southern are surrounded by all these New York New Yorkers, and they’re going let’s get it done. Let’s get it. Right.
9:48
And I’m wondering medication and I, you know, my response time is not quick at all. So to them I was an underperformer. Okay,
10:00
Okay, definitely understood. I will say my first my first real job, my first federal job I, I didn’t get fired, but I got in trouble a lot and is because I have moved to Boston. And I’m a Cali girl. I think Sacramento is like, the third most sunniest city in America. And from that to Boston Ross really go weeks without seeing the sun. Oh,
10:30
it almost killed me literally.
10:33
Depression, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I was on meds and stuff and that the meds almost killed me and had me with issues.
10:42
So yeah, I can definitely relate to that. But you know, they couldn’t really fire me because it’s government. But you know, if it was private industry, oh, I would have been let go. Because I think I must have missed like a good month of work. You know, often, I was negative on my leave, and in a whole bunch of stuff. Literally, when I left the government, like, I had to pay back leave, I owe the government money. So I understand and I can totally relate on being sick. And you know, trying to work here No, so.
11:16
So yeah. Um, so. Oh, go ahead. So, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you off.
11:26
Um, yeah. So I got fired from that job. And so I actually took about six months where I didn’t even put my resume out there. I didn’t, I think I was in a small depression, because I was like, woe is me, you know, nobody’s ever gonna hire me again after being fired. But, um, so this is the story. When I’m in interview, and the lady was like, so happened, you know, why did you leave your last position? And I said, Well, I gotta lay it all. Well, we both know, it was a layoff of Morin, right.
12:11
And since I’m a Christian,
12:14
I was like, destroyed, I went home, I couldn’t eat. I didn’t want to sleep. I was pacing the floor, because I was like, here. Now, I’m supposed to be a Christian. And I was just lied to this lady, you know, about what happened to me. I know, I should have told her to but I, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t hire me if they found out I had been fired. And I found myself friends or guy going, God, you know, what, what am I going to do? Because I need to help support my husband and my family. And at a time, I was the one carrying the health insurance because my husband was self employed.
13:00
And
13:02
I was like, I gotta get back out here. You know, in the corporate world. I’m talented, I’m well educated. And by that time, you know, my health issues have somewhat changed because
13:19
they change my medication. But I’m, so I prayed to God, and I was like, God, just
13:29
give me another chance. And then once you give me another chance, I’ll stand in my truth, I’ll tell the truth. And I will, you know, whatever. They asked me, I tell them that I actually got fired. So that was the deal. I mean,
13:46
just so happened. A few months later, I got another interview. And it was
13:54
at a company that was new to the area new to the Research Triangle Park area. And
14:04
I was surprised they even call me in, you know, but I went on the interview. And it went fairly well, I was, I was really shocked how well it was going. And then, of course, they asked a question, why did you leave your last position? And I said, Well,
14:28
it was not a good fit. And I was fired.
14:32
And so they said, Oh, we’re surprised because you were there over 18 months, and you came highly recommended.
14:44
And I said, Oh, really? And they said, Yeah, and actually, they recommend that you so well, that we were tired of interviewing people. They were real transparent. They said we’re tired of interviewing people and we want to
15:00
Are you? So they hire me?
15:04
Well, he told me and I said, Well, who recommended me? He said, This is not her real name. But he said, Jennifer recommended you. And she said that you’re a good worker, you’re very enthusiastic, and that we should hire you. I said, Okay.
15:22
So that night, I was like, Who in the world is Jennifer and I was pacing back and forth trying to figure out who this person was. Then I thought about it. Every morning, when I went to work.
15:36
There was this young lady in the break room, and we would have coffee together. And she worked in HR.
15:45
So that was Jennifer.
15:47
And she, she’s just happened to see my resume and told them Yeah, yeah, you guys need to call her because she, she’s a, she’s a good person.
15:57
So they hired me, and I ended up working for that firm for eight years.
16:03
Yeah.
16:06
Um, so
16:09
then,
16:12
in 2010, I started writing my blog, because a lot of friends of mine, they felt like, you know, they couldn’t believe it, I got hired after being fired number one. And I got hired in the middle of a recession, in 2008 2009. And so I told them, you know, it took a lot of prayer. And it, it took a lot of, you know, networking, you know, a lot of times when you find a job is someone that you know, is on the inside of that company. So, um,
16:53
so then I started a blog called bless the work.com.
16:59
And that’s where I started writing prayers, and writing blogs to encourage people on their journey. Then, in 2020, when the pandemic hit, I was distraught, because there were a lot of people losing their jobs. And I felt like, though, I was like, What can I do to help these people, you know, this blog is not enough, I need I need to do something more substantial. And so I was led to write the book guy, please help me find a job. See.
17:43
Ya.
17:45
And,
17:46
and
17:49
it was really on my mind for a long time, you know, and it was kind of a passionate project, I couldn’t stop writing the book, thinking of ideas. And so what I did was, I took some time off work, and take me into a hotel, nobody was there, but me and the person that did this, because everybody was locked down.
18:13
And
18:15
I spent the time just writing and
18:19
bragging about it. And, you know, just eating and writing a brand. Um, and so I ended up with a book, and
18:30
I had my editor, edit it. And then what what I did was I had several career coaches, HR personnel, and ministers to like, review the book and give me suggestions on how can make it better.
18:47
And
18:49
then, in three weeks, we published the book, and it was it was very successful. And I feel like it’s still relevant today, because there are a lot of people being laid off.
19:04
At this time, in fact, about three weeks ago, my manager was laid off, and several of my colleagues
19:15
were laid off as well. And it’s, you know, I think we’re finding ourselves in a recession all over again, you know,
19:25
especially, you know, in tech, a lot of people are being laid off, and
19:32
I just want people to know that.
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God is
19:39
a career coach, he can help you know, if you only spend time with him, one of the things that I
19:48
like to do is I like to
19:53
read the Bible and kind of compare it to
19:59
something
20:00
As that are happening today, and I feel like Jesus was the first career coach, because if you look in Luke,
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Luke five,
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and
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yeah, Luke five in tune. And this is the story of Peter, and some of his friends, they had been out fishing all night. And then they come in and Jesus gets in the boat and starts ministering to people. And then he turns around and says, Peter, lunch out into the deep. And I’m sure Peter was like, Look, I’m a professional, you know, and, but the person was Simon Peter. And Peter said to him, you know, Master, we taught, taught all night and cotton up, and nevertheless, at your word, I let down the net. So he was basically saying, I know what I’m doing. But since you’re Jesus, we don’t follow your instructions. And then they caught, you know, they had a net breaking, they had so much fish, the net started to break, and then they share with their friends and all of that. So I said, All that to say is, you know, when you humble yourself and spend time with God, He can give you pointers and download things to you to give you direction. Whereas just like in Peters case, you know, he thought he was the professional, he thought he knew everything. But Jesus is a miracle worker, and he knows the end from the beginning. So he can give you pointers, of things to do, where to go, who to talk to, for instance, the last time I got laid off,
21:59
I had given been given two months to find a job internally. And what happened was,
22:08
I interviewed like, four or five times, but I never secured a position internally. So I started searching externally, because they were going to give me like six months severance. And my goal was to find a job
22:28
before the severance ended. So I started talking to all of my friends. And that’s one of the things that I would like to say is, a lot of times there is a hidden network of jobs, like job openings that are not advertised on LinkedIn, and all those social media job boards, you know, is somebody that you know, and the best way to get hired is have your resume handed to the hiring manager. So that’s what happened to me. In
23:06
that role, I was
23:09
given the phone number of the hiring manager, and a good friend of mine gave her the hiring manager, my resume, and she called me the same day. And we did the phone first phone interview. And then the next week, she invited me onto the canvas to interview with, you know, everybody that was on that team. And eventually they hired me. And it was all because I just happened to call a friend of mine and say, hey, you know, I’m getting laid off and I got six months to go. And she was like, here to hire, you know, here at my company, why don’t you send me your resume?
23:56
And, but
23:59
that is that’s an easy way to get a job as through somebody that you know,
24:07
definitely, um, you touched on a lot
24:12
is, oh, I’ve been fired many, many times.
24:18
I’ve always wanted to be entrepreneur, ever since I could breathe and you know, I even since I was born,
24:26
so I’m not you know, that’s what I’ve always strived to be. I’ve done it made it failed. You know, COVID messed up some stuff. Oh, that recession, missteps and stuff. So I’ve done it many, many times.
24:42
I guess. They say that you have to fail, like you know, 30 different times as entrepreneur before it finally hits. But
24:50
you know, my whole thing is with the honesty. It’s to me, it’s like, I don’t really care to lie. I just don’t see
25:00
Going in it, you know, all this this, you know, politically, politically politically correct and having to sugarcoat stuff just doesn’t make sense to me it’s like, okay, well, I was fired, you know, stuff happens, you know, it’s like, okay, people have to work to live and you know, all this other kind of stuff and it’s like sometimes it just wasn’t a good fit. Yeah, no.
25:22
So yeah, no, it was just like,
25:26
you know, these dumb questions on Well, why do you want to work here? Well, I have to work to live. You got it?
25:38
I don’t really care if you know, because I don’t like makeup. Right? I will work in Maybelline. If the if they go pack me, you know,
25:48
difference doesn’t make like, I gotta sit up here and lie and say, oh, yeah, beat my face every day. Ya know? No, it’s just dumped me. I reckon somebody comes to me and say, hey, you know, this is what happened. You know, I’m doing better now. And this is the skills that I have. This is what I’m trying to do. And we can go from there. You know? Because this this little sugarcoating stuff. And all this other kind of stuff is just ridiculous. This can be to me, I don’t I don’t really care to put on a show.
26:23
That’s my issue with it.
26:27
So yeah, yeah, no, my mom was always like, yeah, you just need to go here to either work for the government or be an entrepreneur, because private industry is not for you. And you know, I have found that to be true.
26:40
But, but yeah, you know, there’s the long term and short term goals. I’m like, bruh, like COVID was just like, right there. Like, I have no short term and long term goals. I’m trying to make it till tomorrow.
26:58
So yeah, we add on those. So I don’t I don’t believe in the covering up and the sugarcoating things good stuff happens in life, you know, the whole question on,
27:09
you know, why do you leave your last position? I mean, I have a six sob story. And as soon as I say that, you know, my mother passed away, you know, it’s like, it turns the interview negative, and they’re like, Oh, well, you know, I don’t want to deal with that, you know, you know, I never get fired. So it’s like cert to me, certain things shouldn’t be asked anyway. But, you know, in the scheme of things, it doesn’t matter to me, ya know, because, as someone that has hired people, I’m looking at your skills and what you can do for me, can you make me some money or not?
27:42
Absolutely, absolutely. When, when I was in the position to hire people, it was a little bit more than that, because I’m wanting to make sure it was a good fit for the team. Because there were some people that came through that were very, how can I say pushy.
28:03
And that was, that was not a good attitude, or not a good
28:10
emotion for the team, you know, to have someone that will will bully other people on the team.
28:20
So it was more than and I knew the person had the skills to do the job, but they were they were just a very, I can I say aggressive type person. And they were so aggressive, that when we chose not to go forward to the next stage of the interview, they
28:44
wrote us emails, and
28:49
probably me not.
28:55
Emails, and we’re like,
28:58
why didn’t you hire me, I’m more than qualified for this job and, you know, just really ranting and I was like, This is what
29:11
I mean, my whole thing is, is like, I think people deserve feedback to an extent but you know, there’s, there’s a certain kind of way to come out, come, you know, come at someone you know.
29:22
And my thing is, you know, with the hiring aspect of it, it’s like, people go from this person to that person in relationships and then you know, that doesn’t work out what would be the difference between you know, hiring someone and it doesn’t work out you know, that’s, that’s my whole thing. You just have to hire someone. It doesn’t work out very well, relationships. So what’s the difference? What’s the difference? People have lost their lives and they’re lacking less bone with the wrong person, but yet they don’t do as much research as these jobs do. So what’s the difference?
30:00
I was saying the difference in a relation you talking about personal relationships?
30:07
You know, they they’re all in my personal life and in my my but literally almost, you know, I’ve taken P TAs and all that, but yet you,
30:17
Rob around, you’re not doing.
30:22
Even I wasn’t doing right. What’s the difference?
30:26
I think the difference when it comes to a corporation is that a corporation wants to test you from all aspects to see, number one, are you a person of integrity, that’s why they test you test you to see. And number two, they test your urine or whatever to see, give you a risk.
30:51
Because if you’re on drugs, and you’re addicted to something, then that’s a risk for that corporation. So that’s why they think just
31:01
been awesome jobs. And then people being in relationships and they arguing and I mean, being violent on the job. And I’m like, yeah, yeah, it’s great. These people obviously very good, you know, saying so yeah. It’s like, God need to screen me these people coming on the job. I need to scream these people relationships. And that’s all I’m saying is like, okay to see, oh, this screen his booth thing? Yeah, no, but yeah, he wants to screen me.
31:29
So, you know, she comes up to the job, you know, throwing stuff and cursing, and I gotta hide
31:37
in all kinds of stuff. But, you know, you testing me, though you tested me?
31:45
I don’t, I don’t understand why you tested me. But you didn’t test you both thing. That’s all I’m gonna say.
31:56
Well, um, do you want to talk about my
32:01
tips for acing the job search? Yes, when are you know, 510 tips that should we can do to ace the job search? Okay, and even five. Number one is rehearsing wins. So, a lot of times when people get laid off from their job, they’re like, I was I get fired, they were like, they could be like, I was depressed, feeling bad about themselves, their self talk is very negative.
32:33
And if you, you can start this, even now, where you’re, where you’re working, is to record your wins. Like, if you did something to save the company money, you did something to improve our process. If you did something to wow, the customer, then record that. So when you have your next interview, you have a positive story to tell when they say, so what did you do it Company ABC and D? You know, um, so that’s, that’s the first thing is rehearsing. stop you there. Um, I got a question. Um, so what happens when you have all these accomplishments, you know, these wins. And it’s more than what your interviewer has done, and they say little slight things and comments and, and stuff like that, because I’ve experienced that. And outside of that, they are from being an entrepreneur, I can, I can honestly say that. I haven’t had too many accomplishments on my job. Because it was the type of job where I didn’t I couldn’t get accomplishments. And then if even if I did get accomplishments, I wouldn’t be able to talk about them anyways, because I worked on a lot of classified stuff. So what can you do in those situations?
34:03
Well, um, if you work in a classified environment, I’m sure there’s something that was not classified as you
34:13
know, everything was classified.
34:17
Wow.
34:19
Um,
34:21
I don’t know. Maybe you could talk about your side hustle. Yeah, I’ve run into issues with that and like he ain’t gotten another job. I’m like
34:34
to eat like, I don’t care if the job is to eat. Right you can talk about a job because I care about
34:43
you just tell them if I tell you I have to kill you.
34:48
But yeah, like I was an interview one time and it was, you know, a white guy and stuff and he had all these accomplishments and stuff and he he’s literally in an interview talking about I’m scared of you like for
35:00
What can you really learn in my book?
35:04
I’m looking at you like I’m trying to get like, but yeah, I’ve experienced that a lot. You know, I mean, just the fact that I, I’ve lived in another country and I speak another language, you know, they’re like, you know, what is what is this? So, I mean, you know, I don’t know if they’re interviewing me just to looky loo at me or what but ya know, I get in these interviews, and they’re like, yeah, so you know,
35:35
you know, your accomplishments a little bit too much. And you know, you’ve been entrepreneur, they think that I’m going to run eventually, you know, yeah, because they may feel like you’re overqualified. But one, one thing I want to put in your head is that when you’re interviewing, you’re, you’re also interviewing them, to see if it’s a good fit for you. So because if you’re in an environment where from Jump Street, they’re saying, I’m scared of you,
36:06
you may not want to take that job.
36:10
It wasn’t the hiring manager, he would have been my coworker. And I’m like, for why do you want to be in that environment where somebody is, is already competitive with you from from the start?
36:25
I don’t know if that would be somewhere I would choose. No, I didn’t. I ended up doing three rounds waste of time. And yeah, they did show. So it was like, but But yeah, I mean, I run into it a lot. Because my resume my LinkedIn is very thorough. And, you know, they’re like, Who is this person? I’m like, you know, and I ain’t got no reason to lie. I didn’t did it.
36:54
Like I did it, but I did. Right.
36:59
And you’re well qualified. So, I mean, a lot of times we don’t look like our qualifications. Right? Hmm. And people are surprised when when you walk through the door, because you know, you know, like, what you look like on paper. So, man, I’m so glad that we can do interviews over the camera and I got to drive 20 miles to have them booked their eyes.
37:29
I can just, I can just print, you know, record on the screen and you know, have it for safekeeping.
37:35
Now
37:38
but yeah, those those are the bad days, Will you drive two miles?
37:46
But go ahead. Next one, what’s the next one?
37:50
Hey, baby steps everyday towards your career goal. So if you’re looking to make a career change, it should not or it’s probably easier. If you start out doing something small every day, like changing your resume on a day or actually, I have a free download on my website. I’ll show it to you.
38:18
It’s
38:20
been you see, this is probably 21 days of preparation for your next position. And it’s it’s a
38:32
they call it I forget what they call it just that quick is oh gosh, I can’t think of the word Infragram but if Yeah, there you go, ah, infographic. infographic, that’s what they use. Yeah, so it’s pretty cool. I made it up a couple of years ago. And I felt like I wanted to give something away for free to the people that visit my website. My website is blessed. The work.com is b l e s s. Th e wo rk.com.
39:11
And then a question. I’m
39:15
not it wasn’t a question. I just want to make a statement. Sorry, it’s after six
39:20
on a Friday. Um, yeah, I tell people all the time that you know you even if it’s 15 minutes, 30 minutes, take a break during your break at lunch, whatever you got to do, but make sure you you do something towards it every day. Because if you don’t, it won’t sink at number one. And number two, you won’t make any progress. One of my favorite sayings is Time waits for no one.
39:49
Time is not you know infinite. When it comes to people at least not yet anyway. Not yet.
39:57
Maybe one day
40:00
Um, I don’t know if I want to live that long. I guess it would depend on this. I didn’t. I don’t want to say age but more so have the I call them the hurts. Yeah, no, because you know, we age if you get the hurts the aches and the pains and stuff like that, like I wouldn’t even mind getting wrinkled and all that stuff. It’s the hurts that I’m scared of.
40:23
Take care of your body, then.
40:27
You’re going through so much are you talking about, you know, like, fall in and car accidents and stuff like that. But yeah, no, it’s not more so of Oh, my organs are breaking down is more so Oh, well, you know, I got in a car accident. And now my neck is jacked up, you know,
40:47
is that once they can solve that problem? I’m like, Sure, I can be you know, 600 years old, like, you know, they’re tired.
40:56
wouldn’t even mind is so. But yes, the hurts for me. Because I’m like, I don’t know if I want to be 100. Because then hurts, go go really hurt.
41:06
But next one, what’s the next one?
41:10
Pick an excuse to to encourage so. So one of the things that I like to do is I like to put scriptures all over my house, like write them on my mirror, and keep them in my wallet. And
41:26
so one of the scriptures is Hebrews 11. And one which is Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. And so you think it’s positive to have hope, even in a situation where you feel like you need to make a career transition. And if you if you don’t have hope, you know, without faith, it’s impossible to please God. So you have to like, exercise your faith as well. And that’s why you need to be doing the 21 days, or you need to be taking baby steps on on a daily basis. So the fourth one is, dare to dream big. And that’s something that I’m sure you’re very familiar with. But a lot of people just want a job, you know, you meet someone that’s recently unemployed, they may tell you, I just want a job, I just want to do anything, I just want to do anything to make money. But I think you have to be strategic when you’re job hunting, or when you’re searching for a job. Because if you don’t know what you want, how do you know when you find it. So you have to know what you want. And you have to be very specific, very strategic in your job selection. Because it’s kind of like this. You don’t know what you’re looking for, you know, you’ll never see it.
43:05
Never see it. For instance, like when I bought my car about a Lexus. Before then I didn’t see a lot of Lexus’s on the road. Then after that, that’s all I saw.
43:22
You know, so you know, so you recognize something that you that you know that you want, you’ll recognize it easier. If you take the time sit alone, get with God and say, Okay, what do I What is my next position look like? What? Am I going to work remotely? Or do I need to see people do I need? Or do I need a hybrid position? Or, you know, at home sometimes in office sometimes? Is it specific
43:56
company that I’m interested in working for, you know, what are the top 10s? Or do I want to be in big it? Or do I want to be in healthcare? Or do I want to do health care it or do I want to work for the government? You know, you’d have to have a strategy and know exactly what you want. And then those opportunities will find you. Basically, you know, when you start narrowing, narrowing things down, is it will seem like those opportunities will find you or the opportunities that are easier to find. Because you you’ve been strategic and you have done your homework, you know, you research the positions, you know who who’s hiring and who’s not. And what, what is required. And and you start to connect with people you can start connecting with people on LinkedIn
45:00
You know, whoever the hiring managers are, for those types of roles, but um, you got to know what you want. The
45:11
The fifth and final one is stay organized and keep a journal of your search. So that’s one of the reasons why I created my second book. And I’ll show it to you.
45:26
Yeah, see it from my big head.
45:32
This is, this is what it looks like.
45:35
So it’s
45:38
ECNL
45:45
you’re muted.
45:48
I’m telling you right there, and I’m gonna leave.
45:51
But we saw it, we saw it real good. We saw real good.
45:56
Okay, so it’s a journal. My first book is a book of prayers. But my second book is a journal that allows the reader to develop their own prayers, I kind of gives prompts and things for the reader to create their own prayers, their own testimonies in the book. And in the back of the book, it has a job search organizer that allows you to record who you interview with, what company, what the phone number was, what the website was, what positions or roles that you apply for, who you talk to, how many interviews you had, and it’s a good thing to keep track of that. One.
46:43
If, if you’re if your state is like the state of North Carolina, they request that information in order for you to file for unemployment. So, you know, it’s, it’s just a good place to keep track of all of that.
47:02
And that’s all that’s all I have the, the
47:09
I can attest to, I never thought about doing the scriptures. I just have a vision board. Where you know, I get up like every morning look at it, I’ll do it probably the middle of the day. And then before I go to bed at night, and you know, I’m I it works at least it works for me. I crossed off some huge things last year. I don’t want to talk about it yet because I don’t want to jinx myself. It’s not 110% completed yet, but
47:39
the and I had been manifesting it since 2019. And you know, I thought it was never going to happen when COVID hit, you know, these are the kind of stuff but I finally got it done last summer.
47:55
So yeah, vision board a vision board is definitely one that I utilize a lot and I recommend to people because I literally just write it out people do pictures and all this other costs. I literally just write it out. This is what I won’t. And you know, I look at it and you know, it comes true. I’m not gonna say I put in work all the time, but it came true.
48:17
Well, that’s, that’s excellent. Yeah. Even the Bible says Write the vision and make it plain so so if you if you have a vision board, I have a vision board but I usually don’t share it with people.
48:32
Well, I mean, if I guess I share it after it’s done not not necessarily while it’s in progress or didn’t know you know, I’m working on it but after I don’t really care because I’ve done it you know it’s over. Absolutely. And I you know, the type of goals that I have is goals that you know, not many people that look like me get done. So you know, I don’t mind sharing them at all when they are complete.
49:02
Awesome.
49:04
I’m excited.
49:06
Go ahead and tell us where to find you. And you know, we can we can cut it loose. Okay, um, you can find me on Instagram and Facebook at blessed to work.com and at blessed and at blessed a word.com. You can find my books on Amazon. If you Google will search. God please help me find a job. Both of my books appear. You can search by my name Sonia, Cameron, Sonia H Cameron. And the books appear as well.
49:42
And that’s it.
49:44
All right. Thank you for coming on the show. My name is Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work though. Podcast on Google podcasts, Spotify, Apple podcasts. Of course. If you’re watching this on YouTube, then that’s where we get to and
50:00
Subscribe, and this is episode number 27. We got three more to go and then I’m gonna close out the season because we’ll be in summertime but that’s I’m in. I’m gonna be at the Summer streets. So see y’all next time
About
Meet Sara Duke, a woman who became a researcher in economic development in India. Sara was passionate about creating social impact and wanted to empower low-income, first-generation women in India to become self-sufficient and economically empowered. Her research and advocacy led to policy changes that supported women’s economic empowerment in India. Sara’s work is a testament to the power of research and innovation in creating a more equitable and just society.
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Breaking Barriers: The Journey of a Woman Economist in India
From Small Towns to Big Ideas: The Inspiring Story of an Economic Development Researcher
Changing the Game: How One Woman’s Research is Making a Difference in India’s Economy
Trailblazers: Women in Indian Economics
Empowering Women in India’s Economy: Insights from a Researcher
Shaping India’s Future: Conversations with an Economic Development Expert
Bridging the Gap: A Woman’s Perspective on Economic Development in India
Innovation in Indian Economics: A Researcher’s Perspective
Breaking Down Barriers: A Woman’s Journey to Economic Empowerment in India
Women Leading Change: Insights from an Indian Economic Development Researcher
Challenges and Opportunities in India’s Economic Development: A Woman’s Perspective
Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: Lessons from an Indian Economist
Building a Stronger India: An Economic Researcher’s Perspective
The Future of India’s Economy: Insights from a Leading Researcher
Women in Indian Development: A Researcher’s Journey
Driving Economic Growth: Lessons from an Indian Economic Development Expert
From Ideas to Impact: A Woman’s Journey in Indian Economic Research
Transforming India’s Economy: A Woman’s Perspective
Leading Change in Indian Economic Development: Conversations with a Researcher
Show Notes
0:01
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts, I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and now I’m in tech, let’s get to it.
0:19
We are switch into tech, tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech dot org.
0:45
Hey, Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work though podcast and today we have Sarah Sarah, what was your first career? And what did you transition to?
0:56
Wow. So my first career I was a bank teller at a credit union. That was many, many moons ago, like might say years. And today, I am a user experience researcher in tech. And pretty much at a lead or principal level. So I had a lot of career transitions in my journey. And in my path. I, the first job I had, as I mentioned, I was 18 years old, at that time had no idea what I wanted to do or what I wanted to be, I just think I landed into that position because I was good at math in school. And just thought that this would be a field or a job that I could that I could do. I think I worked that job for a for a few years actually. And I’ve actually well, or with that company for a few years. And then I moved into their loan application processing department. And then I was actually recruited by the Federal Reserve Bank. And by one of their branches, and my hometown of Richmond, Virginia. And there I was working in a new department that was taking over back office operations for the US Treasury. It was really, very early stages of this was circa y2k. So it was very early stages of what we would call digital transformation today. But it was basically taking, taking the operations of looking at fraudulently cashed Social Security checks, tax refund checks, anything that was issued by the US Department of Treasury, and trying to image those checks, as you digitally image them, but also digitally match the signatures to what was on record. And this is how a lot of fraud in the early days was was being captured, was saying, Oh, this signature doesn’t match. And there was some really interesting cases to see both the fraud, as well as the counterfeits This was also capturing counterfeit things. So I worked at the Federal Reserve for five years on this on this team was a small but mighty team because we handled over a $50 million of US Treasury check processing, and actually caught a lot of the fraud and counterfeit in the process. But that counterfeit was really I mean, the fraud part was also mind blowing, because there are some places in the world like in the Philippines, where we had World War Two veterans that were receiving checks for their service, and a thumbprint or fingerprint was being used to sign and that was acceptable. And but then, you know, in some of those cases, it was like this person is like over 100 years old now how can they still be alive to still be receiving this? So in those cases, the Secret Service actually got involved. And in one place, they tracked down a beneficiary or recipient who had actually passed away many years prior, but his wife had actually, you know, severed his thumb put it in a jar of formaldehyde and had been using his thumb for many years to cash those checks. They were talking like 15 years, because when the Secret Service went to that village, and they asked around, where can we find this person’s house? Many people didn’t know who they were talking about. And a few people who did it were like, oh, man, this guy’s been dead for many, many years. So it was it was quite fascinating.
5:29
I want to I want to interrupt because I don’t want you to get in trouble. You can you could tell the story, right? Because I know how the government is.
5:36
Yes, I can, I can tell. It was it was it was actually told to me by the Secret Service. So. So I’m sure it’s it’s fine share. But it’s, it was interesting. So I think the reason I tell this story was, this is really where my interest in human behavior probably started to take hold. From from there, I, you know, I would at the time, I was putting putting myself through my bachelor’s degree, and do working full time during the day and going to business school at night, getting a bachelor’s in economics. But I decided that I didn’t want to pursue a graduate degree in economic theory. And because I wanted to see economics in action, so I focused on. I focused on urban and regional planning with a sub focus on economic development. But as I was doing my graduate degree in urban and regional planning, I realized halfway through this 48 Credit program, that there was no way in hell, I was going to ever go work in local government, and sit through zoning planning committee meetings and things of that nature. I was just like, This is not my tribe. This is not like what I’m going to do. But I had a love for research. So I supplemented that, that coursework in that program with a post grad and Applied Social Research where I studied quantitative and qualitative research methods. And instead of doing a capstone project on like neighborhood redevelopment, or some sort of planning project, I wanted to do a master’s thesis. And my master’s thesis is what took me abroad. Because I was really focused on how to how economic development activities and initiatives and projects were being utilized to help empower low income and disadvantaged women women’s empowerment, was something that was very strong, that I strongly held, I was an activist in college. And so this was this was one of the one of the the areas that I worked on in my activism. And so I chose to do a thesis on looking at how the SP, a small business administration, SBA, utilizes women’s business centers. And it’s programming of microfinance to help low income first generation women, women from a variety of backgrounds to become self sufficient and become economically empowered. And I compared it to I did a comparative study with India, which was the world’s largest market for microfinance at the time of my research and my study, and it had all all shades of microfinance from very from commercialized microfinance that had its own microfinance institutions and regulated banking to grassroots activities that were basically you know, villagers coming together or putting their money in a pot on a monthly basis and kind of rotating it amongst their different households and community members for use on a monthly basis. So I, I was just, I would say, there’s one word that describes me and that’s explore. I’m always looking to explore and find out what are the common things that bring us together in the world? What are the similarities? And I’ve thought, Okay, this is really interesting, because we’re doing similar initiatives, but we’re in an autonomous society here in the US. And, but then in the collective society, it’s also very large, you know, very large economy, very large country in India, and also quite diverse in its population. They’re also instituting microfinance but in different ways. So I didn’t want to look at the actual financial mechanisms and study that, because I had already been more well established, I was looking more at the people behavior, more the motivations that I use the strategies. And the practices have those changemakers in the middle who helped facilitate and administer these various programs. So I looked at a Rural Women’s Federation in northern India, that was kind of supporting and facilitating more of a grassroots kind of microfinance way of getting money into the hands of, of, of the rural women there. And and then I was looking at a women’s business center in Northern Virginia, Metropolitan Northern Virginia. And what I found in my research was that networking on both sides was their central practice. And it was all about how do we get women connected. And, and that practices and the values and the strategies, despite being two completely different worlds, if you look on it externally, a were very much the same. And it was it was very interesting. So from there, it kind of kicked started my career in research. It I graduated at the time of the economic collapse in 2008. So the I didn’t come from a background of international development, in terms of I didn’t graduate from a prestigious university, like John Hopkins School of International Affairs and studies. I didn’t have that kind of background, but I knew that I wanted to go into international development. And I knew that research was really where I wanted to hone my expertise, or really where I wanted to build my career. So I ended up going back to India, in working with the nonprofit or the NGO that I had studied for my master’s thesis. And, and that’s really where I got a foothold because I just said, you know, what I’m just to put myself into the in the locality and into the environment of where I want to be and just go and do it and make it happen. And it was, it was great that the NGO or what we call here in the US nonprofit.
13:04
So,
13:05
okay, sorry about that. You could have kept talking, I was just like, oh, keep talking, keep talking.
13:09
Oh, sorry. Sorry. Yeah. So it was it was it was great that I was able, I had that opportunity to go back and work with this NGO, what we call nonprofits here in the US to continue to support some of the initiatives and programming work that they had, that I had, you know, help support them or got engaged with when I was doing my master’s thesis research. And then I from there, I needed to it was a great opportunity to just get in get back into the country. But I knew that I wanted to move on to bigger opportunities. So then I found myself working with a consulting firm that is India Indian based in the domain of microfinance. But once I got into the consulting firm, and I got into the commercial side of microfinance, I realized that there there was actually a lot of corruption in that field. It was not at the grassroots level, but it was more at as you got into the higher, more commercialized side of things. And it just didn’t sit well with my values, like charging 30% interest rates on a monthly basis was it was pretty, it was pretty tough to swallow. There was very little in the way of education for the consumers of these microfinance loans. And it was in so I decided, I’m not going to focus on microfinance, but I still have these amazing skills on research and I still want to do a Still want to put my efforts into something that’s going to bring about change in the world. So from there, I did pivot into the international development sector. And I was able to work I got contract I was living in New Delhi at the time, and I got a contract with the United Nations to develop a, an evaluation tool for measuring women’s empowerment in changes of women’s empowerment through their programming. So United Nations had a lot of programs focused on enhancing women’s empowerment. But the the term and the definition of women’s empowerment was pretty ambiguous, depending upon who you spoke with the agency, the background that they had, and the program that they’re working on this definition, the definition of it really vary. And for me, it was like, Well, how about we talk about the people who you are trying to empower? Like, what did how did they, you know, what did they define empowerment as what’s most important to them, and let’s measure empowerment based on their definition. And so that’s a that’s what I did is I went out and I did research, among domestic workers, I did research with unionized iron, or brass workers and Murata bad, I did research with porters, people who carry your belongings in the, the tourist town of Shimla, in the Punjab, so it, it was quite interesting research, what I really loved about it was looking at giving power back to the people and not saying, you know, we’re an agency. And here’s, here’s how we are going to define your experience or how we think you should be defining your life as in terms of these development goals. And so I developed this, I developed this evaluative tool for them, it helps to actually quantify what empowerment is and quantify it based on the definition of what was most important to, to low income women, which was, for them, it was eye opening, because I also measured it against what their partners and what men under their lives considered as women’s empowerment. For women, empowerment really came back to social standing and social prestige, a little bit had to do with material things such as having their own house, but that’s those, the community aspect of it of empowerment was really important to them. On the other side, though, men thought that as long as my partner has a home, as long as I’m providing her with a home, then she’s empowered. But this is not how women defined empowerment. And so that was really, really interesting. But it was it was a consulting project. And I wrapped it up. And that tool went on to be implemented in us by the United Nations in Bangladesh and other countries. And I moved on to Pakistan. So I went to moved from New Delhi to Islamabad. And there, I continued to do some consulting and work with think tanks and NGOs. And in Islamabad, and then I then from there, I met my partner. And we, he got an opportunity to work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the who, in northern Nigeria, on some public health initiatives. And I moved there and I also provided some support and research on on it, you know, helping rural communities adopt vaccines and vaccinations, what what was, what were effective social and social mobilization methods and so forth. In 2015, I decided that, that part of my life of living abroad in moving about which had been a bit over seven years, that it was time for me to come back to United States. It was quite an experience to live abroad and work in these various countries. I also had, in the meantime, done some assignments in Jordan in terms of monitoring and evaluation of international development programs in Jordan and in the West Bank. But I became a mom and I decided that I needed to provide a little bit more stability In terms of the, you know, where I was going to raise a child, in terms of ensuring that we had access to electricity and water at all times, and things of that nature, and so decided to come back to the states and settle back into Northern Virginia. And I was working in another nonprofit, outside of DC in the international development sector. And I just realized that the policies of that take place and that are crafted and drafted in the windows of Washington didn’t match with the ground truth or ground reality of the places that I have worked in, and the communities that I had served and been a part of, and had lived among, and I just realized that this is, this is a field, this is no longer for me. You know, what I’m seeing in the DC and the discussions and, you know, the policy
21:07
negotiations, just absolutely does not match the needs, and the reality of so many people’s lived experiences that these are supposed to positively impact. And I and I looked across, I really at that point in time, it was like 2016. And I had, I would say, a very, I had a career breakdown, like I would just went through months of anguish and frustration and discontent and, and discouragement. And I was really just trying to figure out what am I going to do with my life. Like, if there’s like, the, you know, there’s movies of the midlife crisis of the woman on the floor crying, just like completely, like having a breakdown. That was my that was, that was me in the summer of 2016. Just spinning my wheels and figuring out what I was going to do. But what happened, I did have a breakthrough in the inspiration came from looking at photos of Syrian refugees, because I had done some work with Syrian refugees in terms of monitoring and evaluating some of the some of the aid and services that they were receiving in Lebanon, and ensuring that that emergency aid and relief was being properly distributed. But looking at photos, and realizing that all of them had cell phones, every single Syrian refugee had a cell phone, and I realized that this is where change in the world is coming from. That it wasn’t coming through governments, it wasn’t coming through policymakers, people were empowering themselves and becoming empowered through a smartphone. And that they literally only had to have that smartphone to escape the escape what they were experiencing the the tragic, and injustice and the tragic, you know, war that they were that was being excised on them by their own government in Syria, they literally could just open their phone have access to underground routes being shared by other refugees that that showcase on a map, different border check posts showcase in the map, where they could get water, they had WhatsApp to stay in communication with their friends and family. They could you know, access to their scriptures to their, you know, for for spiritual inspiration and support. They had access to their local governments in Germany, that were providing their own apps in terms of showcasing both in Arabic and the German language, the services if you immigrate here, here’s how we can get you the support and so forth that you need. I was just, I was blown away by this revelation. I was just surprised. I was just like, this is the technology is the way the future of you want to support change in the world. It’s going to be through technology and technologies, what’s empowering people and their lives. And so I said, this is where I’m gonna shift my career. Um, I took a very hard route to transition and pivoted to tech. I actually took a course on UX design in the first part of the course. It was through one of these boot camps and the first part of the course was focusing on what’s the problem that needs to be solved. What’s the problem that you experience in our relating to you work that needs to be solved and go out and research it. Well, I got the research part, Gao, like I, I’m a UX, I mean, I was I had those research skills honed. But I became impassioned with the problem that I focused on, which was finding and securing and maintaining reliable childcare, because at the time, I was a single parent, and, um, and I wanted to, it was difficult to find and get maintain reliable, personalized childcare. And so I decided that I just kind of became enthralled in that solving that problem, and then actually ended up bootstrapping and starting up my own startup, I established a platform to connect parents and expecting parents to fully vet it nannies that included, what made it different from other platforms in the market was that it was full service like you, you could see fully vetted candidates, you could see their background and criminal record history checks driving record, were available, wasn’t something that was put on the parents who were trying to take advantage of that service, for them to go and pay for an extra service, this was all included. And it was all part of the vetting process of candidates prior to them even getting showcased or profiled on the platform. It also featured, you know, an opportunity for the nanny candidates to negotiate their their offers directly on the platform. And in addition to that, it brought transparency in the form of a suggested market salary range. So as we see coming about now, uh, with companies, by state laws posting, suggesting that, you know, you know, whether it’s New York, California, Washington all saying that you needed to post the salary range. I’ve been doing this in 2016, with my own platform of saying, based on the, you know, location, you know, so many different factors that we that I had discovered in my research with parents and with personalized child care providers. What those factors were, what was the average rate and range based on those factors, I could work with data scientists to create this algorithm, the suggested market salary range algorithm on the platform, to really fully bring about pay transparency, and really also to empower, you know, those offering your services on the platform to negotiate. And so I did this, built this platform, with a small team between 2016 and 2018. But realize that I, I realized that this, this wasn’t a business that I want to stay in long term. I think it was great experience for me to get the Tech experience dealing. It was it’s when you are a tech startup founder, it’s a roller coaster, really, really is. And it’s one day you’re putting out fire because the firewall has been, you know, hacked. And you have to, like, get up to speed with what does that mean? What are the solutions? And what are your opposite options for that? And who do you work with as opposed whether it’s AWS or some some other service? What’s what’s, what’s the pros and cons there to, you know, marketing and everything. So, it was quite an experience. And then, you know, from there, I, you know, went to work with an intelligent startup, or a startup in the intelligence space in Washington, DC, which was really interesting to go from your users being a childcare providers to those being intelligence agents, or analysts, for for the US government, in other government, other allied governments around the world. But it was really interesting, because it was just like, you know, these are trusted assets, like what how do we how do we help with that? There, wasn’t it in terms of the emotions and what people valued and how much they put into it. It’s the same as how much you put into taking care of your child, right? You want the best. And so how do you establish that trust? How do you maintain that trust? How do you ensure get people the best information To make the best decisions in their in their work. And so those are the interesting that I was able to make those the connections between different worlds and make that transition. So worked with this work with this startup for a little bit of time. And then the pandemic hit. And
30:22
it, you know, there was an adverse experience, and I had to, you know, transition. And at that company, I was a product manager, which was kind of similar to being a startup founder, meaning that product managers are fully responsible for the whole, you know, ensuring that the experience is something that’s defined, and that gets developed. And then it gets launched, I realized in reflection that I, in this period of the early days of the pandemic, that I just didn’t want to be doing the be the person wearing 100 hats at one time. And I want it to go back to my roots of what I really, really loved, and what I really enjoyed and focus on a strength. And so my strengths have always been research. And so this is where I again, made another career pivot. And this time it was into user experience research. And so I pivoted into UX research. And since that pivot I have worked with, as a UX researcher for Facebook now called meta have their own internal incubator. And I worked on a number of, of mobile app experiences that were, that were being incubated. And then most recently, I’ve worked with Microsoft. Again, this was also in new product development, where I, you know, worked across a portfolio of experiences. And this one was really interesting, because this one brought me kind of full circle back to my degree in urban regional planning, because it was focused on the digital overlay of physical experiences. So think of, it’s always called Smart campus, and you can think of like smart cities, smart campus, these are all experiences where you incorporating a digital overlay, whether it’s a car navigation, or kiosk, to you know, in a in a physical, it might be hybrid meeting rooms in a corporate environment. So all of this, you know, came full circle with that. And so I lead the UX research roadmapping, and research activities across the portfolio of those experiences. And so, that’s been my career journey. It’s been interesting. I’ve had a lot of transitions and pivots. But I think the thread when I discuss it with people is is that of all the thread is explore exploration, and trying to find the connection between people. And I think this is what technology is, technology just serves as the medium that people have always been there, they will always be there. But it’s how do we harness that technology, to bring those connections, help them, bring them to fruition? And and help them help each other meet our goals and our needs and our aspirations?
33:47
So yeah, gotcha. I mean, you pretty much answered all my questions. Um, last question would be, what are some tips and tricks or, you know, type of guidance that you can give someone that wants to, you know, go into, I can’t talk anymore. Go into changing their career.
34:14
Oh, wow. Um, I think the first tip and trick as as you’ve probably heard from other people, is you know, talk to people who are already in the career you know, figure out whether it’s for you first and foremost understand what are the challenges understand what what they love about it, what they like about it, understand what’s what’s the skill set that they use the most in the career I don’t think there’s a perfect career for any there’s there’s no such thing as perfect careers, perfect jobs. So be sure to get like what is the ugly side of it? Like there’s there’s a lot of Like, there’s a lot of careers that are glamorized, whether it’s entrepreneurship, even in the field of UX. But then when you get into it, you know, we have a lot of, you know, common challenges that we face. You know, I can produce research, and I can have product managers and other stakeholders that will wholeheartedly ignore it. And so you will face though you will face had those experiences in your career. So, are you ready to accept that and have and have to deal with that? You know, in the career of UX research, for example, we aren’t a new field, but we aren’t as well established as, say product management. So sometimes and a lot of companies, UX researchers are not reporting to another UX research professional, they are reporting to a designer or design manager who may have never done or worked in research. Are you ready for that? Will you be able to advocate in, evangelize or socialize what UX research is in that experience? So there’s trade offs for everything. And so I think, one in terms of doing that career transition is to really widely meet as many people as you can to get, you know, the pros, the cons, the good, the bad, the ugly, the challenges and the joys of it. So that’s the first tip that I was just another tip. In my field, it’s best to get experienced by doing some projects. And, you know, that is also going to let you know whether this is really a career for you or not. We do have a Slack channel called UX rescue, where it matches aspiring and, you know, junior or early UX designers and researchers, to nonprofits and other organizations that typically do not have the budget for this type of expertise. And you’ll get a project whether it’s a website redevelopment or working on an app or or, and coming up with designs for it and so forth. So get that experience. And and you need to start building your portfolio in that way. So those are a couple of tips specifically in my field that I would suggest
37:43
that gotcha, you heard it from Sarah. Where can we find you Sarah?
37:49
You can find me on LinkedIn. Sarah, Duke SAR, a D, U K, E. So linkedin.com backslash in backslash Sarah Duke.
38:02
And where can we find the UX rescue group?
38:05
It’s a Slack group. So Oh, Slack group, okay.
38:08
Do you have a link or because I can post that in the in on the video?
38:18
Oh, let me see if my kid you.
38:22
Other than that. Thank you so much, Sarah, for coming on to the channel. Nobody wants to work though. Podcast and thank you for listening and subscribing if you haven’t already, and we’ll see you next time.
38:40
All right, fabulous. Thanks, Elyse. Thanks for having me on today. Take care.
About
Get ready to be blown away by the incredible journey of Howard Rosen! He’s not your average MBA graduate – this visionary has gone from creating heart-pumping films to consulting in the dynamic world of Healthcare IT. But that’s not all! Brace yourself as we delve into the thrilling story of how he used his expertise to produce cutting-edge continuing medical education videos and even secured multiple patents along the way. So buckle up and join us as we uncover the exciting twists and turns of Howard Rosen’s remarkable career!
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Show Notes
0:01
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts, I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an Auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it.
0:19
We are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more, you can find us at www dot switch into tech.org.
0:44
Hey, this is Elyse Robinson, your host with nobody wants to work though podcast today. I have Howard. And go ahead and tell us what you switched from Howard and how you started. Great, very quickly. So my name is Howard Rosen. My typical career path of many is educated as an MBA, trained for a fortune 500. Company. I have to admit, I didn’t attend all my classes, particularly one that said you don’t go from graduation to running a fortune 500 company. So being profoundly disappointed upon graduation. Naturally, that background, I spent about 15 years producing film and television.
1:26
And of course, within that there is a long story. But at the 15th year, I was actually doing expand the company in the area of community of continuing medical education, and came upon this idea of a communication platform for patients and providers. So transition myself to the area of health IT, which I’ve done for the past almost 15 for about 15 years.
1:49
As we talked earlier, I have now holds seven patents on that one idea than that original idea that I came up with. And about a year ago being very tired of dealing with boards and investors and the day to day and having been a solopreneur to entrepreneur to running this company. I stepped down from the day to days are made on the board. But I set up a consultancy, which is helping companies in the area of strategy and innovation and transfer digital transformation, taking all the tools I’ve learned over the years.
2:20
So that’s the quick version of a very
2:25
here’s a fun question. What did you want to be when you you know, God became an adult? That’s a very good question I will impart I’m still grappling with that to see what I want to become. When I’m an adult. I really to be honest, I really didn’t know it was more. I knew I needed to go to school, I knew like frankly, what a university education and went well, I didn’t want to be oddly enough didn’t want to be in health, which is course where I am.
2:54
Didn’t want to be a doctor and just all these pieces. So sort of by default this it okay, I’ve got a business degree. And of course, as things happen in your life, that’s interesting twists and turns, I sort of got involved in film and then got involved in health IT. But it wasn’t a, quite honestly, it wasn’t a master plan to say, Okay, I’m gonna get this education, which is gonna help me produce $100 million worth of production. And then I’m going to help it and get a bunch of patterns. That was definitely there was no whiteboard that showed any reference reference to that.
3:27
Definitely, most people have said bet. One person said a soccer star. Astronaut was another popular one. I will agree with you that I love space, but I never wanted to go in into I’ll agree that I still don’t know what I want.
3:48
It’s you know, it’s, it’s a reinvention every period of time and because things change, environment changes, business environment changes, family changes, and you go, this is kind of interesting. And there is that arrogance to go, I’m gonna just do that then. Which again, completely because I have no sensibility, I just go ahead and just do it. Right sensible person very likely would have just stuck with what they had and build on that. But I’m not that sensible. Yeah, I’m noticing that there’s two different types of people one that likes to just discover any and everything and then when they do, you know, they’ll go all in for a little bit, you know, say they become a professional at it, but they they can have a conversation about it. And then there are those people that want to say don’t ever discover anything new but they just, you know, they they’re on a set path and like they never, they never deviate from that.
4:44
So maybe set for that. In my case. As you mentioned, I’m a very curious person, I read voraciously online and printed documents, and and magazines and things like that. And every once in a while, and it’s all these various turns. Oh, this is really intrigued.
5:00
And then I will get very fixated on the one that was intriguing filming the first one when he said, Oh, I can maybe do this, and got really intrigued by it. And some of the health IT I had this idea that I just couldn’t get out of my head. And again, I just said, I have to do this.
5:16
Definitely, definitely. Um, so where did let’s dive deeper into where you you started as your first career? And then how did you figure out that you want to transition to you know, healthcare IT and get your MBA and things like that? Yeah, so I got the MBA first, in part because going to school, I went, Okay, well, an MBA is going to be valuable to have just an MBA down the road. And I figured, well, do I really know myself what I’ve been the type that can go to school, work for a while, then go back to school for the MBA, and I went, Oh, there’s just no way they’re going to do that. So I literally just went right through, I still worked while doing this, but I knew I could get my MBA right away. It’s okay that that part, my education be over.
6:01
And then fulfilled for the film, it was really, it was not even a burning desire, it was more just till I figured out what I wanted to do. I used to go through the classified sections in the newspaper in those days to see who’s looking for part time work. And I’d go in there and say, well, I could do that as a consultant, you know, NBA consultant, that’s what I learned. As a consultant in one day, one of the ads was a producer in the film business is looking for finance person. So I went to the guy and I said, okay, the same pitch, I know you’re looking for a person, but you know what, you’ll save yourself all kinds of benefits and everything else. Is there a specific project you have? I’ll do it as a consultant. And then you can save yourself a lot, a lot of money long term. And he said, Sure, and it gave him the report business plan. And basically it was, he didn’t want us to make one picture every three years want to do three pictures a year, basically, tiny, tiny studio. Okay, film don’t know much about it. But film widgets, how different can it be, put a business plan together and said, Give it to him? He gave me the check. And this was out the door. He said, Do you want to do this with me?
7:04
Then what? Oh, that could be kind of cool. And we set a timeframe, which is like one year to see what happened. And on day 365. At midnight, we signed a deal for our first film.
7:15
And that watched me for about 15 years. And it said but did about $100 million worth of production. And in doing TVs, movies, live events, music, you know, across the board. And I mentioned earlier doing continuing education, medical education was one of the areas I expanded into. And doing this piece of type two diabetes, I can you know, I won’t bore you the details, but sort of these aha moments, but came across this idea for communication platform. And so I had run ins running both I hadn’t this platform is slowly trying to build. And one of my first client you’d mentioned, we talked a little bit military, but first client was an NGO dealing with veterans suffering from post traumatic stress.
7:58
And so had a pilot. So I and one week into the pilot, the executive director called me up and he said, Howard, I’ve got great news. And what’s that? He said, using your communication platform, you helped save a life.
8:11
And I just hung up the phone on him. And he called me back and I just I was swearing at him for about a half an hour after he says what I don’t understand why he’s so mad. He said, Is this good? I said, No, this is phenomenal. That some good idea I had can actually help somebody. But now I got to do it again. Like you can help one person I have to help one more person because how can I have something that I was involved in building? And it can help people? How can I not help people again?
8:39
So I had to quit my day job which is producing film and I said I’ve got to make this thing work. And that’s what launched me into the world of health IT
8:50
Gotcha. You mentioned classified I’m old enough to remember
8:55
Yeah, sorry. I should have I shouldn’t qualify that for the your younger audience.
9:01
The newspapers like oh gosh, you don’t have newspapers anymore but I remember going in there circling to and read the Roman stuff so
9:12
so my age
9:14
each myself from this guy’s you’re 25 to 40 Because you’re 25 to 30 Right? I have asked my sister because my sister is 31 is the shield member.
9:28
We’re five years apart almost. But
9:32
so how did you get the patents then? Oh, you know what? my follow up question to the consumer medical education. I thought that you can only get that as you know somebody in the medical profession. Do they just get your money and you can take these courses because now this was something
9:52
well, there’s actually some many courses you can actually take the CD courses you can but this is actually was producing them. I was actually making them. Oh, you
10:00
You were making them. I was actually.
10:03
Oh, no, I can you just go in here and take them?
10:07
Yeah. There are there many new actions that the average person can take if they wish. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I figured. So I’m like, Oh, I’m
10:18
so how did you get into creating the patents? Well, the patents were, again, it was a business decision and a marketing decision. Because here’s this goofy guy who’s a film producer, now professes to be in health IT. And so it’s really to get credibility by people that had suggested well, you should try to file for a patent for your idea. Just so you can sort of have a and it was really, they’re very expensive and really time consuming. But this idea of a provisional patent, which means you just file something that doesn’t cost very much money, you’ve got a year to actually file a full patent if it okay, I’ll just do a provisional. So I can say there’s a patent pending, and use that as a marketing tool. And then just one thing led to another the year came up and said, Well, you should you really wouldn’t want to do this or not. And what,
11:07
Kay, and just fell into it. Now to sit now it is it isn’t for the faint of heart, like I that my first patent took
11:17
over eight years to get. Part of the reason being the patent office kind of went okay, well, this is a unique idea, which has to be a novel idea. It had to be sort of, you know, not thought of before. So I sat past most of the tests, but they said, but you’re crazy. Now, there’s a lot of legalese to get into my diagnosis of being crazy when they weren’t offering me a patent. But it was eight years of not offering it or allowing it until finally I switched law firms. And when I got the first one, and from that point onward, they said, well, whatever I used to have, and they sort of worked with me to understand a lot of the thoughts and ideas I had relating to the first and others handy compatible products.
12:00
Gotcha. So that’s a patent pending means. So you can you filed it, but hasn’t been approved? Yeah, that’s actually smart. I see.
12:10
You right. And I’ve done trademarks before, but you know, I’ve never done it. I know, it’s very costly. I do know that it can be like a patent filing a provisional is not very expensive. Okay. Okay. So yeah.
12:25
It can take eight years, and then you don’t get the challenge. But you know what smart marketing. That’s exactly, that’s exactly it, because the reality is a patent. And you know, it’s great to have them and I’ve got more coming. But the value of a patent, as I said, you have to treat it to me, I have to treat treated as a marketing piece. Plus, ultimately, I’ve got a number of them, there’s now like a portfolio that has some has a value to it. But the reality of getting into the whole patent world is it’s only as good as your ability to defend it. So it’s fine that you get it. And then you go against a company, like, I’ll use Microsoft, as an example. They’ve got a couple of attorneys on staff, who, if you got a patent, they can maybe want to argue against your patent. And it becomes a game of attrition as to how you can go in terms of defending maybe valuable patent butts to defense of the patent, which gets expensive. So it’s important to go into a eyes wide open. Definitely. Okay. Okay, turn me on to some of the knowledge. Okay. And outside of that.
13:31
You were in film. So I mean, you have trade secrets, right? And so that that led you into making these courses? Because I’m sure they have videos and things like that, did you find that being in that industry first really helped you with your business? Oh, absolutely. In terms of health business, or even starting up a new business? Absolutely.
13:55
And it was because in many cases, I came with a different perspective on how to do it like I can, with the perspective and how you put together film, and how you put together a team and everything else. And I treated putting together my new company health it the same way as I did putting a film together, you finding sort of the best people around, you don’t have any investment at the time. You know, it’s all self invested. So how do you find the best people for little or no budget, and make this thing come together? So it’s pretty, it’s the ultimate sort of project management approach to to making it all work. And at the end of the day, as as I, as I thought about it, and in many in many presentations, I did get asked more and more. And it was really the the thread of everything and all this is engagement, the E word because as an MBA is trained to engage customers in film and TV I learned how to engage audiences, your eyeballs on TV screens or bums and seats in the theater. So that’s what I learned. And I use that in health IT because the technology is no good to listen
15:00
used. So I made sure and I work with clients and show the technology is actually used engages the patients or all the various stakeholders in there. But doing so I use a lot of the tricks of the trade, you’re quite from the early days of film and television, to ensure and understand understanding that whole concept of engagement and engaging the people. And frankly, as part of the business, the key part is actually doing focus groups, which I did endless infill I do and I sort of incorporated and forced clients to do focus groups, throughout the process of building the technology to ensure it’s actually doing what you want it to do and what it needs to do. And not what you think works. But seeing how the users do it like your time. And I’m sure you’ve run into this similar things if you’ve done across the board, but many times we have a solution. And the it and it wasn’t working and the patient wasn’t doing it properly. And the IT department said, Well, they’re doing it wrong.
15:56
And they’re not doing it wrong. They’re doing it the way they’re familiar, that works for them. So we’ve got to refashion it to a tune to what their needs are.
16:07
Definitely, definitely, I wanted to ask, how did you figure out that she wanted to get into the continuing medical education field, because that’s, that’s like out there. Especially considering that you were film and have an MBA and stuff like that, that was really became as an offshoot of the, of my existing business. So became another division of the business. And it was really,
16:31
I happened to meet up with a few doctors, and we’re talking in one day, so we should see this, this is really cool. Something they were involved in a continuing education piece. And I looked at it and you’re gonna have some sort of card carrying arrogant producer. I said, Well, that’s a bunch of crap. No,
16:49
I know what it is. But it doesn’t look good. The lighting is wrong. sounds wrong message. It’s all wrong. And then he told me how much he got paid for it. I said, You got to be kidding me.
16:59
And it was really more I took it as a challenge is that I could do a lot better job for less money and still make money. And that was really it. That’s what got me into it sort of going okay, well, I’m gonna show them
17:12
go to your earlier question. Curiosity was like, Okay, well, I was curious. And I went, let me see what I can do. And, you know, the arrogance part is I can do I think I can do this.
17:22
Definitely a lot of businesses have been created, because, you know, the initial business just sucks.
17:33
Um, next question. All Things come at a cost. What did this cost you when you wanted to transition from, you know, being a consultant, NBA consultant to jumping into basically a video creator, right?
17:51
TV, that was kind of easy, in part, because it was just go so young, it was more, okay, we just we weren’t gonna do here. But it didn’t know the difference. Even though my income dropped from being from even the early consulting to building a film and TV business. It was kind of like, okay, I can kind of make this work, the more difficult one is a transaction from being a reasonably successful film producer, to help it building a new business again, going from going to solopreneur entrepreneur again. Because that point, I had four kids family, you know, had the whole different worlds, but it was just as crazy as the single guy with a car.
18:30
And that transition to the health it was much tougher. And that involves talking to the family say, Look, we’re gonna have to make some sacrifices
18:39
in this transition, in terms until the business itself gets going, but it was also happy to say, you know, I kind of need to do this, but I won’t do unless I’ve got the support of everybody.
18:53
So there was a, there’s a tremendous amount of sacrifice, because change a new career, and you got to be crazy. A lot of you got to be crazy.
19:04
And that’s what my next question is, you know, what did your family say? I mean, were they like, No, you can’t do that, you know, what did your friends say? You know, oh, it was all part. It was all a combination of either you gotta be crazy. Or that’s Howard. Like, depending who knew me and how well everything else you’ll those concern and rightly so. But through the family and everything else, it was very much you got to be crazy. Why are you doing giving up this for that?
19:35
But so, there was a tremendous and really to get in the world of no, because trying to build a brand new business and everything you’re getting a lot you will get a lot of people say well that that won’t work, that can’t work. They shouldn’t work, even if it works, we’re not going to do it. And so it’s a whole new muscle and skill set I kind of had to build
19:55
at a later age to to do that.
19:59
That
20:00
Personally, I always tell people entrepreneurship has been the hardest thing I have ever done. I mean, it takes your confidence to a whole new level and it brings it down.
20:12
It’s a different level. Okay? And I mean, you have to be strong, you have to be strong when you’re eating your beans and your rice.
20:22
Yeah. When you have a lot of money in there, and you’re like, Oh, well, I can spend it, I gotta invest it, you know, exactly, you gotta really believe. And that is, that takes a lot, a lot. So it’s a lot of belief. It’s not for the faint of heart. And that’s why a lot of people don’t do it.
20:44
And for many cases, there’s good reason not to do it. It’s it is kind of gets escaped when you get the
20:52
you’re driven by the idea. And you have to really believe and understand the idea. And I went into it doing a lot of research and everything else is okay, here’s where I think it can work. A friend of mine, who was in health IT in those days, you know, his advice to me. So just remember that this is going to take 2.7 times longer than your most pessimistic
21:15
estimate on how long it’s going to take.
21:20
Which was and sadly, well, sadly, or rightly, he was absolutely correct in terms of how long it can take to do this. Because the problem just because you got an idea. Others have their own ideas and other programs, and particularly to deal with innovation. Frankly, it’s even all the more difficult.
21:37
Because you’re Landau chain trying to change your mindset.
21:41
Yeah, you have to,
21:44
I don’t know what you have to do. I mean, do you believe that? All these things are already in you? Or can you build
21:54
it’s certainly a muscle you have to build. Because there’s a lot of learning and experiential to understand how these things work. There’s no question that intestinal fortitude, I think it’s in everybody, if they find that thing that drives them. So you really question What do you want? Do you want to grow up? It’s like, you know, if you know, that could be your driver, or if you don’t know, that’s why, you know, people sort of have a stasis or whatever the case may be, or you’ve mentioned, again, if it’s a family issue, and something triggers you to go, Okay, I’ve just got to do this
22:28
for my family, or I get this idea. So I think everyone has it, it just matter whether it’s triggered or not.
22:35
Gotcha, okay. Okay. I’ve, I’ve always wanted to be entrepreneur, ever since I was a child, I wanted to be one.
22:45
I just had this idea of,
22:49
I didn’t want to work for anyone. I was like, I wanted to be the boss. You know, I want to try out my ideas and see if they work.
22:58
It’s something very cool to be able to do without any question. It’s really a cool way. And when I have worked for others, it’s not that it hasn’t gone well. It’s just not been great. Because it’s like, oh, no, no, I’m not gonna give you my opinion. That means that all we’re doing
23:13
is like, No, you don’t understand. You give us opinion. We don’t listen to it, we do what we want to do, because we’re the boss. And go Oh, right. That’s why I like being the boss.
23:24
No, I guess that’s why I kind of liked audit so much, because I was kind of the boss like, no, go against my opinion, right? Like, we can have a discussion about it. And you know, we can we can come to a conclusion. But at the end of the day, my opinion overrides anything that you’re taught, right? Especially when you’re when you’re backing it up with that.
23:47
Oh, facts really get in the way. Yeah.
23:51
So um, you kind of touched on a little bit where you did focus groups and things like that, you know, what else, you know, helped you build this, this this next career?
24:03
It’s understanding
24:07
really comes down to and it’s what I would do the consultant of the consulting I’m doing now. It’s understanding people to the extent of that, all these people drive all these all these pieces at the end of the day, let’s use health IT, particularly, its health. And so the ultimate user, our users are people. And it’s understanding that side blends people’s not just the patient. It’s an entire ecosystem of stakeholders. So you’ve got the patient, you’ve got a caregiver, you’ve got a nurse, you got a clinician, you got a doctor, you’ve got lab techs, you’ve got a massive number of people in there. Each one can provide your Wilbury the consulting details, but each one itself can be a problem, in that it’s a chain and either weakest and your team’s only as strong as the weakest link. And if you have somebody in the system that doesn’t understand not on board, whatever the case may be or not
25:00
Part of it, it’s not going to work. And when using technology, unless all those pieces are aligned, it’s not going to work. So in terms of So to your question in terms of film and TV, the one thing that did is make me really understand people motivations.
25:18
What would work, what doesn’t work in terms of all those, all those elements because of my job, if I didn’t get a high rating on TV, or if I didn’t get a certain milestone in the TV theatres, or my commercial didn’t do X, or the music show didn’t do why I didn’t get to have a job again, no one’s gonna hire me to produce or do the pieces.
25:42
So it was really to get that understanding and really make sure to learn how to fine tune and deal with that people sided to ensure good health it led to technologies used.
25:54
Do you find that?
25:58
Because I’m, I’m, I’m, uh, you know, I have my first podcast with business, brain versus tech brain, because like, I can do the business, I can do the tech side. And do you find that working with tech people?
26:15
It’s very different from working for from Doc with doctors and nurses and things like that. And who gives you the most pushback?
26:27
That’s a very good question. And to your point, it is a very different mindset when he’s talking to the IT department, versus the marketing department versus the C suite versus the users.
26:39
As they said, The example I said as well, tech departments as well, they’re using it wrong. It doesn’t work that way. And so a lot of the work that I’ve done, even as a vendor, when I’m selling a product is almost being a universal translator to translate what one person is saying, you know, he said, people separated by common language, even though using the same language, they meant different things. So it’s understanding all those pieces. And to your earlier question, in terms of the, with the film business helped me do this, when you putting the film together, you have different departments and doing, you know, lots of responsibilities on those pieces, and highly amazingly talented people, all with strong egos. And my job was to put this machine together and making sure I was talking together and see that university, that same vision. And it’s really the same thing in terms of the business side, in terms of health, it isn’t, it’s to understand the tech department and be able to explain to them what the needs are, and to work with them. And it’s simply with the docs, they have their own perspective, their own needs. And to have the, it’s gaining the confidence of everybody that I could look out and understand what their particular needs are, and we’ll get them addressed.
27:52
And that’s the value of the focus groups is because it’s a, it’s a demonstration. And, you know, this is what we’re doing. But it’s also really to test those hypotheses. We had all these various discussions and put all together, this is what comes out. Let’s now test it to see if it works.
28:09
At least possible stages to save money, because you don’t go too far along in anything that you’re building. And so this way allows you to fine tune as you go forward.
28:20
Gotcha. No, I asked that question. Because, you know, I have a fight with my business side, I’m a tech side, and I know how tech people can be. Yeah, you know, my business side, you know, I’m bubbly and friendly. I’m cool. You know, I’m gonna get my money, you know, because I’m naturally an introvert. And people are shocked when I tell them that. And then, you know, the tech side, like, I don’t want to deal with the people side, you know, I could get behind the computer all day and just focus. And I’m good with that. And, you know, that’s what I classify business versus Yeah, so it’s a struggle.
28:58
It is a struggle between both sides, because of the tech side, you want to get something else you wanna get something perfect. The business side is we want to go good enough.
29:08
If you want to get to a point, you want to get out, you want to get earning revenue from whatever you’re doing, the tech guy is going well, no, it’s not perfect yet. And it never will be tech, no tech perspective. So it is important. So the fact you’ve got those two sides is very valuable. So you can actually talk to others. You can talk to the tech oriented people in the business people and know what the motivations are, and find ways of making it work together. It’s when you don’t understand you have those two different groups that you run into difficulties and a lot of friction.
29:38
Gotcha. Because me and my friend was having a discussion today about podcasting and I’m telling him I don’t really care about that, you know, he was like, I don’t understand why you don’t care and I’m going to explain to him that we had this conversation and I’m gonna tell him that’s my that’s my business. I talking I want to put it out there. I want it quick, fast and easy. It needs to get done. And you’re thinking
30:00
What’s your Anna analytical side?
30:03
You’re trying to be calculating? So?
30:07
Yeah. Okay.
30:09
From that point, and then you get to the stage. Okay, what’s the marginal improvement? Let’s say you took the tech sides. Okay, we’re gonna spend more time to do whatever.
30:19
What’s the what’s the additional value you get in the product? When you go out there?
30:26
In terms of is it worth, you know, are you getting getting a 10 times increase in value to what you’ve created? Or is it a 10% increase in value? 10 times that’s worth spending a little time. That’s 10% It may not be worthwhile compared to what you got you want to be doing.
30:44
You’re right. You’re right. And that’s that’s the biggest side talking because exactly thing has a metric, you know, a KPI number. So I will tell him that too.
30:56
What are some of the positives and the negatives of your of your new career? Well, the positives are
31:05
what I enjoyed about
31:08
the arrogance of being a film, TV producer. And I remember the first film, I went to the first premiere, and on the back of the audience, and I asked my partner said, Well, what’s going to happen? He said, it’s not too sure. But I don’t think we’re going to get hurt, which I thought was a good thing. And so it’s been joking. So the film opens up, curtain opens up and an opening in the film opens up with a silly little fun little joke, a visual joke in the audience laughed. When we crap.
31:39
Something I was involved in the writing and somebody was involved in putting together another film and spent all those years putting it all together, we put a bunch of people in a room 1000 people in a room. And I’ve now have made them laugh.
31:52
And the film went up and down. And he laughed and cried and everything else. And it was a really powerful feeling to sort of have that ability to do so.
32:02
So then healthy teepees came around.
32:06
And it was like I said, that phone call that I mentioned, we said I helped help save a life using the technology. And then went, I said, How can I deal with the sort of Detroit thing of, you know, the film and TV side, when there’s real people here. And what in the response of God to our technology was similar, though, it was like, Oh, this is great, or we love this, or we really wanted and it was like, wow, it’s it really is that intrinsic, you’re actually helping somebody. And it’s not just a very trite thing, it’s actually it’s a very visceral, you actually help, you know, helping save a life is was huge, but even improve their life, or they left or they’re able to do something they weren’t able to do before. As a result of these, the technology is a real powerful driver. It also opened up my world to a world that never had before. So terms of positives, the insanity of having seven patents, you got to be kidding me. Look, anyone who knows me looks at you got to be kidding, he’s got seven patents. But it’s also I’ve had the honor of where I did a tremendous amount of work with the military. So work the Veterans Administration, Department of Defense, I’ve spoken on Capitol Hill, to congressional committees, if keynoted all over the world, which wouldn’t have happened otherwise. So it’s really cool and met incredible people.
33:26
And so changed, my whole perspective of my vital world was opened up dramatically to a whole new world of people thought thoughts and, you know, community. So it was terrific. The negatives are, almost take, just take the mirror image of all those pieces, it’s great, but it meant as time went on, leaving one world going to another, and those difficulties of transition, those difficulties are the sacrifices you have to make to get to where it is because they aren’t easy. And there’s no guarantee of success. And you never know which direction it’s gonna go in. And it’s, and it’s also sort of seeing the, you know, for example, with health care, you’re seeing the business side of healthcare, not the healthcare side of healthcare. And this is the business user to go to the head shaker and how decisions are made. That may not necessarily be for the benefit of the patients, and you sort of go But why, how,
34:26
and everything else. So it’s a whole other world. And the good and the bad, like I got it very much involved with government, govern relations and governance. And as I mentioned, spend a lot of time in Washington dealing with with bills to try to pass and change legislation. And you see a lot of the good that’s happened, but also you see the machinations on the political system.
34:48
So it’s kind of like, oh, you see, you see the good and the bad of, of everything that’s out there. And so you celebrate the good you sort of get disappointed with maybe the stuff that’s less good. But at the end of the day,
35:00
It’s really been a negative, he’s just it is that intestinal fortitude, you need to go on to build what you want to build, because you’re going to be faced with a tremendous amount of negativity to start with.
35:11
The nssr told many people, the good news is, the more negative people are to your idea, the more likely you’re onto something. But you need to work through that to get to the other side.
35:26
Good, okay, I can I can agree with that. I can agree with that. And my sister is in healthcare. So I really, I’m deep in it, I deepen it, I understand the nuances. Like I said, I used to audit a Obamacare health plan, though, I used to hear horrible stories from that.
35:44
So I’m very well aware of the business versus you know, when you’re deep in it, sigh.
35:51
Um,
35:53
you kind of touched on a little bit when we talked about, you know, the truth of being an entrepreneur. But what traits do you think would be good for this career?
36:03
Well, for any entrepreneur, fundamentally, it’s got to, you’ve got to start with a vision, you need to know what is what is the problem, you’re going to what is the problem you are trying to solve? So it’s good to have an idea. But the idea has to have, you know, this is my business side, my MBA piece comes through, you need an ROI. Like you’ve identified a problem. And you want to solve that problem. What is the value of that problem to somebody?
36:35
And it’s not easy to it’s not easy thing. You said, Well, this will make this easier. Yes. But there’s somebody what do they want that easier? It’s okay, you want that easier, but to the your target market want that easier. So it really is be able to look at your vision, and then really articulate that value, and that vision that you have for that.
36:54
And that happen at the same time having the passion to push through.
36:59
And so you know, key trade is definitely having a vision, it’s having that passion, you need that passion, you need to have that a bit, then very difficult ability to not disregard the negativity, but to take the negativity and see how you can build on it to say, okay, look, all these people are saying this, they don’t see what I see. Maybe you should take those negative pieces and incorporate that in terms of that vision. So you’re actually be able to articulate it better.
37:27
So it’s working with me, that’s a challenge out there. And you need to be able to look at that and turn it around to say, okay, how can I use that?
37:38
I’m pretty sure people thought the man that invented the pet rock was crazy. Yeah, but he’s running to the bank.
37:48
Well, exactly. And he just go, and though there’s some things out there that are just plain goofy, I,
37:55
I would suggest he didn’t have a vision for pet rock, he just go on to something and just took and ran.
38:01
I mean, I there’s this app that I have on my phone, and it gives local news. And then it gives like worldwide news and stuff. And it’s like a news aggregator. And a lot of stuff on there, I guess. Because I have, you know, the algorithm, the stuff I look at, and he probably listens to is entrepreneurship type stuff. And some of the stuff that people were making money on is crazy.
38:29
But and I’m like, What am I doing with my life?
38:33
Oh, my Well, my favorite. Now this goes back to a classified section. So there used to be a newspaper called used to be a thing called Reader’s Digest the river little magazine. And somebody put it so you’d appreciate this as an auditor. So somebody put an ad in there that said, last chance to send in your $5 peal box.
38:55
Over a million people sent in $5.
39:00
And the IRS and FCC was sued, tried to sue him for fraud, but they couldn’t because he didn’t offer anything. All he said was last chest and fiber. There’s nothing fraudulent about it. $5 million.
39:16
You’re just sort of crazy yet. I think I remember that story. I think I think I remember that story. And it was like, you know, it was like something about a space in stuff and you just used it in the money and yeah, your fan? Yeah.
39:34
So there’s no, there’s a lot. So in terms of I don’t know if I call that an entrepreneurship, I think that’s just brilliant.
39:41
is definitely really because I just sit there. And my saying is because I’ll often the article to my friend, my sister. And I’ll say but you wrote though, right?
39:56
And that’s my thing when I send the article and they’re like, Oh my god.
40:00
Are you are you? What are we doing? Well, exactly. Well, there’s a
40:06
PT Barnum with who Barnum and Bailey Circus. So he was a big Hawker, the turn of the century,
40:11
real showman, and his con one of many comments he made, one of them was nobody went broke underestimating the gullibility of the American public.
40:23
I can do that’s in the pet rock category in the $5 category, I can agree with that. And I actually got a chance to go to the circus before it closed down. I was actually an adult when I went to I wasn’t a child. I was a whole adult when I went. And I took my boyfriend at the time because he had never went, I was like, let’s go to the circuit.
40:45
Yeah.
40:48
So yeah, showing our age. But yeah, it exists. It doesn’t mean I don’t think the circuit doesn’t exist at all.
40:55
There’s a form of it that has changed. Yeah, it exists. Okay, guys, but it’s not like, not constantly other kind of hate when I grew up. Gotcha. Yeah. Which is, which is not a bad thing to be some of them just
41:11
as humane as I said they were. I think it’s a good thing. They’re not? Definitely, but definitely, um, last question. What, what are some last tips and tricks? What can you tell someone that wants to make the leap on switching their career? Really, I guess I bury the lead I touched on earlier is, you know, it’s great. You know, I think it’s great to have ideas in the vision and terms you want to do something. The difficult thing is, is it actually a business? Or is an idea masquerading as a business? So you have to sort of think through what is you want to do, I can’t, you know, encourage everybody is going to do so. And really untested, and talk to people research run around hasn’t been done before has not been done before.
41:59
Really being very clear. And is that know what the ROI is? What is the value? are you solving a problem? Is the first second as mentioned, first question, are you solving a problem that somebody wants solved?
42:10
When you’re already solving problems somebody needs solve, but they don’t know it’s a problem. You start to look through these various pieces in order to really get a sense of where you’re at with it all. And as I said, it was and it wasn’t facetious. It was, once you’ve sort of got that articulated, and you start on that journey, the more vehement people tell you, it’s crazy, the more likely it’s a good idea.
42:35
And then afterwards, you’re going to deal with when the idea does have success. Is everyone saying, Well, you know, I told you this, or I gave you this part of the idea, or it’s a whole other set of problems.
42:48
You can rub it in their faces and brag all about it.
42:56
All right. How are you? Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Tell us where to find you. Well, I so much enjoyed that. I love the title. Like I think you just I very much appreciate honored to be part of this to be asked to be part of your podcast. So for those who want to track me down, it is h Rosen, H Roc n at NOVA picks.com is in ova Pei x.com. And you can find me on LinkedIn and love to connect, always looking to meet more people and new people. And I’m so thrilled that we didn’t just meet all these. All right, thank you so much, Howard, for coming on the show. Thanks for subscribe me off. I haven’t subscribed. Subscribe today. We have about another 10 episodes coming up.
43:48
People People want to share their stories. So we’re hot. We’re hot.
43:54
That’s great. Well, he’s this terrific
About
Hold onto your seats, because this episode featuring Shara Ruffin is an absolute roller coaster ride! Shara bares it all as she opens up about her incredible journey and how she transformed her life from rock bottom to self-made success.
Prepare to be amazed as Shara shares her secrets to acing the LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) exam on the very first try, something she’s helped countless others do as well. This phenomenal woman has truly found her calling, using her own experiences to guide and support others on their path to success.
But it’s not just about career success – Shara’s life story is one of resilience and strength in the face of adversity. She’s overcome tremendous obstacles and turned her setbacks into opportunities to make the world a better place. With her infectious spirit and positive attitude, Shara is a joy to be around and an inspiration to us all.
So sit back and get ready to be moved by Shara Ruffin’s incredible story – a tale of perseverance, passion, and the power of the human spirit.
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Show Notes
0:00
Hey y’all this is your host Elyse Robinson. With Nobody Wants To Work Tho podcast I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an Auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
0:19
we are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to meet courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org record on
0:45
hey y’all this Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work though podcast and today I have Shara. She is a social worker and she does this fascinating business on the side which that’s how I found her on LinkedIn. So go ahead and introduce yourself.
1:03
Hi everybody. My name is Shara and I am a licensed clinical social worker by training. Former psychotherapist been in the field social for over 20 years. Think I don’t look like. But nonetheless, I am in a business for myself now. I’ve been in business for about two years and had a lot of success with it, which we’re probably going to go into so I am thankful to be here. Thank you for inviting me, Elyse.
1:32
All right, yeah, I didn’t want to pick your age, but I was like talking cheap and they’re doing that 20 years. That’s crazy. fun question. What did you want to be when you you know, were a little child.
1:46
I wanted to be at first, the next Mariah Carey because I thought I was saying, I bought after that I wanted to be an astronaut. After that I wanted to be a lawyer. And then I turned to social work. So there you go,
2:01
got most people have said bet too. So that’s a new one. Can you see? I can do it. Okay. Um, let’s see, what did your career begin what got you into social work?
2:19
I would say it had to be maybe my sophomore year of college where originally, I went from criminal justice to psychology and I’m in my advisor that time, it’s like, you got to see it. So, you know, intro to psych, I think you should think about social work if you want to go into private practice. And really what I didn’t tell him was that I was distracted by avoiding my class. And I was like, I was not paying to do nothing but But nonetheless, it was actually a good precursor because psychology is more ScienceBase and I was like, I’m not gonna I just don’t want it. So I was like, I like talk therapy. So he told me about social work. And the first thing that came to mind was don’t they take away people kids and that’s that’s the stigma of social work. So when I got it switched my major I never looked back. I love the field is soul transport is versatile in terms of what you can do with your bachelor’s degree, what you can do with your masters and if you get licensed, which is a must nowadays, it’s it’s very versatile fields beyond child welfare. So I I’ve loved it. I’ve had many different roles. psychotherapist, medical case manager, working for a nonprofit working for for profit psych hospital. It’s been mostly in mental health direct practice work. So that’s where my passion, my first passion lies. And it eventually morphed. I knew I always wanted to do therapy. Growing up in a family where mental health, especially in the black community is not talked about often stigmatized. I grew up with that. So I always had an underlying passion for wanting to understand people’s behaviors, why they do what they do, but also wanting to understand myself. Which Social Work gave me a very heavy groundwork and being able to understand myself better. Oh, gotcha. Um,
4:20
what was the catalyst that made you go into your business your entrepreneur
4:26
endeavors? Yes. So that is the big question that people ask me, especially on LinkedIn. So I have generalized anxiety disorder, ADHD. I talked about that a lot. When I started out on LinkedIn in 2018. I was a burnt out social worker, and I was mostly talking about the military. I’m a former military spouse. I also grew up in the military. My father was in the Navy. And we have a long history of military and our family. And I start sharing stories about the military and the stigma and and how misunderstood that community is. Talking about it from a standpoint of being a therapist, but also being a military spouse. Being a military child, I started sharing stories that are now back then with LinkedIn. Telling stories using articles was the thing, not as much anymore newsletters are right now. But back then I started sharing stories about myself, I started being more personal when people were like they weren’t really doing that, if it blew up is actually one of the first stories I ever wrote. And I started sharing more stories and trying to just break the stigma of a therapist and having all the answers which I didn’t, a lot of mental health professionals go into it because they know what it is to have emotional plane, or they may be still working through that, sometimes unethical ways through their clients, which is not supposed to happen. But that’s why people come into the field. A lot of times it’s because of their own personal experiences around mental health. So I start talking about that morning, it gained traction. So LinkedIn was actually the probably the first place where originally I was looking for a job. And it turned into so much more over the years for me, building it, learning how to connect with people build community, I became like literally obsessed with, with LinkedIn. So the story probably goes back further than just my current business. But if I can fast forward from 2018, to the last two years, when I started my business, it’s called Journey to licensure, which helps social workers, from a holistic perspective, work on getting their license. Why? Because that was my difficulty. So on LinkedIn, I want to say back in 2019, I started sharing my journey that I needed to get my clinical license now for social workers. It takes two years. It took me literally 10 years, postgraduate Howard University to get that license. Why? Because I had life happened to me. So 2010 graduate from Howard, and then I ended up getting my first level license, I failed it the first time at three points, took it again, two years past it, and then I just go into the field of working. Surely after I became pregnant with my first child, my daughter ages she passed away. I gave birth as had her seven months a year old. The guy I was dating at the time, which became my future husband. He was really struggling because when I was pregnant with her, he was overseas. And during his 23 year career in the army, he had never been in an area that was war torn. He was in Kabul, Afghanistan when I was pregnant with her. And when I told him that I lost her he was just devastated. We both work. And it was one of those things where I really struggled with depression. And the best way I did that was just it was unhealthy at the time, but I just fueled it into my career, I just became hunkered down and wanting to focus on building it. Life happened again, I when my ex husband came back from Afghanistan, I became pregnant with my son, Jaden was born with an abnormality where at six months he had to get have a very serious kidney surgery, that if he didn’t have, he might have died. He’s now almost nine. Now in June, he has a clean bill of health, but back then it was pretty rough. Having him and then going through a divorce. My ex husband had a baby daughter marriage, which I found out about later. And after that, it was like a, it’s like a blur. Now looking back, my son would constantly get sick. I work two to three hours away from my home, catching a bus or train walking hour and a half rain, sleet, snow, to make sure that I can provide for him because my ex husband wasn’t doing that. So working as a therapist until five o’clock in the afternoon, and then taking care of a sick medically compromised child sometimes ending up in the hospital with him overnight and still having to go to work the next morning sometimes barely, buddy sleep sleep. I did that for five, six years. On top of trying to work and provide for him. I went through postpartum depression, almost giving up for adoption because of my depression. Trying to figure out well how am I going to piece my life back together. So it was a whirlwind ride and I shared a lot of that on LinkedIn. And then I took my first clinical exam after it taken 10 years to qualify. And I failed it miserably by two points. I was devastated. Why because it took me so many years to get my hours so many years of pouring into my work to get to that point. It it was one of those things where looking back now I can smile and laugh because back then I was just that depressed about it. In our field, we need that license in order to go to private practice. We need it for career mobility and marketability. We needed to be able to practice in our field and also to have opportunities open for us. So especially for black clinicians, there’s not a lot of us. And it’s because the clinical license, the license exams are pretty hard. And there’s a actual, our board came out with a recent report saying that the people that don’t pass the exams are people that are black people that are older test takers, or people that have don’t have English as their first language, right? Those are using marginalized communities of people that usually need help, they need social work services. If we don’t pass those exams, we can’t reach those people. So when I share that story of when I failed, I took it again eight months later and passed it. When I shared a snippet of this decade long story of what it took for you to pass the exam. It literally blew up to like maybe I think was like 150k in comments. Because I share with people the journey of how many things happened to me along that could have deterred me. So when I passed my exam, I ended up going to this app called clubhouse clubhouse at the time was very huge two years ago, and I got on there and wanted to share with social workers what I did to pass my exam. So I started coaching social workers for free for the first six months. Now I have my license, I could have went directly into private practice. I did not. I still tried to figure out did I want to do therapy? I wasn’t sure if I did. So I ended up coaching for six months on clubhouse free every Monday night consistently with a study group. People started passing their exams. Then I ran into what who would soon be my future publisher. He said, Hey, sure. What are you doing? You’re doing something that works for people. It’s benefiting? Why? Like, are you still are you monetizing this? I said, No, I’m just trying to help. He said, Okay. So I want you to think of it this way, you now have something that people want, that people need, and you’re providing a service that’s needed is an untapped market. I need you to change how you value yourself. When he said that, to me, this lovely, white guy in Atlanta, it changed my mindset, I made my first $10,000 in July of 2021. As social workers, we’re taught not to look at money, we’re in it to serve others, which is true at the same time. What I’ve learned very early on is that the price that we set for ourself is a direct reflection of our value of ourselves. So I started pricing, slowly, learning how to build my community, learning how to leverage social media learning to build my brand. It took a lot of work. My first year, I ended up in Business Insider, within the first five months through LinkedIn, I ended up my first book, it’s called 90 days of prayer, it hit five time Amazon bestseller within 72 hours of the launch. That was last January, I became a well this year, I became a LinkedIn adviser to LinkedIn platform, the only African American social worker that has that title. So a lot of magical things happened. This past year, I closed out 150k In sales, which is about $30,000, more than what I did last year. It took 20 years to do what I didn’t to. And that’s what I tell a lot of my social workers, it was a long road. The things I needed to do, how I needed to market myself how I needed to build trust and community over time. So people, a lot of people like them would see that success. But I’m constantly reminding them through my story, sharing it over and over again that it took a long time. I tell my social workers that, you know, they can do exactly what I did. No, no, I can’t do that. I don’t have the skills I need just like yes, you do. It’s about what you do well, showing social proof for that building community and knowing that’s going to take some it’s going to take some grind. But if you stick with it and you’re consistent with it, it will prove its dividends. So that’s a summary of the story of what I do. I’m now launching two other services of what I do but a lot of I guess what has helped my business be successful is that building relationships with my clients, they relate very much to my story. Two years ago, almost three hours broken on food stamps for three kids.
14:47
And even after I started my business for first six, seven months, I was broke. April 2022. I made my first $24,000 in month. It wasn’t till the end of December that my account was like You know, your business is expanding, right? And I’m just like, I’m just gonna grind. I’m just trying to help. If you go in with intention of making money, you’re in trouble. If you go in it with intention of serving others, you’ll always be a fruit. And I’ll pause there, because I noticed that a lot.
15:19
I, it’s heavy, and it’s inspirational at the same time. I didn’t mention to you when I did my introduction that I lost my mother, and that was the that was a catalyst for me. So yeah, I totally understand all the blockers that go into life. And that’s another reason why I wanted to do this podcast because things take time. And you have blockers. You have ups and downs. You have the hills and the valleys then. Yeah, I mean, I don’t know what else to say on that. But um, congratulations, condolences. I mean, you, you are doing it. Let me see.
16:02
I didn’t hear Can I did mention to you. We talked about blockers. And you talked about the death of your mother. Last February, February, some teeth. It’ll be a year next month. my eight year old brother was killed six blocks away from where I lived. And he’s, I’m the oldest of five now for when I look at the year that I had last year, in terms of the success of my business, I would trade it all just to see him again. When I was in the throes of working, he had got done down. And so when I’m thinking about the barriers of what I’ve been able to do in the in the year, still still the grind of you know, going and trying to implement resilience within the framework of also making sure that I take the time out to remember why I’m doing it in the first place. I wanted to share that with you because when you say Greiner, Italy dotted my brother Samir.
17:12
Definitely, definitely I told you in my introduction, that I’ve moved to another country in Mexico, and my mother had never left the country. She always wanted to travel and do these things. So you know, I do it partially for her and partially because I enjoy it. But um, yeah, I mean, it. It changes you, hopefully for the good, but I mean, that it just changes you forever. And what did you have support when you wanted to pivot and do these things? What did your babies say? And, you know, your friends, your family, you know, they consider you to be crazy.
17:57
Yes, and no. I felt like I kind of got lucky in a sense that I over time. A lot of people when they go into business, they’re building, they’re building a business before they build their community for it. For me, I had already built a community. It was just capitalizing on it. For my family, they saw out I have a story to tell you about that. For my family, they were just happy to support me to a degree. But I mean, first generation college graduate first generation to get a master’s degree first generation to be author of first generation to have a business a successful one at that. It’s one of those things that I’ve kind of had to roll with the punches with my family. It wasn’t until they saw me actually the money part of it that they were like, okay, because I did have some pushback when I was like, okay, when are you going to get a job like? And it wasn’t until I’ll tell you a funny story. And I hit my mother, I took her I remember my first year in business. I think that around the time I made like 10 grand. And I took her to a xhale store and I spent like a couple grand and I’ll remember and I told her to go get her a brand new iPhone now. When I was in my popup days, that don’t be on a payment plan, okay, so and I just bought a trade off. So I called Kay mom. She’s like, Wait a minute. She’s like, you spent about a couple of hours without blinking an eye. Are you doing drugs? That’s what she said to me. Okay. That’s what she said to me. And I said, No, Mom, I have arrived and I walked off. And she didn’t say anything else after that. I think when it comes to family, especially if you know they love you and they care about you. Sometimes you kind of got to show patients and leave them where they are. You have learned that you can’t take everybody with you. And sometimes that’s family and you got to leave them where they’re at. Until they’re able to, you know, accept what you’re doing. Or you just let your behavior and let your actions speak for themselves. Not everybody’s gone standard grind. Even now, my father’s like, oh, you work so much, but yet you need help with your bills. But yet, how do you think I can help you like, my dad was homeless over the summer, and I got an apartment, and was able to get him what he needed and be done. Being able to do things for my family, financially, has been a blessing, a godsend to be able to do that as having a title as a social worker, because again, that societal stigma is there. So I’m constantly even now fighting the stigma of that social workers don’t make money or they’re working for somebody, or they’re in private practice. I’m not in anyone else things. I’m in private practice. But it’s not a therapeutic practice in the sense that it’s not therapy, it’s coaching. I’m just using my skills in a different way. But going back to your question it took did even now sometimes, like, even though they see the money coming in, and they were like, do what you got to do, I’ll talk to you later, they understand that, you know, I got, I’m doing stuff, but it’s still a fight, you’re working too much. You’re doing this, you’re doing that. I don’t have a regular nine to five job. So I have to, I have to be visible, I gotta grind, I have to. And I love my work. So it’s not just me working, the passion for what I do shows. And that’s the other thing I tell entrepreneurs, social selling is the way to go. It does take longer, but it always pays dividends. I have a sales coach that actually really capitalized on that with me, because one of the things he says is that people don’t call people like Gabrielle ever have consultations. And people will call you to like, you checking up on them, either they don’t respond. If they’re listening, they may not respond to you right away. But they I’ve had so many sales from building relationships with people that even if they said no initially, because I consistently care because I can simply showed up for them. Even if they return it, it pays us dividends, it takes time, it takes patience. On LinkedIn, I see a lot of people just cold sell and cold calling. And they wonder why I’m so successful is because I listening to the needs of the people I’m serving, listening to their pain points, and generally wanting to help them without selling, sharing, being vulnerable on that platform and sharing that I’m not human. A lot of people feel like they know me because they see me constantly they’ll see Jade and my son on there. Or I remember one time I deep fried a turkey on LinkedIn on Thanksgiving. I’ve gotten engaged on didn’t share that video, like sharing pieces of my life, for me is is very much a posing of what I did as a therapist. So learning how to connect with people for me has been, I guess, my superpower, I won’t say superpower. But having a mental health background has definitely helped learning how to be patient with people. And they may you know, you’re not for everybody. But you’re for somebody. So I’m gonna stop here because you know, I could just start reading all day. So I know that I dropped some
23:28
Yeah, you drop in Jim’s definitely definitely um, I don’t even know what else to say on that, you know, I’ve read that you have to build your community before before you start selling. And that’s what I did with with my own business this time around is that I built a community before I started selling to them so and that took that took about six months I totally get it um, and you know, tell like being being human like you said and telling your story where you come from and how you got there because I don’t know I don’t want to say there’s not a lot of stories out there about that but there’s not a lot of stories out there about that because me and my friend go back and forth about it my entrepreneur friends and we’re like okay, well how did they get there? You know, they say they’re making all this money and stuff like that but what was the journey I want to know the journey here No, I don’t want to know details on Oh, well you check this box and did this and talk to this person but I mean what what you know, how did you get there? You know, no one just started off Hey, I made you know, $200,000 this year like how did you get there? So I can appreciate you you know giving the background and the story and you know what you do to get there and you know generalizing it to a deeper to a certain detail but but yeah, um, let me see what else we got. Huh What are some of the positives and negatives of being, you know, in this in this coaching business? Oh,
25:10
we’re gonna start, okay. So I’m positive, I’ll start there, being able to control my schedule, being able to have freedom, being able to set my own boundary, and reinforce them as needed. But also growing in confidence, I did not start out as coffee confidence I did now I had to kind of grow into that growing into pricing. Asking, right, not assuming that people are going to know my value, but showing them and being able to ask for what it is that is a value to them, and seeing how I can work with them learning how to be flexible. Now price ranges, you know, being able to gauge pricing, learning how to sell, you know, learning how to close a deal. And also allowing patience with people, when they come to you and may just be at first just for advice. They may have been something they saw on a post. But there’s a reason why they came to you foster that relationship. Even if it doesn’t end in a cell right away, stay connected to them. Because calls go a long way than just email. I’ve call I text I check in with people, even if they don’t ask for my services right away. Because if they call me I’ll let them know you’re stuck with me. So I’m gonna check in or you even if you’re not like needing help with your license right now you call me for a reason. So if I can be a support to you, I’m going to try my best to do that. So learning how to sell how to be a businesswoman. It that’s like the grind the negative, that’s the self sabotaging part of imposter syndrome. Learning that I am a value. That’s something I’ve had to fight with with myself. So ensuring that vulnerably on LinkedIn like yeah, made all this money, but I still have thoughts and I’m not good enough. I still have thoughts that this could be better. Like I’m always trying to figure out how I can serve my community better. The pitfalls of sometimes I’m on the grind, and I’m missing things with my family. So making sure that I’m spending time with my fiance spend time with my kids spend time with my family, self care, I had an incident and yours that was very negative actually shared about it on LinkedIn, early post that I ended up in the ER, right before New Year’s because I had I get debilitating migraines. But with the migraines for the last two weeks, between Christmas, even New Years, it was happening every day, I would get up with a migraine go to bed with a migraine on one side of my eating. Now, when I went in to see the doctor, they gave me a migraine cocktail. After IV they did a CAT scan and nothing was there, which told me it was more stress and psychosomatic trying to be everything to everybody I cannot my family looks at me as the go to I’m the go to person, the person FIX IT person, what I’ve learned is that I cannot be everywhere. Nor should I be expected to be everywhere. And I’ve had to set those boundaries with my family. And even with my soon to be spouse and having to learn that self care has to be a front row, I can’t coordinate anybody, I’m no good. You know, people don’t want pieces of me, they want me as a whole rounded person. So I constantly have to remind myself of that which can be positive and negative, right. But it’s what you do with the insight, you know, to implement action that’s going to mitigate that you know what that outcome could be? So negative things, you know, learning that as you grow, as you become more visible, it’s going to attract various types of people. Me and my girlfriend, talk about this all the time that we always yelling the drink shots are no new friends. And the reason why is I’ve learned the hard way that some people come into your life to take some people coming into your life for reasons that you may not know. And not because of the money that I make. Now I it draws a lot of attention. So I now have to be very cognizant, and very careful because I wear my heart on my sleeve, how I connect with people and really figure out what someone’s intention is. Now I’m not saying I’m not going to distress, you know, distrust every person I meet. I give you my trust and so you break it, but it’s one of those things now that I have to be very cognitive and how I move because you never know who’s watching. I’ve had an incident happened to me where my book was copyrighted on like, not on LinkedIn on Amazon, by somebody in another country, six different coverage with the same content. And it was hella high water for me to get it off another incident where my Facebook account was hacked, and my Instagram account was hacked and it I lost like half my community. But the good thing was I was on variety of platforms and had an email list. So I still made up fine. So learning that in, there’s negative and Pogs, there’s tons of things I probably could say. But the one thing that probably sticks out the most is making sure that I’m okay, like everyone wants a piece, not everybody should have a piece and that time is the most precious thing you have. And to make sure that people value it that they respected, and that you respect your time, because it’s something you can’t get back. That’s something I’ve really had to learn and not to overextend myself. Because you know, at one point, the people pleasing girl comes out, and I gotta check her, like, No, you just filled me with them for an hour set that boundary there. They didn’t do what they were supposed to do not your problem, you told them what to do, like, just making sure that those boundaries are set, and I’m constantly adjusting them as I go. But also checking in with myself to make sure I uphold them because that people pleasing, wear my heart on my sleeve, it doesn’t go very well in business and people when they realize you know that they will take advantage of it. So just try to be really cognizant of of that. So I know I gave another
31:45
is perfectly fine. It’s all about you. Yeah, three things. I used to have terrible migraines, too. And I got a daif piercing. Um, you know, I was trying any and everything. And I was like, Well, let me try this and see if it works. And it actually did, I don’t I don’t have them at all. So maybe try it, try the Dave piercing in your ear for that, and number two, the giving yourself away and people wanting to be all up in your business and mix. And I call it I call it people want to touch me. That’s what I call it. When I moved to Mexico, you know, there’s not very many people there that look like me, right? And so everyone was curious about, you know, the black woman in Mexico and things like that. And I was like, they just want to touch me. That’s what I call it. They just want to talk to me and know more about me. And I’m like, Well, I have all these resources over here already. I don’t I don’t want to talk to you personally, you know, like, go watch a video or read my blog or something like that, you know, so I totally get you on it. And the third thing about the negatives of telling people Oh, yeah, this is what you were supposed to do. And they didn’t do it. I referred someone to Microsoft. I mean, what the one of the largest tech companies on Earth, right? And about three months after I referred him, he came back and was like, Yeah, I didn’t fill it out. Like, can you refer me again? I’d have left it on red. Like, why would you squander an opportunity like? So? I get you I do. I’m kind of touched on a little bit, but what do you think are some of the traits that someone would have to go into social work? Um, I mean, you could talk about social work. And you can also talk about, you know, the type of business that you’re into,
33:48
um, in terms of social work, because I get questions like on LinkedIn all the time, because social workers are very visible on LinkedIn. I’m still trying to teach a lot of my colleagues, it’s a very powerful platform for networking, not just resume. You know, that’s what it was when it first started was so much more in terms of building your community building your brand before you need it. So really, I would probably have to say, for social work, you gotta be willing to talk with there’s some of us are introverts. I am by nature, you probably like No, she’s not an introvert I am. I’m very introverted. But there’s the other part of me that has to be extroverted or I’m not going to be able to get my gifts. So, so social work, you have to be versatile in the sense that you have to love working with people. You have to be willing to be flexible. And you have to be willing to get support to social workers, just like any other profession, especially are in the direct service field. I believe that social workers should have therapists I was a therapist, I had a therapist, because you got to know what it’s like. To be on the other side of the seat of being vulnerable, you’re asking someone to bear their bearings in, you don’t know what that feels like. So how are you going to help somebody in that position, you’ve never been there. So there are varieties I could say about social work. But I do think that it’s a beautiful field. It’s evolving. Always. There’s traditional social work, where there’s case managers, there are people that are politicians, there are people that are head of organizations, professors, there’s people that are educating up and coming social workers. Me I’m on more side, I would say more the coaching aspect, I am directly not in social work right now, I do give clinical supervision to social workers that are needing hours in Pennsylvania, because I’m in Philly, I do give professional development to social workers who are trying to learn how to build a brand, how to use LinkedIn, how to maybe wanting to be a best selling author, learning how to build a brand, that can be that can work to their benefit, but also provide them with more opportunities, and just the job. Learning how to, if you’re a direct practice worker, learning how to build your clinical tool bed before you need it. That’s something I teach a lot of my supervisees is, when you’re first starting out in the field, it is low pay, I mean, that’s when anything, right unless you’re like in tech or something. But it’s all about how you use your place of employment, you know, adding value to the employer going beyond your responsibilities. And to give you a good example of that. When I was a therapist for about 10 years, about 22 specializations that I have on LinkedIn are from that one job. Because I was an outpatient therapist, they oftentimes needed different types of specialties. Some of my clients had schizophrenia or psychosis. Grief and Loss was something I saw that was a untouched need. So I became a certified grief counselor and provided that to them. They needed it play sandtray Play therapy, I became certified that was my own supplies provided that to them. What it did was it also trained social workers that were new as I became a C seniority in my position, I trained other social workers. So I taught teaching other social workers, how to take the positions that they’re in, and gain their value through experience. But also investing in themselves is something that we’re not taught to do. So. And when I’ve been by investing, licensing certifications, experience mentorship, I tell a lot of my colleagues that what took me 20 years to do, guess what you can learn from me faster and get there faster than I did, then 20 years, skip my mistakes, you know, align yourself with people that you know, wherever it is that you want to go, that you, you know, you’re around them, you are what a certain percentage of the people that you hang around. So just really trying to be versatile in social work, but teach people that just you know, being a case manager or a therapist, nothing wrong with those positions, because I’ve done them. But know that there’s more of the social work than just traditional child welfare, or working in social services, that you can really build your career in a way that can be beneficial. A lot of my colleagues like I just they see the money, but they don’t always see what it took for me to get there. So that’s why I do a lot of sharing on LinkedIn. About how I started out, it was, you know, if I’d go back 10 years, I would never have thought I would have got to where I am now. Without being in private practice, working from anywhere, being able to go to Disney World with my kids. And a couple of days I’m spending on the computer, but yet the bills are getting paid. Things are looking good for me now. But it wasn’t always that. So again, I know that was probably a really mouthful. But in social work, we’re told that were the backbone of society. When we are oftentimes society looks at us, and we’re not valued as much, hence the little pay. Hence, the licensing discrepancies that are there, especially when it comes to marginalized communities that need social workers the most. It’s a struggle right now. They’re actually revamping the licensing exams because of those discrepancies. But it’s not happening soon enough, which is where I come in to try to support as many social workers no matter what they look like or where they’re from. I’ve had many success stories that simply come from people that were like me struggling with neurological disorders or we’re busy parents demanding jobs, anxiety, depression, or really just have life happened to them, because they can relate to the story that I tell All, they end up coming to me and I’m more relatable than a self care like a self study program that they go to, or our program like that. Sorry, that was my mama, I thought I turned my phone on vibrate. But yeah, so I gave you a mouthful, but it’s a very versatile field, I love it. I’m just helping social workers from the extinct now that from my own experience, to me is more valuable than just working in an office that in a building, where path of people that I would serve when I was a mental health therapist wouldn’t even come in.
40:36
Definitely. You touched on so much. I’m introvert too, when people are shocked. And I said I become extroverted when I want to get my money. Yes, yes. Right. Like, I’m gonna get my money for the day. So I step out of myself. And like, I guess like Beyonce becomes I forget Yonsei or something like that, like, I become a totally different person. So, but yeah, I get you on that outside of that. Are there other like services that are doing what you’re doing? Because I find that, at least in tech, there’s all these boot camps in schools and things like that, but like you’re saying, you know, it’s not something where you’re literally being handheld, you know, a lot of times in order to pass these exams, and, you know, the experience portion and things like that. So, um, I want to say what differentiates you from from something else? But I’m curious to know, because I’m not familiar with social work outside of the you have to get 2000 hours, I think it is and a master’s degree, like, you know, what type of coaching and services do they have like, like, I guess more so like the the bar exam for lawyers and stuff like that, they have a whole bunch of stuff for that, too.
41:55
Yeah, so I can actually talk about that a little bit more. So with my services on a journey to licensure. I’m like a self study program, where you’re stuck, they, you know, you’re given a book, and you just kind of got a half at it on your own. My services are very much holistic in their personalized to the person at the time, there are many self study programs that I usually get end up getting the clients from those self study programs, because they’re either don’t know how to study, they’re overwhelmed. They’re, they have underlying diagnosis that they don’t even know that they have, or they take the exam so many times that they’re frustrated, and they’re stuck in this defeatist mindset. And because of what I struggle with, a lot of people relate to my story, they end up coming to me than just going to a self study program. Or if they’re in a boot camp, boot camps are usually a which is a group program, usually one or two days, here’s all the things you need to do, go do it. See you later. My program is about seven, eight weeks, which is unheard of. I like to see my group members through their study process, I like to build their study process for them, make sure they have resources. But being a clinician, the other piece is having a holistic view of the whole person. And not just on the exam portion of it, which separates me because when I meet with my clients, you’ve probably seen a whole bunch of testimonies of people that are passing most of those people either have anxiety, ADHD, a neurological disorder, or they’re really struggling with how to study for these exams. And there is a tutoring part to it, of course, but it’s more so the structure, the emotional support that they get, I’m pushing them, I’m giving them tough love. But I’m also nurturing and patient, where a tutor is only going to meet with you in an hour, I’m meeting with people daily, they have my number, my personal number, have virtual office hours with that they call me and we talk through their mindset, their fear, their anxiety. So it goes a lot deeper than just an exam. A lot of the programs that are out there, it separates me a sense that they’re getting a hands on live instruction, but they’re also getting someone that profession is a clinician so when it comes to diagnosis, or stress or anxiety, I’m more equipped to deal with that than someone that’s just a tutor. Right? So, which probably accounts for my success. I’ve had over 325 social workers so far pass their exams within two years by myself. So it’s it’s been quite a ride, but when I think about what to bring chase me when people call me, they’re like, oh, I need tutoring. I’m like, if you need tutoring, this is a unit so I let them know how my system is built. I either work with people in 12 weeks or 16 weeks, and then I’m gonna kind of be their motivational on call coach partner throughout their entire process, yes, they’ll get the tutoring part, the structure the tools needed, but they’re also going to get the support because a lot of times, especially when people fail, they’re fighting themselves. I’ve done that so I can recognize it and hold the space in a different way than somebody that’s just you know, going to the normal practice questions. So, hopefully it kind of gives you a better understanding. The give you an example of the type of people I’ve worked with, I had one lady who was deaf. I didn’t know she was her and I didn’t know she was deaf at all. Her name is Shannon Shriver. She’s actually on Instagram. And Shanice Shriver contacted me through Facebook. Now, I’m thinking this lady I’ll never forget. It’s like May of last year she was just like, hey, I need some help. Are you past people’s like, cool, cool, cool. This happened a phone call. I was very confused. When I found out it wasn’t me. And that was what I was on the phone with. Because I was like, Excuse me, this is not shaming, like, Oh, this is her interpreter. I was like, oh, and in my mind, I was like, oh, Lord, I’m not gonna be able to help her. I don’t do American Sign Language. This is just, and I just start putting myself in a box. And she says, No, I think you can help me. Let’s work together. I pass my practice exam. I just I’m really nervous. It’s my first time taking the test. We’ve worked together for six weeks THROUGH INTERPRETER, I’m nervous. I was like, I don’t know if I’m going to be to help her. I do it. Anyway, she texted me at 10 o’clock at night. So she passed her clinical exam, which is the highest license you can have. She was in Boston, Massachusetts, what I didn’t know about this lady. And I didn’t find out until later, looking at her Instagram, her husband died during a pandemic. from cancer, she had two small boys she was cared for. So she was a recent widow, on top of the fact that it her job was pressuring her that if she didn’t pass, you probably lost her job. I had no idea until I looked because I didn’t know her story. But when you talk about impact, those are people that I think of another guy, his name was Jimmy Ruffin, we’re not related. Six kids lack male social work, which is rare, right? Because social work is predominantly predominantly women. even rarer for black clinicians, especially males, not a lot of them. And I remember he came, he said, I need some help, I need somebody who’s going to be on me, he’s a busy parent, six kids has a heavy job. And we work together for about four weeks twice a week. Along with building him a structure for being a busy parent. Some people need more prioritizing. Some people need more support motional support, he passes the exam with flying colors. But if you said it was because he has somebody that he knew he had to check in with every week, and I was on like white on rice, sometimes people need that push, but they also need to feel supported, to know that someone else has been there before and that they’re not alone. So when I think about what differentiates me, I will probably sad to say more so looking at the person for what they need, and trying to do my best to hold the space for them, if they cannot see themselves passing the hole, that vision for them until they can hold the vision for themselves. So trying to have a nurturing space where they can, as they’re building confidence that they can go through the process and have someone there that can support them. So I know you’ve run tech world. But in terms of for social work and licensing, it’s been pretty rough. I mean, when people take those exams, a lot of times it’s based off of book knowledge, if you’ve been at school a long time, it it’s they gave me rough, because you’re working from a brain of what you know in the field and not from a student point of view. A lot of students who come out of school and take their exams right away, they do better than people who have been out longer. So there’s a lot of things changing with the Social Work license exams at this point, but it fully won’t. The changes won’t fully be in effect for two years. In the meantime, you have social workers that still have families, they got to provide they got bills, they got student loans. They have to pass those exams just like a doctor would get. You know, it’s because he says medical jury, he still has passed his medical boards. A lawyer you mentioned has to pass the bar exam to be licensed as a lawyer. It’s a safe rate for social workers and most people don’t know how hard our licensing exams are despite how undervalued we are paid in the field. So
49:42
so so enjoy this. Thank you sir, for coming on the show any last word? Tell us where to find you.
49:51
Um, you can find me on 5g platforms, you can find me on Tik Tok. You can find me on LinkedIn you can find Eat on Twitter, YouTube, clubhouse and Facebook I have a personal page and the business page that you can find so on if you Google journey to licensure or Shara roughen app pop up there. All my stuff is public. So I’m pretty visible.
50:18
All right. Thank you for listening and or watching. Nobody wants to work though. My name is Elyse Robinson and please subscribe and I’ll see y’all next time.
About
Meet Mia Gardner-Zambarano, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) who fearlessly went from working for others to opening up her very own private practice. Get ready to hear all about Mia’s thrilling journey and the ups and downs of working as a social worker in both public and private practice. Brace yourselves for the highs and lows, the do’s and don’ts, and all the exciting lessons she learned along the way. So, grab a cup of coffee and join us as we explore the electrifying world of social work through the eyes of Mia Gardner-Zambarano!
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Public vs Private Practice As A Social Worker
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Working For Others As A Social Worker
Switch Your Specialty In Social Work
Show Notes
0:01
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work tho podcast I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
0:19
we are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to meet courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org
0:45
Hey, y’all, this Elyse Robinson again with nobody wants to work tho. today. I have Mia and she’s gonna tell us about her interesting career switch and introduce yourself Nia
0:58
Hailes. Thanks for having me on. So my name is Mia Zambrano. I am a licensed mental health therapist and a mental performance expert. So I started my journey, I guess in my initial field, I’ve always been a therapist. So my, my switch into different careers has kind of looked like wandering within many different sectors of being a therapist. So when I first started out, especially coming out, during and coming out of my graduate program, I was doing something called in home family therapy. And for those of you that may or may not be familiar with the field, there’s actually a, like I said, a lot of different sectors you can go into, you can go into hospital settings, as a social worker or therapist, you can go into residential settings, program settings, outpatient settings, where you’re seeing someone in office and school based. And one of those happens to be in home where you’re literally going into people’s homes, and providing therapy for the family for an individual for a child. So I did my graduate program at Boston University. And I remember when my field intern chip construct instructor pulled me in, she kind of looked at me and said, Would you be open to doing this meeting in home therapy. And I said, you know, why not? Like I didn’t know any better. I was young. And I just wanted to get in the field so badly. I knew that was something I wanted to do at that point in my life really young. And it was just such an interesting experience. It was kind of enchanting. At first, it was really interesting getting to see people in their home environment. But you, you know, like a lot of jobs, you are grossly underpaid. And you are being more than super thin. And the field itself overall, there’s just such a high burnout and turnover rate. I remember even those couple years I was in that one. That one environment, that one agency setting, it felt like every time we had a team meeting, someone was leaving. And at some point, I was like what’s going on here? So you know, I had that experience for a number of years. And at some point, I was trying to make these transitions knowing and the narrative here was, I know, I want to do this, it just feels so intense. How do I make it work for me, but I enjoyed the work itself. But driving, it wasn’t just driving to and from an office, I’m driving to an office, to someone’s house to someone else’s house. And I’m doing this all day long. There were times where even while I was still in grad school, I wasn’t getting home till eight o’clock at night, you know, traveling all over Boston or the Boston area. So it was yeah, it was exhausting. And, and I still loved it. So I was just trying to find a way. And I think for a lot of us, it feels like we’re trying to fit a circle and a square. It’s like you have an idea or something that you really love doing. But the big picture like it’s just not fitting completely. So that’s how I started and where I continued to shift was I said, Okay, let me try the outpatient setting where maybe I’m a little bit in a school, and then I’m seeing someone in office. And even in that setting, they still had me going out and doing community work going to because they knew that was part of my background, it was a service they offered. So it took quite a bit to actually pull myself out of that. Because, you know, at least you and I talked earlier of this just kind of narrative of you’re supposed to do something you’re supposed to do it for a while to be able to show that you’re competent, that you’re gonna be successful that you can kind of earn your skin in the game, right? So it was just this narrow, like I’m young. I knew I have to keep doing this. I can’t switch this early. And at some point, I remember sitting in the parking lot of my job, like, you know, maybe four years into the game, and just being like, what’s, what am I doing? Why do I have to do this like this? And I took a chance I was reading actually a Gabrielle Bernstein book at the time. And it was just all about kind of trusting your gut and trying to go for the next thing giving yourself permission to do So in just knowing your worth and your value, and that’s where I went to a small private practice. So where it was a stark contrast was like the nature of the work, I was doing that it was a much smaller team. But it was all in office, it was in one place, and it felt really good. And, you know, one to skip a few. Now I’m down in South Florida, and I have my own business. And, you know, that looks like a couple different things. But it’s been really exciting to make it my own. And I think that was the difference was instead of me trying to fit a mold of what I was supposed to be doing in that world. It was more of me getting to do what I want to do by honoring that world, if that makes sense.
5:43
Oh, definitely. I know Boston. Wale is my first job. I work for the IRS. Oh, yeah. Boston is an amazing city. I love Oh, is calling originally from California. So okay, we’re like, why are you here?
6:03
I can jersey, so it wasn’t too much of a question. Okay, gotcha,
6:07
gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. Even though even the accents are kind of not far. And, you know, Boston, I say, it almost killed me. Like I say, I did time in Boston, because it was such a such a drastic change. But, but you touched on so much, you know, having to stay there to you know, get your street cred up. And I did three years in Boston, because, you know, I wanted to I was a federal worker. And so at three year mark, you have status. And so, you know, come and go as you please, and you get preference and things like that. Um, and so I had to stay, I had to stay in suffer. Yeah. Um, and eventually, I got transferred to San Diego, which I hated San Diego. Yes. At the time, they had a huge homeless population, I would get harassed every day, because I live downtown. I actually live in the street from my job. And so I could like walk to work if I want to, or take the train or the bus. And yeah, that didn’t last long. Yeah. But yeah, outside of that, you know, the career switch and becoming an entrepreneur? Is isn’t experience. Oh, yeah. How do you deal with, you know, the billing the clients, and, you know, accounting and everything else? Yeah, with that? Well, it
7:47
was a huge learning curve, honestly, because in a lot of the settings I was talking about, where there was comfort was, I was working for someone else. Even as as that looks like for taxes, you know, it’s a lot taken off your plate, you get a sheet at the end of the year, you present it and you’re good. And especially in those settings, you tend to get money back as opposed to owing money. So, you know, that’s always at face value. Nice. What I will say is, I think that is part of why it took me so long to make the jump was it was this, I don’t know how to do this. And I think where I kind of got lucky was, in my small practice I was talking about up in Massachusetts, you know, it was it was tight, I was technically contracted. But at some point, they made it so that we were employees of still. So I got a taste of what that looked like, what it looks like to write off expenses, what it looks like to kind of keep track of everything. And I think we’re now being like fully in the trenches of being an entrepreneur and a business owner. You know, it’s it’s always a learning curve, because each year it’s growing each year. It’s changing and evolving. So, you know, I think a lot of people get discouraged because they, you know, we think we don’t know how, and I think what I would say is, don’t feel like you have to know everything, like there’s always people to support you in that. And that’s I be totally honest. Like, I’m still getting support and figuring out the logistics of everything. For sure.
9:13
Definitely, um, this is kind of deviating from my question, list, but it’s on the list. Yeah. What was the catalyst that made you want to make the change? And did you have support when you made this change? Because you know, when you want to become an entrepreneur, you change careers, people think you’re insane. And then now they’re like, why would you give that up for that?
9:39
Yeah, no, it’s true. And to your point, like there was, you know, actually, so as a therapist, it tends to be a little different. It’s very rare to find a salaried position and the type of work I was doing, where you’re doing outpatient, or agency setting or in home work, you tend to get paid by the hour or by home Many clients, you see by your clinical hours, so there was always a little bit of variation there. And when I saw coming from I lived in Boston to your point for about six years, after my master’s and whatnot. And then I came down to Florida for a number of different reasons, mostly personal. And I actually went back into an agency setting because I kind of doubted I, you know, I don’t know anybody here, it’s completely new ballgame. I might as well get myself familiarized, knowing that it was very possible I could go back into a private practice setting or doing something a little bit different. And, yeah, it’s, you know, the catalyst was, I used to have this might be TMI, but I had the worst stomach issues. It was to the point where like, I thought something was wrong with me, I think doctors and like, couldn’t really spot it, you know. And the irony of me being a therapist was like, it was literally just the constant state of stress and pressure I was living and I didn’t even realize it, and asked me last time I had any stomach issues, probably around the time, I decided to make that shift. It’s not to say that I’m never stressed or anything, it’s just to acknowledge that a lot of times, we don’t realize how it’s impacting us. And we work the majority of our lives, so and the majority of that time within our lives, right. So the catalyst for me to your question was just, why am I continuing to choose to do this this way, when I know, I could be doing it another way. And I wanted to make it my own, I, you know, I have a creative twist on things, I enjoy the material and the content and the learning aspect of what I do. And I wanted to honor that. And it was truly kind of jumping into the deep end, finally doing so and say, I know, at this point, I feel established enough. I know I’m good at what I do. I know I really enjoy what I’m doing, I have to make it work. And you know, I have had a child at that point. And it was just kind of saying, like, I’m not just doing this for me, I’m doing this for my family because I don’t want to be spread so thin. I don’t want to be working these types of hours. You know, I was an athlete, and I hope my for my children that they are involved in athletics or something or other and I was like, I’m not going to be able to be part of any of that, if this is my schedule. So it was kind of it was kind of at a point like a rude awakening of like, I’m not just a business professional. I’m a person. I’m a mom, my well being matters was really the big twist. And not honestly not being fully willing to let go of being a professional and really enjoying this work.
12:42
Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. My sister is in healthcare, so I understand it very well. She Yeah, PRN. So she’s like, I’ll, you know, work to three days and then have six days off. Right, ya know? So I get it and circling back to Boston. When I said it almost killed me. I said, because I, I was having eye issues. And they were like, there’s nothing wrong with you. Yeah, yeah. It’s just the stress, you need to quit. So I totally understand. Here’s a fun question. What did you want to be when you grow up?
13:22
What did I want to be when I grew up? So it depends on when you asked me most of my life, it was a soccer professional soccer player, I and then, you know, I just I knew I wanted to be involved in sports, as long as I could. Soccer was my first love. I played it through college. I don’t regret any of it. I’m not that’s not to say it was easy. That’s a big part of my mission as entrepreneur too. We have a separate business going up for the athletes. And it really is a platform to talk about mental health and athletes and the reality of that. And, you know, so it’s kind of cool. I’m getting to live out that parallel life. And a lot of the performance and consultation I do the mental performance work I do is with athletes, in addition to entrepreneurs and business professionals. So while I am not a professional soccer player, I’m sad to report maybe someday, who knows? Probably not. But I’m getting to honor that. That piece of me ongoing by supporting that population by you know, bringing in my expertise from the therapy and psychology and evidence based practice realm, to honor that we you know, when you’re asking that much of yourself physically, you’re also asking that much of yourself mentally. And that population does not get that type of support. So I wanted to be a professional soccer player. And then once I hit high school age, I took a psych classes and elective and I was just like, This is what I’m gonna do. And I knew that I always knew I want to help people. I enjoyed being in a leadership role. So kind of the accumulation of all of that led to where I am now.
15:01
What was the process of going from, you know, working private, private industry to becoming an entrepreneur and having your own practice? Did you take any courses, networking going to mixers? You know, what was the process? And what did that look like?
15:22
Yeah, so I, like I said, I had a taste of it being a part of that small group practice. So that was a nice introduction. And when I really did it, when I really took the leap of going into my own world, I didn’t do it alone. And I got news, you’re probably wouldn’t have gone the same way if I had. So I kind of worked alongside someone else who had made the same decision around the same time I did. And I’d gone to networking events, I had realized that if I try to make my expert, myself, the expert in everything, and figuring this out, I’m not gonna get anywhere. So I gave myself permission to get help in terms of, you know, website development in terms of, you know, finances in terms of all these different things, I took some courses, part of what I do is writing so I took a publishing course, I took a visibility course, you know, I’m involved in different networking groups, I think that’s the biggest thing is, you know, with entrepreneurship and opening your own business, it can be very lonely, it doesn’t have to be. And you tend to find that the most successful people are not alone in what they’re doing. It may look like it, but they’re not. And there’s a lot of backdoor stuff that goes on. So, you know, initially that was the assumption was like, Oh, my gosh, how do I do this? And when I realized it doesn’t have to be that way. It was almost, it was a huge relief, honestly. And I found myself being able to make leaps and strides so much differently than I probably most likely would have had. I tried to do it on my own.
16:53
Definitely, definitely. Shout out the Christian. He is my entrepreneur, buddy.
17:01
There you go. Yeah, yeah, Realty buddies.
17:05
Yeah, we can’t do every day. Like he’s, like right now. And we go talk about YouTube and Twitter and you know, social media, and, you know, we want to do this and this, what about this idea? You know? So yeah, you got to have an accountability partner, and you know, a person in your corner because, like you said, in your show, so lonely, um, you know, only a small percentage of people will ever take that leap and become, yeah, or, and people just really don’t.
17:37
Yeah, there’s an even, it’s even higher percentage to your point of like, not many people do it. And then the people that do, there’s such a high percentage of business owners, entrepreneurs that, you know, quote, unquote, isn’t successful, or they don’t sustain or stay in that world, because it’s just so overwhelming. I think a big part of that is not giving yourself permission to still have a community or have a networking, you know, world or an accountability buddy, or just, again, acknowledge that you can’t possibly be the expert and everything it’s going to take away from the work that you’re actually meant to do.
18:11
Definitely, I heard you when you said, you know, you contracted out the web development and things like that. I’m a web developer, so I do all my own website. But when it comes to I call it coloring, you know, creating logos and things like that, like, I, I don’t do that stuff. So Right. So yeah, I have a person that I’ve been working with who like over two years at this point, so So yeah, I get you on that. Um, what are some of the positives and negatives of your new career, you kind of touched on it, you know, being entrepreneur and things like that. But what keeps you up at night?
18:54
What keeps you up all night? I’m someone who appreciates security and consistency. I’m, you know, I like to consider myself very ambitious and organized. And you know, what the things I want, of course, I want them for myself, I want them for my family, too. And I want some big picture things. When I talk about pursuing visibility. It’s not just because I like being on TV or something. It’s because I feel like it’s it’s content that everyone can benefit from. So a lot of it is how to make these things happen. And do it consistently, you know, had some incredible months. The goal is to have consistently incredible months and years and etc. So we’re in the grand scheme of things. I’m still relatively new entrepreneur, that’s that’s kind of where the difficulties happen or like the trials and tribulations is just figuring and knowing that it is a little bit of trial and error. If we’re being honest with each other, but I’d say that the positives are that I can truly make it my own. And I think that that’s what a lot of people are deprived of and where they get burnt out, as again, you’re trying to fit a Circle in the Square or what have you. And you don’t get to make it your own, you don’t get to bring in your own twist or your own true expertise or your own perspective. And it keeps me so excited and so motivated to be able to add, you know, the writing aspect of my creativity to add the speaking aspect to give different perspectives to be able to share these things to talk this way, you know, there are certainly a good amount of therapists that will go on a podcast or do different things. But there’s also a ton or probably the majority that does not, and I think it’s fine. And again, I’m not saying like you should do that, it’s more if you want to just being able to have the space to do that. So you know, making your own schedule, being able to niche down on a certain clientele, I didn’t have a say in who I saw, you know, you would have certain agencies that say like, Oh, let us know, like, if you have a preference, but guess what you’re getting who’s next on the waitlist, and especially if they think you’re really good at something, you’re gonna get the people that they think you’re really good at seeing. And that’s what’s really cool about now is that it’s just a whole nother feel to the work because you’re truly connecting with the people you’re working with. You’re getting to kind of discern what that looks like. And you’re getting to add these creative twists that make you unique. And I think that adds value really, to what you’re bringing into the world.
21:22
Yeah, me laughing. You know, you don’t get to pick what you want to do it.
21:26
Right? No, honestly, I mean, it’s called spade a spade here. They might say that,
21:31
but when I was at Microsoft, I was like, the only one on my team that knew how to program. And they’re gonna put you here and I’m like, No, I don’t. I don’t know. Exactly. Luckily, my Boston didn’t force me to do it. But yeah, that just brought back some memories. Um, one thing that I was listening to on another podcast is that I don’t know if he’s the entrepreneurial trade or not. But, you know, we have all these interests. Like he said, you write you do speaking, you know, you manage your practice. And they were saying that, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs are just all over the place, or at least it looks like it’s all. And people are like, like, what are you? What are you doing now? You know, and that’s why you need entrepreneur buddies, because they’re in that same mind frame of, I’m about to pivot this way. I’m going to try this. And you know, I’m not going to knock it because I already know what the deal is. Right? Right. Right? Um, do you find that you are all over the place? And let me add that he said in the podcast, also, that when you learn these things, and do these things, it adds to your value. And sure, no, adds to your value of being a mental health professional, or me being an auditor or accountant or, you know, a tech worker or something like that. And so do you, do you think that you’re all over the place, and that is the entrepreneur mindset, or, you know, you know, what the problem is? So, so
23:08
here’s the thing. And this is why I love working with people in this world, especially on the mental performance, I think, to take the dive to be an entrepreneur or business owner, it takes a certain type of drive competitiveness and personality. And for people that are truly that fueled by what they’re doing to go out and do it to that extent, I think you just like that drive becomes I call it the floodgates, and I joke and like, I have some nights where I just can’t sleep, because my I’m so excited about all these different ideas that I’m writing. And I’m like, in my notes section on my phone, and I see you smiling and nodding, it’s like, if you’re in that world, that’s just how you operate a lot of the time. And, you know, there’s certainly validity to knowing how to streamline that and make it so it doesn’t feel all over the place. But yeah, I mean, I’ve learned to learn to rein myself in a little bit. But 100% Like, I can absolutely be all over the place, because you get so excited and sparked by a certain idea. And you’re so all in on that. But then you’re like, Oh, what about this? And, you know, again, those creative juices kind of get flowing. So what I’ve learned to do is on or it, listen to it, and then see how it’s applicable? And is this something that’s more of a hobby or like a side thing that I’ve just, it’s for me? Or is this something that’s compatible with my business? So where my writing comes in is, for the longest time? You know, kind of going back to our earlier conversation? I used to get the question all the time, like how do you do this? So it’s like, and consistently just how are you doing this? Why are you doing this? This is so intense, how are you not burnt out? How do you listen, you know, to X, Y, and Z all day. And I was like, this is a great start of a blog. So I started a blog called sincerely your therapist, and I literally would talk about a therapists perspective of like, what I was doing and, you know, obviously honoring confidentiality, I wouldn’t go into detail but just like how I attended my self care how I was doing what I was doing, and lead to, you know, when I was in a school system, I wrote it I published a children’s book. And so like, it was always part of what I was doing. I tried to mainstream as much as I could, but I think you need to honor those creative aspects of yourself. And yeah, I think it’s also important question to ask, like, is it applicable to what I’m doing? Or is this just for me? Because there’s, you know, we’re allowed to have hobbies, too. But yeah, I think the nature of the beast is, if you’re in this world, you have a lot of drive and a lot of creativity and a lot of ideas, whether or not you see it as creativity like you, you have to kind of have that and that competitiveness, and it can certainly look like being all over the place.
25:40
Definitely, definitely. You kind of touched on a little bit, but what kind of tips and tricks would you give to someone that wanted to, you know, change their career, whether it’s changed their industry, or, you know, going from audit to tech?
25:56
Right, right. I think one of the biggest things is there’s so much noise, right, and we’re getting everyone’s highlight reel, do not get discouraged, because it’s not going a certain way at first, right? I think that you know, even with, again, some of the most successful people’s or entrepreneurs, you see, this one’s you know, multi million or billion dollar business or whatever. It’s not perfect. It’s like a relationship you see the relationships on on Instagram, or Facebook, or what have you. And even the good ones like they happen lunches, we all have our stuff. So just don’t compare your trenches to someone else’s highlight reel, and don’t let that deter you from moving forward. Another thing I would say is, I think sometimes it’s like shooting a dart into the dark, is get really clear on what’s important to you, not what you think is supposed to be important to you, not what mom says, or this one, or your friend, or what you should be doing or what everyone else is doing, really dial into what’s important to you what your values are, what your mission is. And you’ll notice a really nice growth from there. I know that’s really when I hit a stride in my own life in my own career was when I was able to dial into that really specifically. And I’m not saying that’s an easy process. But I think, you know, where people lose their motivation or lose their drive, or it’s not consistent as you lose track of that, why? And I know a lot of people talk about having a y, but what does that truly mean? It really is giving yourself permission in this life. What’s important to me, and what do I want to do? And why do I want to do that? So I think like, you know, the combination of giving yourself your permission to have your own process and not comparing, instead using that as motivation or, or, again, accountability. And then also just getting really clear on what that looks like for you in terms of why you want to do that. I think those are two really important aspects of getting started honestly.
27:52
Definitely, definitely. So basically should make sure you don’t keep up with the Joneses. Yeah, brace for no one yellow and map out a plan. Yeah, yeah. So you’re not all over the place and right, have a goal and you know, you you set the first goal get there, and then you keep going, going, going, going? For sure. So you get to the last stop. And yeah, any any last words promotion website?
28:23
Yeah, no, if you are someone that is new in your career or wanting make the shift, or you just feeling motivated that again, I work with, you know, highly driven highly competitive professionals that just know they could be doing more aren’t sure how are you have these mental blocks with these errors? Like I can’t, I don’t know how. So that’s what I specialize in, in my performance work. Again, I still do the therapy work individually. And my my bread and butter right now is definitely helping with the performance aspect. I love someone who’s, who knows they want to do something knows they want to go after it’s just looking for the how or the emotional kind of pathway like we were talking about to like how to overcome the stress, the anxiety, the performance, anxiety, the comparison, the self doubt, whatever that is. So I do a lot of work there. And you could get in touch with me on Instagram. I’m at a l e underscore V I E underscore Psych. P S ych. And on my website, you could find me at Lavy lifestyle.com. And I’m on LinkedIn as well via Gartner dash sembrano. So there’s a number of places you could find me, and I’d be happy to chat. I do you know, free consultations. And yeah, I look forward to hearing from any of you if you have questions or just want to connect further.
29:48
All right, thank you Mia for coming on the podcast. My name is Elyse Robinson that nobody wants to work though. And see you guys next time and thank you for subscribing.
About
L.E. Nichols is Head of Engineering at a nonprofit. She helps people “break into tech” by being the Founder of a Facebook group with over 16,000 members which offers mentorship. Follow her journey into becoming a Software Engineer and advancing her way into a Manager of other Software Engineers.
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Show Notes
0:00
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
0:19
where you we are switched into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org
0:46
Hey, y’all this Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work though podcast today we have L E and
0:54
introduce yourself L E, where did you start? And where are you now?
0:59
Yeah, so my name is La Shauna E. Nichols. Everyone calls me l e. And I’m known across social media. And in the tech world, for my work as a technologist and also community builder.
1:16
I typically always been in technology,
1:20
my road to my career, I’m actually a head of engineering at an organization called Scratch. And
1:29
my road to that position, or at least into leadership
1:34
has been very, very unconventional. So really excited to be here and, and talk a little bit more about it. But yeah, I’m currently the head of engineering, infrastructure, infrastructure and back in engineering at scratch. And we are the largest learning code platform for children or students K through 12, primarily.
1:57
And with over 120, something million users currently. And yeah, I manage all of our backend technology. And yeah, super excited to be here with you.
2:10
I’m here is a fun question. What did you want to be when you grew up?
2:16
When I want to be when I grew up, um, I always knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
2:23
And I did, you know, I’ve opened some businesses. But I wasn’t really sure if technology was where I wanted to be. I didn’t have a whole lot of mentors or influences in the technology field. So
2:37
it wasn’t really until I got into my undergraduate studies, I started off, started my undergraduate studies as a business administration.
2:47
I ended up getting a degree in business administration to minor in it. And I knew that I wanted to start businesses and knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. But it wasn’t really until the middle of my undergraduate studies that I realized that technology was like, where I want to go, just didn’t have a whole lot of influences to drive me into that space. So I started started learning on my own and self teaching there.
3:13
Definitely.
3:16
I’ll say that, that probably is one of the reasons why I didn’t keep at it and pursue is because there wasn’t very many people that looked like me in the industry. I’m gonna, I’m gonna date myself, but almost 20 years ago.
3:30
So yeah, that’s why I try to be a forefront and be a face. And you know, do things like this, so people can understand that, you know, we’re out there. Definitely. Um,
3:45
you kind of touched on a little bit, but where did your career begin? And what was your first career? Because you know, tech doesn’t really mean anything. So where did you start? Yeah, so I started off. So in during my undergraduate
3:59
studies, I started realizing that technology was where I wanted to go, but I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to disrupt my, my studies. So I kept going with the business administration, and eventually got a minor, A minor in it as well. But I started off in tech support. And so I started self teaching myself, computers.
4:21
And I eventually got a job as a tech support
4:27
engineer at Apple. And it was a consulting position that went through agency while I was going to school at the same time. And that really, really, that was like, that was the nail on the head or the head on the nail when you say that, but for the most part, that was what really, really inspired me is when I started doing tech support and I was like, Okay, this is where I belong. And so it encouraged me to number one, keep going in my education. I eventually I pursued a master’s degree in it.
5:00
But I also, I didn’t stay in tech support for for too long, I was only there for a couple years. And then I started self teaching myself.
5:10
Web Design and coding. So I was trying to learn application development without taking application development classes. So I started learning Visual Basic, it was a hot mess. I started learning Visual Basic in dotnet.
5:27
And I was privileged to have a lot of opportunities to do a lot of freelance work. So I started basically, with friends, associates of mine, teachers would ask me to help them build their websites, because I was, I also had a little bit of a creative spill in me where I would create graphic designs, and a lot of lot of mock ups and stuff of applications and websites. So I had gotten really, really good at like CorelDRAW. And, and yeah, while I was doing this tech support, I was also like, creating flyers and designing websites. And then I was like, Okay, I can’t just design the sites, I need to actually build them. So I can make some money. So I started doing a lot of freelance work on the side. And,
6:17
and then I kind of spun out from there, I graduated. And I had by the time I graduated, I had maybe about 20 websites online for like friends and family, musicians and my family was designing their websites. I was building my own applications and stuff, like within like a two, two and a half year span. And you know, that that kind of opened up the door for me to get my first software engineering role. It was a web design role, actually.
6:51
We call it a lot of the web design, and development. Now as a software engineer, we kind of, we kind of
6:58
bunch them together now.
7:01
But it was primarily web design. And that that spawned me out to wanting to learn about application development. And I kept going with just learning a bunch of programming languages from there. And yeah.
7:16
Are you giving me flashbacks, I started a web design consulting firm when I was 20. And it was funny because I had this 800 number and my digit was 20. Because I was like, that’s significant. I started when I was 20 years old. And I would go to these mixers. And I wasn’t supposed to be there because a lot of times they would give alcohol and stuff. So I would come home and bring you know, why a bottle of wine bottle to my parents and stuff. And I’d be like, yeah, here’s a wine, you know, mommy and daddy.
7:44
And that’s how I found a lot of my clients go into these mixers. You know, I was, you know, Chamber of Commerce and SBA guidance and all that good stuff. It doesn’t they say you’re supposed to do. And yeah, I build websites, and I did I did websites support, you know, maintenance.
8:05
And then Bush came along, and you know, oh, 809 and it was like, okay, nobody’s buying it. So I had to you know, I had to, you know, crash that. But, ya know, I’m gonna date myself again. But mine was PaintShop Pro, which I think Carell turned into. And I used to have these little dumb websites when I was a kid and a little blog and stuff. And it’s funny because I looked at it on the Wayback Machine. I’m like, take it down. Take it down.
8:35
You can’t be older than me. There’s no way you’re older than me and you’re talking about paint shop when you go away.
8:41
I’m going away back. Okay, I was PaintShop Pro. I never learned Adobe because I was like, I don’t want to take the classes. You know, all that stuff. So I was old PaintShop Pro, isn’t that you know, I kind of stopped when they turned to Carell. But yeah, nah, nah, nah, I, you know, I’ve given you probably around the same age as me, but I’m 36. So
9:03
what do you want? Okay.
9:07
But you’re giving me flashbacks all the way.
9:13
Buddy. Very cool. Well, at least you can relate to what
9:19
you kind of touched on a little bit. Um, you know, the catalyst. I mean, what did your parents say? You know, when you move from business, and you say I didn’t want to do like the business stuff, I want to do more tech stuff. You know, did you have support of your family? You know, what did they say?
9:35
I mean, to be honest with you, like my family has already kind of been hands off with my education. Like, I’m kind of on my own for a while, but it was once they started seeing like, you know, me getting jobs and holding on to a great job and, you know, life was improving. You know, for me.
9:56
They knew that I was on the right path. So really, they really never really had to
9:59
Too much worry about me.
10:02
But yeah, I never really switch I’m actually happy that I did go to school for my my business administration undergrad degree because it helped me when I was in, you know, I’m still in the corporate world, but it is it’s helped me understand how businesses work. And I think that is those are fundamentals and foundational elements a lot of Tech’s don’t have when they come into the field. And so when a company like when a company’s laying off, when a company is making cuts, when the company needs to fill positions when the company is adding, you know, acquiring a new company, like those things aren’t really taught in a computer science world in the world of computer science. So I’m grateful that I, you know, took a lot of business classes, because now, you know, as the head of engineering, or I understand budgeting, I understand what it is to build a team, I understand what it is I have soft skills, all those things that come along with how to operate in businesses is what I’m very grateful for. I’m not grateful for. And I know I’m a little bit off topic, I’m going back to that in a second.
11:16
What I’m not really grateful for is,
11:20
is probably not doing both, because I think that the fundamentals of computer science would have allowed me to get ahead quicker.
11:31
Whereas a lot of that stuff, I had to self teach and to do a lot of research. I had to find mentors to help me get on the right path.
11:40
But it would have been good to like maybe do a dual degree or only focus on computer science. And then also somehow some way maybe flip it where my met my Master’s or my graduate program was in business but
11:55
so as far as like how my family felt they saw me maneuver and then that way, and they were they were grateful that they didn’t have to too much worry about me. I left home at 18 I moved to Texas and went to college there. So I was away from family by myself for many years, really my entire 20s. And so like, you know, so I’ve been kind of on my own for a minute and just being resourceful and,
12:22
you know, always kind of
12:25
looking out for myself and trying to make the right decision. I started. I started
12:30
maturing early in my early career, so didn’t really have too many family didn’t have to worry too much about me. They were when they realized that technology was like what was driving me they were like, Okay, we see you do it. Okay, good. Good. Good. Okay. Keep going. Keep going. So, yeah.
12:49
Yeah, I have to say my parents never worried about me, like, honestly say, like, I always hated school. I barely graduated high school, even though I graduated a whole semester early, if you feel like, oh, look, I’m a 4.0 new No, no, no, like, the guy graduated with a 2.46.
13:08
And, at a certain point, my mom was like, you know, okay, like, you’re 16 like, we ain’t gonna talk to you about this no more like, you know, you can work at McDonald’s, and we won’t.
13:19
Um, so that was like, you can stay at home like, because I didn’t leave home until I was 22. And, but you got to go to college, you got to get you a job, or you got to be entrepreneur. And I did all three before the age of 22.
13:35
And, you know, I doubled and dabbled in everything. And then I ended up, you know, getting my first federal job at 22 and moving to Boston, and oh, that was a whole experience in itself. But, and I’m originally from California, and people were like, what, what are what the hell are you doing here?
13:54
But, no, I can I can definitely relate to that too. Because my parents didn’t didn’t really care or worry about, like, pretty much anything that I did. They were like, Okay, well, you know, we’re not, you know, you’re not, you know, eff up like, you know, do do what you want to do. But I will say my father when I left my federal job, he was like, why why why would you do that? And I’m like, Well, my mom was sick. You know what I’m saying? Like what was I supposed to do? Um, you know, then I ended up moving to Mexico after that and you know, it’s funny because my my sister is like, Yeah, Dad never brags about you to anyone he brags about me though.
14:33
People were whatever, you know, doing all this amazing stuff, but my parents never left the country so they don’t know what it’s like and you know, all that stuff. So I’m first generation on a lot on a lot of things. So you know, is like just like whatever but you know, they will they will eventually understand and see you know, when that when that time comes so I get you on that
15:01
Ah, Shoshana. I don’t know if you read Shonda Rhimes book, I forget what it’s called, I read it like, almost, maybe 10 years ago, but she’s she, she’s, she, she wrote a book, she mentioned about how her family when she became
15:16
super famous. She,
15:21
you know, she had all these television shows that were simultaneously being ran on ABC, NBC that she’s a writer and producer, she talked about how the majority of her career, her progress is took off and turned out to be fantastic. But her she didn’t have the acknowledgement from her family. And she was she said, when she would go back home during the holidays, nobody was like, Oh, I saw that I saw, you know, I saw scandal, man, I’m so proud of you look at look at you, man, you’re a millionaire. Now, like you doing it. She said, No one acknowledge any of that. And it was, it was hard for her in the beginning to, to deal with that, because she felt like if anybody is supposed to give you, you know, shout out of praise, Pat, on the back, it would be your family. And believe it or not, a lot of people go through that same situation where they don’t necessarily have the acknowledgement from their family, but they’re doing fantastic. And if you can continue to do great. And, you know, not necessarily have the pat on the back, but the family, he keep doing that it will come eventually, in my opinion. So I feel, you know, I was always of the mindset that I don’t need a pat on the back, you know, you know, because people, people think that, you know, you’re supposed to get a pat on the back. And, you know, I’m like, I’m just gonna do what I want to do. And you know, if it comes to come, you know, I’ve never won an award for anything, you know, or, like I said, my GPA was never on on a roll. Or I’m never going to be valedictorian, or nothing like that, or get kudos. But you know, I know what I’ve done. And, you know, I tell people all the time, you know, it’s like, the recognition would be cool, but at the end of the day is like, you know, I’m just, I’m out here, that’s
17:10
gonna keep going regardless.
17:14
So, my whole motto is don’t don’t expect kudos, because a lot of times, you ain’t never gonna get it.
17:22
Very good policy to have, I’ll tell you right now save you a lot of headache and heartache as well.
17:30
All Things come at a cost. What did it cost you along the way? Um, you know, what did you have to give up? Is there anything you had to give up? I mean, I’m, so I’m a mom. And I got married in the latter years of my 20s to my son’s father. And so
17:50
I was, you know, in my 20s, I was like, really rambunctious, I was doing a lot, I was working a lot of different companies or doing a ton of freelance. I was up at three o’clock in the morning coding, I was, you know, Barnes and Nobles.
18:03
ASP dotnet for Dummies, I was studying a lot. I was, you know, yeah, it was, it was a grind.
18:10
But when my son came, I realized that, okay, as scattered as you can be, you should probably not do that with a child, you should probably like, figure out your path, okay, you far as education, you’re fine. But education alone is just not going to get you to where you got to go. Like, you’re gonna have to use your brain and you have to put the plan together. And, you know, force yourself to go in that direction. So I, I slowed down a little bit. But my son came, and I said, Okay, I’m gonna stop hopping companies, you know, I’m going to, I’m going to, I’m going to get really, really good at development, I’m going to focus on the front end, I’m going to focus on these programming language. So I started putting things in place.
18:58
And so when it comes to costs, I would say that, you know,
19:03
when you decide to have a family, as a woman in technology, and the woman, software engineer and woman in development, or engineering in general, anywhere in the tech space, that you’re a woman
19:15
you know, the cost could be your family, if you put technology first or your career first. There’s, you have to weigh it out, you know, and
19:26
I had to slow down in put family first because I got married and I had my son after that. And so I would say that I probably would have been moving a little bit faster
19:39
towards a more lucrative career if my son came, but I had to slow down and it did. It did help me focus though, so I would just say that in terms of costs, time,
19:53
you know, it costs me time, you know, to from the time that I
20:00
decided to have a family where things sort of slowed in, I was just kind of focused on just, you know, maintaining the career and being a mom and a wife. And, and then all the way up until my son got to an age where I can be away from him a lot, you know what I mean? Or I could spend more time externally and do things inside of the community. And, you know, so I would say, in terms of cost, like not, not monetary monetarily, it’s more time. You know, being great in technology or anything within the tech space requires time. And that was something that I really had to juggle early in my career. And so now, you know, it’s my son is in the perfect his last year in high school, and I couldn’t be away from him. I travel a lot now. So, but I had to give it up in the beginning. And now I’m able to do all that stuff. So
20:54
definitely, definitely my I have a nephew, he just turned 10 Last month, and my sister is like, I’m so happy, like, I can just leave him by
21:04
to watch him. And all that good stuff. And you know, like, Yeah, but my, my nephew has always been pretty independent. I think he, he’s like me, he’s my twin, he probably should have been my child.
21:18
And we look just alike, just.
21:21
But, ya know, I get it. I do.
21:26
I’m gonna rephrase this question a little bit different. Because you you pretty much always been in tech.
21:32
What would you say? Was your, your process into getting into tech? Because everyone’s process is different? Yeah, no, I definitely talked about my process and my, my business versus tech brain, you know, because I didn’t start off in tech. And people like I, you know, I took a bootcamp. I was self taught, you know, I studied in college, like, you know, what was your path? Yeah, I mean, my path was, you know, like I said,
22:04
though, I had the education like that didn’t, didn’t really matter.
22:09
My path was like, you know, figure out what you want to do. Okay, I knew I wanted to be a software engineer, I knew I wanted to be
22:19
heavily embedded in tech. And I knew I wanted to be a leader. But that was really my goal, my goal was to get in to be in some sort of a leadership role within technology, ideally, technology management, because I not only equally enjoy programming, but I also just enjoy, I enjoy networking, I enjoy information systems, I enjoy technology in general. And so I, my, my goal was to get really, really good at one thing, and I did, I started learning C sharp, I started learning JavaScript, I started learning a few different languages. And I really focus my attention on learning those and become an expert at those eventually, I started teaching part time on the side, but but really, my path to my 15 year, software engineering career was really just to get good at one or two or three things, and then stick to that a lot of people like to do a bunch of stuff. And then they don’t, they don’t have the opportunity to be an expert at it. And so with me, we zone in on those three programming languages. And this area of development allowed me to go to any company, I want to fill out a resume on my resume and get in no problem. Because I specialize I really, really focused on becoming an expert at those areas. And so I would say that, for anyone trying to pick their path, the real goal is like to really just focus like to figure out
23:56
one, two, I would say Kappa, that three things that you can be an expert at. And really, really, really become an expert at those because those are the things that are going to keep you employed. I have not been unemployed. Since 2000, and Z, my son was born in 22,006. I haven’t been unemployed since 2002. I’ve been nonstop unemployed all this time. So So and it’s mainly because I focused on those three things.
24:28
And I became an expert at him. So I became an expert at front end development. I got really, really good at and became an expert at JavaScript became an expert at C sharp, I even crossed my my knowledge of C and C sharp and dotnet over into iOS development when Apple became a thing and so I haven’t that connection with those different languages really just allowed me to maneuver my pathway whichever I want to and really, that was just that will be my
25:00
My,
25:02
that’d be my suggestion to anyone. But for me, it was just becoming an expert at those things and like really, really driving towards them in everything that I did.
25:12
How long did you How long do you think it took you to become this expert,
25:18
I would say, non stop, I would say about four to five years, non stop, like grinding four to five years, really, you know,
25:28
becoming good at frameworks, you know, an understanding, like, we have react, we have Angular, and these things didn’t exist. When I first came in, we’re so blessed to have these things now. But like, you know, getting really good at JavaScript.
25:43
You know, understanding object orientated programming, and like just really zoning in, I would say, took me about a good four to five years, it’s not, it’s not about the amount of time that you put in, it’s really it’s it, I mean, it is about the time you put put in, it’s about
26:03
it’s, it’s about how you learn. So I was blessed to have friends. Eventually, I became friends with a lot of individuals who I would pair code with, we get together on the weekends and pair code.
26:19
And so yeah, it’s it’s about, like really zoning in on on the technology. And, you know, it does take time, you got to spend time, but
26:31
just trying to become an expert at one or two or three things, ideally.
26:37
Um, oh, gosh, I lost my question.
26:42
I was gonna say that.
26:46
Ya hear her? It took her four to five years. And, you know, I guess my question was going to be, you know, what were you doing in the meantime, but you were doing tech support, which was very different than software engineering. My question is, do you think because, you know, the thing is, now that you can be in tech, and not have to learn to program. And in my mind, I was like, You need to know programming, because there’s so many people that want to be in tech. And they’re like, Yeah, I don’t want to program and all this other kind of stuff. And I’m just like, you know, you can’t really get around tech, you know, without the programming part of it. But that’s just, that’s my opinion on it. Because even when I was in cloud, it’s like, okay, they were trying to put me on DevOps, because I didn’t know how to program. No one on my team knew how to how to program. So it’s like, okay,
27:38
so what is your end? I mean, you can you can go without learning programming, but But
27:45
I mean, if you’re looking at like a lucrative career, like programming is where it’s at, there’s, there’s, I think, last statistic, I saw, there was like, over 300,000 jobs in America right now, for programming. I know, we just went through a bunch of layoffs with some of the top 10 large tech companies, but like, programming is like the intro to a lot of areas. And so it is, it’ll always be like, the most lucrative career in technology, like learning how to code. And understanding how programming algorithms work. And the fundamentals of programming is like, it’ll always be the top paying job in technology always, always.
28:25
You know, you can be a project manager, you know, you can be a product manager, you can be tech support, and now they’re returning code.
28:33
There’s there are, there are things you can do that don’t touch coding, or don’t touch programming. But those areas aren’t, as in demand as a software engineer, as a programmer. And that’s why you can find companies like my company who are willing to pay people, two 300, or $400,000. To come in as a programmer, because it is it is a
29:00
it’s a very intense
29:02
it’s a very specialized area of technology that requires you to really be logical, critically think, and you know, and that’s usually those type of jobs are what pays the most money. So if you’re looking at where to go, you know, what area of technology you belong to ask yourself, like, am I looking for something easy? That, you know, that just sparks my interest? Or am I looking for something challenging that pays me well, and if you’re looking for something challenging, that pays you well, is programming, and like you said, it touches in so many different areas, like if you’re in the cloud, you might have to write a script, you know,
29:43
our TP O’s, they write, they look at pull requests, they’re looking at code, you know, they’re suggested just in comments.
29:52
You know, even if you end up being a project manager and you’re working in JIRA, some of those little specialized plugins require
30:00
To write a script or write a piece of code in those applications, so, so it does touch a bunch of different areas and different focuses within tech.
30:10
My suggestion is, and what I’m trying to do is bring more people of color into the programming space because it is still very, very underpopulated. There is a ton of jobs available, and not enough people to fill them. And with AI, and all these more sophisticated
30:28
technology focuses like machine learning, that are now becoming a thing.
30:35
In programming, as programmers are going to be even more in demand. So it’s like why not? Why not be a part of, you know, revolution and help drive the future of technology, which is basically a coding.
30:48
Right?
30:50
And I didn’t mean that, you know, there was no jobs. I’m just saying that, to me, software, engineering, coding, whatever you programming, whatever you want to call it is the foundation. I mean, it’s literally how computer science and tech began. And you know, and I think that you should at least probably have maybe one course on it, so you understand the fundamentals and the basics.
31:14
But yeah, I mean, people, you know, say these jobs and things like that, like there was one not too long ago, not too long ago, and they were like, Yeah, you can be like you were saying a technical program manager. And I was like, No, I’ve interviewed for those. And I want you to understand a lot, which includes programming, you know, you may not necessarily be programming, but they want you to understand it, and that that equal now even equals fooling with the cloud. So I mean, we have extra stuff that you have to put on top. So you know, it’d be good, it would be good if they put programming as 111 required prerequisite to any program, like even if you go to school for graphic design, you have to take at least one class of programming. If you go to school for business, take one class of programming, if you go on for
32:04
an architectural design, take one class, it should just be embedded into to give people exposure, it should be a household thing. My opinion? Look, I wasn’t going to take a programming class in an accounting program.
32:20
Like no, no wasn’t gonna do it. I was not gonna do it. You know, I was mad that I had to take statistics, you know? Because to me, statistics isn’t the traditional math, you know, but, you know, I did statistics all up and throughout when I leaned over statistics, data science, data science, right?
32:42
Or right, and so, you know, actually, I’m getting my master’s in data science and stuff like that, because I actually didn’t love the statistical part. When I actually put it in motion. I was mad that I had to take it when I’m in my program. But um, yeah, you know, I would say Excel would be another one is to pivot tables, and all this other stuff I was doing, you know, what I’m saying? Like he said, my accounting programs, I’m just like, I actually just took an Excel course. But never I went and took a computer science class.
33:15
One programming Python, you know,
33:19
but I will admit, I will admit it audit is kind of quasi accounting and, and, you know, sometimes I would look at systems and I would, you know, sit down with someone, and you don’t have to look at the system, and sometimes the code and things like that, and it would have helped in that regard. So I guess it depends on what type of audits you would have been doing. So there’s that? Yep.
33:43
Cool.
33:45
Final question. Um, you know, you talked about getting more people into tech, just in general, you know, that, that look like us? And, you know, what are some tips and tricks that you would, you know, give to someone that wanted to be in tack?
34:03
Yeah, I would, I would suggest you, like, start to do as much research as you can.
34:09
I always say, there’s, I’m here in the Bay Area, and there’s always something that happened. There’s a lot of social events that happen here, locally. So,
34:20
you know, start attending networking events, start attending tech events. You know, of course, don’t, you probably don’t want to target something that has a special
34:30
specialization like, like, you don’t want to go to a Python class, or Python meetup and you have no idea what Python is. Unless it’s unless there’s an invite for people who are beginners or who may not be in it, but like, you know, pick and choose which social events to go to, but start finding social events to attend and get familiar with the different areas of technology to a lot of research. I’m on clubhouse a lot. I do a lot of podcasts.
35:00
Just
35:01
hop on clubhouse, there’s always some sort of breaking into tech or transitioning to tech or something, some sort of a tech related
35:11
chat going on where there are different people are talking about the things that they do start doing research.
35:18
Start being in the spaces where other texts are.
35:21
Take a class,
35:24
there’s a lot of free training online.
35:27
I would say, I have a Facebook group called breaking the tech, we have over 16,000 people join the Facebook group join. It’s, it’s breaking into tech. And there are career coaches in there who talks about, you know how to navigate or how to start your career search based off of what your current
35:50
specialization is, or whatever your career goals have been, or career background has been, and how that how those can apply to a career in tech.
36:00
You know, find Facebook groups,
36:02
and then start doing as much much research as you can start looking at the popular things that are happening in technology, we’re hearing a lot about AI, we’re hearing a lot about robotics, you know, we have a lot of things going on where tech and science meet, start becoming interested in those areas and start listening. And then if you hear something or see something that sparks your interest, go do research on it, that’s I still do this to this day. Like if there’s something that that interests me, I will probably binge research for about a week on that one thing, because I want to learn about it. And so you, I think a majority of
36:44
new Tech’s
36:46
they, sometimes they want to get into because it’s the money. But it really would help you if you were really interested in the space, like if you really had an interest in the space because
37:00
yes, there’s good money, the money comes along with it. But like if you really are taking interest to the tech, the tech field in general, like the space,
37:11
you know, it’ll help you focus your attention into those areas. And it really started doing research in it that if your research spans you, or takes you to a space where you’re like, you know what, I’m gonna go to a boot camp from the fine, you know, I’m gonna find a,
37:30
I don’t know you’re in Houston, we have these things called like RFPs and occupational programming here at the adult schools. You can take tech programming there. But your research has been new to kind of want to learn self learn or go to a program or something somehow, some way. But I would say, Yeah, start there, network and research. Those are those are the two things I would suggest for any new person who’s interested.
37:58
I am not originally from Texas, I’m a Cali girl. So I’m very familiar with the ROP programs. Back when I date myself again, back when I was in high school, they didn’t have tech stuff, it was more so like nursing assistant, medical assistant and, like, shoot, I don’t know what they had for me and but like, Yeah, I’m happy they got that for ROP. Now. That’s, that’s really exciting. That’s really exciting. I hope that you’re definitely pushing the young people into that because I mean, it’s like, it’s like free 99
38:31
And I also will add community college, you know, I took a lot of, you know, rare courses at the community college and those are the type of people that are in the industry, you know, that are teaching these courses. So their their knowledge is very relevant and very recent.
38:49
One of the courses that I took way back when was intro to careers in in tech or you know, computer science or whatever. And it was a it was actually a black woman that came. They were having different people that came and it was a black woman that worked at HP and stuff and she came in I was like, Okay, this sounds so exciting, because I’m like, you know, like I think it was the only black person in the class and they actually had a black woman come in. It was super exciting. But yeah, do not skip out on Community College. And I know for a fact if you’re in California, and you’re poor enough, you can like literally go for free.
39:29
With the ball. I don’t think they call it the BOG waiver anymore. I’m dating myself, but it was called the BOG waiver. Yeah.
39:37
Yeah. And so yeah, I mean, I love Community College because you know, and they have fast paced courses to an extent and they’re cheap enough and they have courses that you wouldn’t find at a university, you know, so. So in that community college when I was in high school, that’s what I was doing there. My summers I didn’t go to summer school. I went to community college. So when I
39:59
graduated high school, I had like almost 30 credits almost associates. So many. So, community college people sleep on community college, they sleep on community college, they really do. But I really do. Like I have a I don’t know if community college still have a bad signal. But when I was in high school, they were like, Oh, I’m gonna go to college. I don’t want to go to community college just for you know, the the people that didn’t do well in school.
40:25
That’s not true. But that’s not true.
40:29
That’s not true. But outside of that, what else was I gonna say? About Community College? Oh, that’s all gonna say I didn’t do Community College because I actually didn’t know it was an option. So I was outside of community college and you can take classes, you know, for free as a high school student at at the college. I did class. And so I did clip Dante’s and a whole bunch of other stuff that doesn’t even exist now. Matter of fact, they just took one away like a huge program away not not that long ago that you know, you can do credit by exam. So I did lots and lots of credit bytes. Remember those? Ah, but if I had known I probably would have to you know what, I would have graduated with a GED if I knew that was an option, and indeed audit because like, I really hated school, like, everything, I pretty much know it. I pretty much self taught myself. I’m always taking like self paced courses, and, you know, all that good stuff. So it’s like, okay, I don’t I don’t really care about any of that.
41:29
But, boy, yeah, tell us where we can find you.
41:36
Um, so I’m on Instagram, you can find me, Ellie Nichols, tech. On Instagram. I’m on Twitter. I’m il e. Nichols, Dev on Twitter.
41:47
And if you like you can learn about scratch@scratch.org. We are a nonprofit. We operate like a startup.
41:57
And we derived off of the MIT campus. And now we’re kind of our own startups. So check us out. scraps.org. Go and create. We have a platform that allows you to
42:11
we have a block based programming language that we produce.
42:15
And it allows you to go and create applications video games. So go play around on our website, scratch that org.
42:23
And then you should probably Yeah, visit visit scratch.org. You’ll you’ll I think there’s a couple of
42:30
references to me on that website on their main website. But yeah, I’m on LinkedIn as L E. Nichols, l period, e period Nichols. And again on Instagram is Ellie Nichols tech. And then Twitter is Ellie Nichols, Dev.
42:46
All right. Oh, Facebook group breaking into tech. We have like, I think it’s like 17, almost 18,000 people between it’s a it’s a
42:58
intro into tech support groups, that people who are interested in technology, they come and they join, they get to talk to people who have already do the transition. There’s career coaches in there offer free programming and training. Just a place to discuss you know and chat.
43:17
I would still be a part of that. But I do not do Facebook. I used to get in trouble a lot on Facebook. So I’m gonna change one bit now.
43:26
So I decided to stay up off of Facebook like but I’ll make I’ll make no money on Facebook. So I’m on Twitter. My money from the group is
43:38
you write you write you write you so write, but nah, I don’t I don’t for Facebook like that. So I’m I’m gonna stay away and but
43:48
but yeah, thank you, L E for coming on. So my name is Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work tho. Podcast. You can find us on YouTube. Of course, if you’re watching on Google podcast, Spotify, Apple podcast,
44:04
and subscribe to newsletter because we put that out every week with updates on me with my master’s in data science program, the new episode of the podcast and also classes that I put out that I do for free and paid so
44:24
yeah, until next time. See y’all later.
About
Kaila Hill is a young entrepreneur and substitute teacher. She graduated from college as a Health Science major but soon realized her passion in teaching and selling sea moss. She goes into detail about the process of becoming a substitute teacher in Georgia and her ups and downs as an entrepreneur.
Kaila Hill:
https://www.youtube.com/@ItsKai_holistic
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Health Science To Substitute Teacher
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From Health Science To Entrepreneur
Health Benefits Of Sea Moss
What Does Sea Moss Taste Like?
Ups And Downs As An Entrepreneur
Sun Kai’s Seamoss
Learn The Business Of Sea Moss
Show Notes
0:01
Hey y’all this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
0:19
we are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to meet courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org. I recorded it
0:45
hey y’all this Elyse Y. Robinson and I am the podcast host of nobody wants to work though. Today we have at Kaila Hill. I’m gonna butcher her name, but most people
1:00
do. But she
1:02
was my name to call me LC. So that’s it. And so I let her give an introduction for herself. And we can go from there.
1:13
Okay, so yes, my name is Kayla Hill. I am 26 years old, I have kind of started down like the whole holistic health venture. Because I do have a health science degree, a bachelor’s of health science degree. And that’s kind of a part of my career changing and switching. But I found myself you know, as COVID hit, finding more of the more holistic and natural remedies to heal yourself to hear to heal your body. So yeah, that’s, I’m doing that it’s called Sun KC Moss, because it’s basically mainly sea Moss, but I have some other stuff that I’m trying to get in the works that’s more holistic, like bath salts, and just different things like that more self care things for the body.
2:17
And what did you do? Oh, you said you didn’t help help before? And then yes, so what are you doing now? Because I saw that you were doing teaching?
2:26
Yes. So I decided, so I was in the healthcare field. I was like, a receptionist at different like nursing homes and things like that. And then COVID happened, like right when I graduated, because my idea was I’m gonna go work into the hospital. So then when COVID hit, I was kind of like, do I want to put myself in that setting? And so I kind of steered away from that. And I was like, Well, let me just be like in nursing homes and things like that. So I was doing that living in Florida. And then life happened and shift and I actually started working at Amazon, down in Fort Myers, Florida. Then I realized that, again, wasn’t something that I wanted, because I was like a safety specialist. So kind of like just making sure that the building and the employees and stuff were safe while they were doing their jobs. But then I was kind of like, okay, it’s kind of what I like, but the hours weren’t so great. So I was like, Okay, let me make another shift. So I was just like, oh, let me come back home to Georgia, which is my hometown. So I came back to live with my mother. She’s actually a teacher. So she’s kind of the one that kind of steered me more into the educational side. Because I was like, Well, I kind of educate and teach people from my own business. So it’s kind of like, I’m already a teacher in a way just not to like students and teaching every subject and different things like that. So she was like, well, you can try substitute teaching. And so I was like, okay, so I did that I filled out the application. The application process was fast. I went to orientation, because substitute teachers are needed, because I guess nobody these days wants to teach anymore. So it’s in it’s in a very high demand. So I did all that. I had to take a test, do a class and then take a test. And then after that, it was official. So now I am in the system of being a substitute teacher. So it’s kind of like, just like when teachers need days off or like if they get sick or just like any emergencies like that. I can get a call to my phone or I can look up on their app. up and see what positions are open and I can just go in and fill in for any grade that I would like anything like that. So it’s kind of more flexible, which I like, I like, freedom in my workplace, like, I don’t want like a steady nine to five every day, I want to be able to kind of make my own schedule. So I was like, Okay, this could be something that I can probably get used to. So
5:28
yeah, gotcha. Um, do you think you’re going to, like, further pursue being a teacher or go back? Probably,
5:42
but I actually something else came up that they were like, well, PE teachers are needed. Now. I was like, huh, so I was like, okay, I can still have, you know, my fitness, health care, but then also do the teaching. And so I think I just like have to, I probably have to go back and take like the gaisce test. And then after that, I can be certified since I already have the health science, bachelor’s degree, I can just take a test and then I can be a PE teacher. So I was thinking about going down that route. Because with my business, I want to be able to be flexible, and be able to say, Hey, I know I’m gonna have weekends off. I know, I’m gonna have holidays off. Like, I’m not gonna have to work on holidays like most jobs, sadly. We have to do. So yeah, I probably will pursue it. And then still keep my healthcare fitness side because that is something that is a part of me. So yes.
6:50
Yeah, no, they get summers off and get a pinch. Yeah. Yes. So and I will say that I’m originally from California, and like, the best like Retirement System in the whole probably the one of the whole world which is Thurs. So, so yeah, I mean, being a teacher. If I was a teacher, I teach my more older kids. I teach adults now. So it’s like, ya know, like, I like teaching adults, but I don’t mind mentoring kids.
7:31
Right, exactly. Exactly. Exactly.
7:36
A whole teaching thing all day long with with kids
7:40
like, right? Because their attention span can be kind of off and on. And it’s like, okay, let’s free redirect you to this. And then it’s just like, that’s why I kind of like it, because I was like, I can kind of see what grades I might like. Because like, I just know, like, being a middle school in high school and having subs, like, sometimes the kids could go crazy. Like, they can just start doing whatever, because they’re like, oh, I have so we can we don’t have to act a certain way. But then it’s just each teacher zone is a learning experience, I
8:12
would say, definitely. I know, as an entrepreneur myself, I want to talk about my business. So tell me how you got into Samos?
8:25
Yes, so I think when so I’ve always been like into fitness and health. So I was on like a weight loss journey. And I’ve tried the keto diet, and I realized, you know, that’s not the best diet that you should be doing, even though you can drop weight really, really fast, which I did. But then it was just like, I dropped all this weight. And then I was like, I don’t really have like, meat on my bones. Like I’m not really as built in as healthy as I would like to be. So then I was like, Okay, well, let me just try to you know, eat more proteins, eat my rice and then work out. And so I kind of got consistent on that. And then I heard about CMOS. And so I found somebody that was selling it and I was like, Okay, let me try it for myself. So I tried it. And I liked the benefits that it gave me. It gave me the energy. I felt like during that time, my immune system was more built and more healthy. And so I was like, Okay, this will be something that I would like to keep trying but then I was like, you have to buy it. Like, it’s like it’s only supposed to be kept in your refrigerator two to four weeks. So I was like, Is this something that I want to keep buying from somebody or why not try to just make it myself? So I started looking into that. And I was like, Okay, I was like I can actually make this for myself. And do things like like that. So I went down that route. And then me just being a person that wants to be of service and help people. I was like, well, most people really don’t know about SEMA. So I was like, Well, let me put myself on a platform, and like, start selling it to friends and to the family and things like that, that might need it. So I started doing that, like around 2021 COVID happened. So it was kind of like the perfect time because it was like people and their immune systems and people getting sick and stuff like that. Um, so I did that. And then I actually really liked it, I was getting really, really good feedback. You know, people were giving me testimonials of like, how they, how it made them feel great how they weren’t getting sick as much as they used to. So I was like, Okay, maybe this is something that I should take, you know, kind of more seriously. So I kind of sat down, gave the name for myself, son K CMOS, which my name is Kayla. So I just broke it down to K. But then the sun part came from I kind of relate to the sun and I see the sun is vitality and energy and enlightenment and things like that. So I came up with that. And then I was just kind of like, what do I want to give? How is this gonna help people and I just started forming that way coming up with logos and then slowly but surely kind of, I’ve kind of built like some main people who you know will come to me and be like, hey, I want you to see Mars I love your see Mars, I can’t find anybody that makes you see Mars consistency like yours and stuff like that. So now I’m kind of like, at the spot of rebranding more, because I feel like there is more for me to give because I’ve been learning more holistically about like herbs and just different things like that. So that’s why I kind of wanted to start at like, bath salts because I love taking bubble baths. So I was like, just doing like different herbs and essential oils and things like that for people that they could just put it in their bag just to relax. And also, you know, it gives benefits to your body. So yeah, just coming from the health care field and just being active and wanting to like lose weight for myself and wanting a transformation in my own body. It kind of just built from there.
12:36
Definitely definitely one of my girlfriends he he runs the podcast on on people that lost a lot of weight because he lost almost 200 pounds. Wow. And he did keto and all that stuff to lose a lot of weight. And then he had to build himself back up. Yo, I totally understand I do even though I’ve been I’ve been a lanky skinny,
13:05
but I lived through maybe one day, I get some meat on my bones.
13:19
Um, outside of that, you you mentioned something is is the rebranding. Because as a as an entrepreneur, you know, you don’t know which way you want to go. When you do things. It’s like, I guess that’s just life in general. Like you don’t know which way you want to go and which route you need to take. But it spoke to me because I recently rebranded my teaching side of my business, it was called switching to tech. And so I have like a whole bunch of different things underneath it. And I suppose I switched it to I’m calling it disk mode now so Okay, so yeah, I totally get as an entrepreneur, but I will say, you know, focus on it as much as you as you can, because if you don’t if you don’t touch it every day, it won’t drive and it will roll. Exactly, exactly. Um, outside that here. Here’s a fun What did you want to be when you when you were little? Let’s see, I
14:25
think first I was like, I don’t want to be a lawyer. And then I was just like, No, I heard how much school you had to go through. So then I was like, I want to be a bit. And then yeah, I think from there, that’s the longest. So I think that’s kind of like how I knew I needed to be like somewhere in the healthcare field or like helping people kind of stay I wanted to be a veterinarian for the longest so like I grew up with dogs and I couldn’t have cats because my dad was allergic to cats. But, but yes, I grew up with us. And yeah, I definitely just knew I was going to be a veterinarian.
15:08
That’s funny, because every, every guest I’ve had on here, so they wanted to be. Really? Yeah.
15:19
That’s why because I really don’t think anybody has really asked me that question. But yeah, and then I feel like you really don’t hear a lot about this, like people saying, oh, I want to be of it. But hey.
15:36
I was like, yeah, no, that is true.
15:38
That’s very true. Very, very, very,
15:42
um, all these things come at a cost. I mean, you told me that you moved and all this other kind of stuff. I mean, it sounds like you had support with your mother. Yes. What did it cost you? And you know, outside of that, that people think you were crazy, you know, and all that other kind of stuff? Of course,
16:02
um, I mean, when I was in college, well, of course college that, that cost a lot of money. So it’s kind of like, so when I was in college, my I first wanted to go down biology. So that was like, I was like, I’m gonna get a just a straight biology degree. And then as I was taking classes, I was just like, all these biology classes. I was like, No, I was like, I don’t want to do this. So then I changed to health science. And then like, when I told my parents that they were kind of like, oh, well, you know, you need to figure out what you want to do. Because we’re paying for your college. And it’s like, okay, yeah, I know. That’s why I’m here. I know, I’ve, you know, maybe took this for like a year or two. And now I’m switching and it says, like, now I’m gonna graduated a year later, but I’m like, I think this is something that I’m really going to enjoy. So I did that. That happened. And then you know, my ideal thing was to go back to school to do physical therapy. So here’s like, I graduated December of 2019. COVID happened 2020. So it was just like, everything shifted. And they were like, Oh, so you’re not gonna go back to school. And I’m like, I can’t do any more school, to be honest. So I was like, I just can’t, it didn’t feel like something that I really, really wanted to pursue. So I was like, No, so then again, it was just like, Oh, what are you going to do? How are you going to, to figure out a career that you’re gonna go down, get a good job, all this and all that. And so at that point, that’s when I had, I had moved to Florida for the first time by myself. And I was just figuring it out. Got the receptionist jobs at the nursing place. So I guess like it just just a lot of schooling and a lot of putting money into other things. I wouldn’t say it was wasted. Because, essentially, I mean, it helped. It just was kind of like, some bad tracks. But it all helped me understand what my main goal want it to be in the first place. Because that’s kind of when I started my whole business. And then when I was like, oh, I want to start a business and it was a whole nother will. How are you going to invest in yourself? So this is something else that you want to do? What do you really want to do? So just kind of like, a lot of that in my ear, but I kept having to tell myself like, okay, Kayla, if this is what you want to do, you’re at an age where you just have to do it, you just have to follow your heart and go for it. Because if you feel like it’s right for you, there’s there’s something positive that has to come out of this. So So yeah, it was just kind of been kind of like the downfalls with the business like kind of understanding like, Okay, I have to buy this much si MAs. And then this many people are buying Siemens from me, and then it was kind of like a state where I was like, Oh, well just give away some steam ons just to be nice, but then it was kind of like, well, I can’t do that all the time, because it’s kind of mess with my inventory. So it was a it was a lot to learn financially in that sense. And I mean, I lost some money, but I feel like I gained a lot of knowledge from it.
19:35
Yeah, I’m thinking you’re older than you so. Okay. I’m just laughing to myself, because I’ve heard it all from my parents. Yes, yes. My thing is that nothing in life is really a waste of time. You’re not because like you said, you you took what you what you did wrong. wrong. And who’s to say that it was wrong?
20:02
Right? Right. Exactly.
20:04
And you know, and you apply it later in life and so you know, nothing nothing, you know, in life is incorrect or, or wrong. Everything is but it’s a learning experience and where the trick comes into play is if you don’t keep repeating that over and over again, right? Exactly. once before, like, Why are you keeping doing it over and over again? Well, that’s the trick. If people hear a lot more in background, I’m not going to record on Fridays ever again, because they ain’t got no grass. And they really out there just
20:44
I got it Lemoore in my background, too. So but it’s I think they’re kind of far away. So you can’t really hear it, but
20:53
what do you do? Um, what was your? Well, you kind of talked about it a little bit, but what was your your like, process on saying, hey, you know, I’m a health major, um, you know, what was what spoke to you about sea moss instead of like, I don’t know, mint tea, I mean, because that’s something healthy, right? And with that,
21:22
I think because like when I was reading the benefits that it gave me it was that it will give your body like it will just help your immune system, your digestive system, cardiovascular system. And then I think it was the fact that it’s actually a seaweed found in the ocean. So I just felt like it was more organic and more of nature. Um, so I don’t know that it kind of just spoke to me more because I’m kind of like, I feel like we’re one with nature. So I was like, Oh, well, if I’m eating something that comes from nature, then I have to you know, get some good consumption from it. Um, so yeah, and then just reading just like the benefits that it helped me with and then just kind of knowing that like, I have a lot of family who suffer from like high blood pressure and that’s one of the things that it said it would help and just little different things like that. I think it just it just spoke to me more because it felt I felt more called and more close to the benefits that I said it will get my buddy
22:39
I have never tried see moss I keep hearing about people taking it but seaweed is so gross to me foam like I know when I
22:47
first saw it I was like
22:51
and my love like people see we chips and they’re so gross. Yeah. I’m like you’re nasty. So explain while like nail like or taste like
23:07
Yeah, I do because the taste is it is nasty. I’m not even gonna lie it is nasty. And like the consistency of it is kind of like applesauce and like baby food. So I know some people like our our texture types of people and they might not like that. So I like because like you can add it in smoothies or teas or coffee so then you don’t really taste the taste or get that consistency. But what I do do is I add like limes in it to kind of make that oceany taste go away. But then I’ve started doing like fruit blends so like I have like a strawberry blend and a watermelon watermelon blend blueberry just like different kind of like alkaline fruits to kind of mix with it so won’t taste so so bad. So that’s kind of like what I am rebranding the kind of do because I started off doing that and I made like what I call my root chakra and sacral chakra mix, but then I had a whole plan to do all the chakras and then life happened and then I kind of got the tear to from that so now I’m kind of back on. Okay, now I’m like I’m kind of researching more of what are alkaline fruits that I can add with it could just adding any fruits that still it wouldn’t give you the right or the same body benefits as alkaline fruit. So that’s what I’m doing now and I just kind of want them to be the colors of each chakra so it could kind of help each chakra because I feel like you know whatever color food you eat They’re quite close, you were can kind of help heal those chakras in a way. So, yeah.
25:07
So do you share? I mean, does it have to be refrigerated and
25:12
yes, so it does have to be refrigerated. Since it is like algae in a seaweed does have to stay refrigerated for like two to four weeks, or you can freeze it, and it can stay frozen up to like a month. Um, and then like, you can do little cute things like putting it in ice cubes, and then freezing them and like putting them in your smoothies. Um, but then I do ship. So when I ship, I try to get little ice packets, so it can stay cold depending on like, where it’s going. Because if they’re going a lot farther, sometimes I’m at the post office, sometimes these days they’ll be playing. So I like to put the ice packages in there. And then I just make sure that I have really, really, really good packaging, because that’s something that I’ve learned delivering some people’s packaging that they got like it was bursts. And so then that was a whole thing having to learn like, Well, why is it busting? Is it like the post office not handling it right? Or is it because it’s sitting there maybe in heat, and it’s combusting. So that was some things that I have to learn. So I learned that not to fill it all the way up to the top because it CAN bus and then putting ice packets in there can help a lot because it just, it keeps everything frozen. And then just making sure that you have like a box and something over the box to just keep everything tight and close and in your fragile stickers. Because sometimes the UPS they do just throw things in this like I don’t need you to throw this.
26:59
I’m excited about your journey. Because yeah, you got me and my friend talk about you know, we call it a B testing. That’s a we call it we test this test that you know, did that work? Did that work? No. Okay, back to the drawing board. So I totally get it. Um, next question. Um, you talked about that already. Okay. Here’s one. What was the process, like, from going from, you know, working at Amazon to become a substitute teacher? Like your resume? Do you get put on a list, and they just call you as a substitute teacher?
27:51
So yeah, they do do that. Um, so Well, basically, with my resume, I didn’t really have to change it as much, because for a substitute teacher, that kind of just look because you can even have, you don’t even have to have a bachelor’s degree to be a substitute teacher, it just goes off the pay. So your pay would just be a bit different. Um, so I didn’t really have to change my resume, I did have to find a lot more references, because I, I’ve always never had like solid references, but with the substitute job like they actually like, called each reference you they send them an email, they had to fill stuff out. So it was more like critiqued in that way. So I did have to kind of find people and was like, Hi, do you mind me putting you down as a reference? So I did have to do that. But other than that, I mean, I just went on the Board of Education website, and then I just filled in, filled out the application, of course, you know, they do the background check. So how to wait for that to come back. Then they do orientation, just kind of telling you like, what to expect. And different things like that. And then it’s just kind of like a waiting process as they get all the information together, and then you set up the fingerprinting. So then that’s kind of like another waiting period, and then you take the class and then take the test and then you’re put on your put in line online for teachers to call you or text you. If they know that they’re going to be off or say somebody gets sick. And they need to call in and say hey, I need a sub. Luckily, with my mom working as a teacher at her job, she went ahead and she told her principal so her principal, like sent an email out with my name and my number and was like, Hi Miss Lumpkin. And starters as of now, so anytime anybody knows they’re going to be off or needs to Nisa sub even contact her so, yeah,
30:09
gotcha. Um It’s funny to me because most people follow in their parents footsteps when it comes to like career change like that and you didn’t want to were government workers so I wouldn’t permit you know, because I knew what to expect that a pension you know my mother and father retired super early most people can’t say that and they get paid to sit at home you know, but, um, but yeah, you know, I was like cool, I’ll go work for the government and stuff like that but you circle back around you got to learn your lesson.
30:51
Exactly. I was like, Well, you know, it’s somewhere in my blood. So I was like teaching, you know, that’s not so bad. So yeah.
31:03
Well, yeah, I get it. I do, because at a certain point, I was like, Yeah, I want to go work for you know, a big corporation and stuff like, yeah, and I couldn’t find the jobs. So let me know exactly. That you talked about the positive negatives, you know, doing your see moss business? What are some of the positive and negatives as a teacher, you don’t have to tell me cuz I don’t, I won’t get you in trouble. But you know.
31:41
I’m so right now, since it’s kind of like it’s fairly still in the newer stages. To me, I really haven’t found a lot of negatives to it yet, which I’m sure there is because I mean, just hearing sometimes when my mom comes home, it’s kind of like, because she kind of swept like she was strictly in the classroom. And now, she’s an ESL teacher, where she helps like students who come from foreign languages and, like, may need help with writing and reading and stuff like that. So they just like come into her classroom. So she’s like, I like this a whole lot better than just being in the classroom. 24/7. So, I know, as I go on, like, there’s gonna be days where I’m like, Okay, I know, I don’t want to surf for this class, or for this grade, and things like that. But right now, the positive I see from it is that I can just kind of work at my own pace and kind of make my own schedule. So like, if I get a call in saying, Hi, are you available? I can say no, or I can say yes. So it’s not kind of something that I really have to be committed to every day. So I still can have time to do other stuff, when I don’t want to do that. Um, and then I guess another positive would be that I don’t really have to be in that same class every single day because I kind of like change most people. They don’t like change but I kind of like the different atmosphere because I can get bored doing one thing for way way too long sometimes. I’m so just being able to kind of flow like oh, one day I’m doing first grade the next day, next day, I’m doing sixth grade or I’m subbing for a different teacher in the same grade so so yeah.
33:39
I guess this will be two parts and you are entrepreneur and then you are also a teacher, what are some traits that you find to be successful as entrepreneur and then also as a teacher?
33:54
Organization, I can say that I learned a lot of organization from having my own business. And so I feel like organization has helped a lot being a teacher because like, you have the teacher just gives you a lesson plan. And you have to abide by that lesson plan all day. So you kind of have to be organized like, Okay, this morning, we might be doing math and we have to transition into writing, then we have to go to lunch, then we come back and do another subject. And then at the same time, you kind of have the people was like, Okay, well what students were helpful what students were kind of off task, what did we not get to in the day, um, and just like little things like that and keeping up with that, um, and then also like just even being prepared to go in for the day. Make sure that you have your lunch any pencils that you may need any Extra anything that you need. So like I had started doing, like, bring in like little rewards for the kids that were doing good. So I was like, Oh, that’s a cute way. Because I mean, most people don’t do that. But I was like, being an entrepreneur kind of thing. Above and Beyond sometimes I was like, little kids, I know, they like, Oh, if I get a sticker, I get this, or oh, if I get something special that somebody else may not have gotten, because I was good. It might make them be like, Okay, well, let me keep being good. So yeah, I think organization is definitely the number one thing that has helped out a lot.
35:48
What? What are like some tips and tricks you can give someone that, you know, may want to start a business or become a teacher?
36:00
Um, so I would say, so if you’re trying to start a business first. I say just do it. That’s the first you can’t, you can’t, if you keep overthinking it, then you’re gonna keep telling yourself why you can’t do it, or why you shouldn’t do it. I feel like you should just start writing down a game plan of what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it and slowly start putting things together and bringing it out to the public. Another thing I would say is, don’t lowball your prices, just because you feel like somebody else might not pay for them. Because that’s a big thing that I had to learn, like, friends, like, Oh, let me give you a little discount, because you’re my friend or let me give it to you for free because you’re my friend. And it’s kind of like, Yeah, that’s cool. And all but then in the same aspect, too much of that is not good. Because then they can maybe like the start overusing you, or then like tell their friend like, oh, well, she gave me this. So maybe she’ll give it for you. And it’s like, well, no, I just did that for you. Because you have a friend. Yeah, um, and then I would also say like, I know, some businesses, you have to get your LLC, but I would say if you could hesitate off of getting your LLC until you get more clients hell and more like people knowing about your business, because then you have to go into the whole filing taxes and financial side. And then if you’re not really gaining anything from it, then you’re gonna feel like Oh, well. I have LLC, but I’m not really gaining anything from it. Like I was like, um, so yeah, I think though, those will be the top three things I would say about if you wanted to start a business, those are my tips. For if you want to, like be a teacher, I would say if you don’t like kids don’t even think about how they you have to be with kids. 24/7 So I say teaching is like, teaching is something that you know, that like, that you can do so like special people I feel like, need to teach. Um, but yeah, so, um, I feel like that should be a no red flag. But, um, other things would just be you know, kind of like, be yourself, be that nice teacher, but strict teacher. So, like, have fun with the kids, but then also know that there’s a time like, know that. Okay, yeah, this teacher is fun. But if you do X, Y, and Z, she’s not gonna play it with you, like, you will have consequences that come with it. Um, so yeah, I think those are the those would be my tips and tricks.
39:09
Gotcha. Um, any last words for someone that wants to career switch?
39:17
Honestly, if your heart is telling you to do it, then do it. Don’t think about what other people might say. Or don’t overthink about Oh, well. I’m totally like leaving the past behind. I’m leaving what I said I was gonna do for the longest behind because your career can change just like you change as you evolve. Different things that you like are going to change. So it’s just you changing so I feel like you should just go for it, and do it and maybe find some resources or some people that are kind of doing the same things and talk to them. I’m about it and, yeah, make a decision from there, but I definitely feel like you should follow your heart whatever you do.
40:07
Gotcha. Um, tell people where to find you. And we can close it out.
40:14
Yes. So on Instagram, you could find me at Sun que si ma. So is Su n KAISEAM. O S, S. M, and then on. Really that’s my business. Instagram on Facebook. It’s the same thing as son, Casey moss. So yeah, those are my two two main places to get to my business and to my websites and all of that.
40:50
All right. Thank you all for listening in or watching the nobody wants to work though podcast. We are on number nine. I just started this leg two weeks ago. So I’m super excited. Super excited. So I’m keen to try to keep the momentum up, but I might have to cut like a season or something like that because it’d be a lot and then come back a month or something. Thank y’all for watching and see y’all next time. Bye.
About
Benjamin Ritter floated around for a bit before obtaining his EdD doctorate degree and landing a career in organizational development consulting. He reaches deep and talks with passion on going with the flow of life and not listening to those who oppose your ideas in life.
Benjamin Ritter:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritterbenj
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Website: https://www.liveforyourselfconsulting.com/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-for-yourself-revolution-podcast-living-toward/id1151625064
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-executive-podcast/id1588458800
MasterClass Course: https://drbenjaminritter.thinkific.com/courses/create-a-career-you-love
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
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Elyse Y. Robinson – https://www.data.gal/about
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
Get Your EdD To Work In Organizational Development
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Live For Yourself
Should I Get A Doctorate In Organizational Development
Should I Get A EdD In Organizational Development
Show Notes
0:01
Hey y’all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts. I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I’m in tech, then let’s get to it
0:19
where you we are switched into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org.
0:45
Hey, my name is Elise y Robinson. I am the podcast host of nobody wants to work though. And we have Benjamin today. We’ll go ahead and give us an introduction about yourself Benjamin.
0:59
Hello, I get made fun of because I go Hi, my name is Dr. Benjamin Ritter. I’m, I always like every single one of my videos. And so walk into a room people will be like, everyone will go quiet and be like, Hi, my name is Dr. Benjamin Ritter. So hi, everyone. I have a background in organizational leadership and talent development. I basically work on helping leaders fall in love with their careers as well as great organizations that people can fall in love with. So I split my time as the head of talent development at a life sciences manufacturing company out in California, even though I work remotely in Austin, Texas, as well as coach one on one senior leaders and executives to basically be happy at work and to develop as leaders.
1:46
So the final question, what did you want to be when you grew up?
1:49
Okay, so there’s a couple really young I wanted to be an archaeologist, which I learned over time is not an archaeologist. It was like a paleontologist, I wanted to work with dinosaur bones. But as a kid, no one had the heart to correct me. And I also wanted to be an astronaut that graduated into wanting to be a professional soccer player, which became my purpose for about half my life and led me to where I am today, because it taught me a very valuable lesson that the advice find your purpose is really terrible advice. I think we’ll get into that today. And that then led into a couple other passions like diet, becoming a dietitian and nutritionist, which then led to wanting to become an entrepreneur, which led to wanting to just get involved in health policy and change the world, which led into the eventual growth and development to where I am into my current career. But I pause on the actual details of what happened there because I think we’re gonna get into that.
2:44
Um, yeah, so you you did all that, like health policy and all that or no,
2:50
oh, yeah. So I worked at Illinois Department public health. Okay, I got my MPH in health policy administration and also got my MBA in entrepreneurial management. So yeah, I’ve done done a bunch of different jobs. I had a, I have a variety of jobs that I’ve done. I was a live cast model with somebody poured plaster on me. And so there’s a bunch of mannequins of me and the Civil War Museum in Kenosha. I was a brand ambassador, I handed out flyers on street corners and granola bars, I walked around with pizza signs on my back to make some money. I dressed up as movie costume characters and ran around the city of Chicago, scaring people for promotion of zombie 28 weeks later, I was a sports counselor, funny how it goes down baby, and childcare. But my, those were all our jobs, right? Those were jobs to be able to make money to explore different things, and to honestly just enjoy life a little bit. And they didn’t become my career because they were just kind of stepping stones and experiences.
3:49
Definitely, definitely, I was listening to a podcast the other day, and there were like, you know, all these experiences go into like, one big ball and you can use those experiences for, for what you want to do in the future. Or you can pull from that knowledge. And I found that interesting. And they were saying that, just because you have all these entry interests and do all these things and jump around from thing to thing to thing doesn’t mean that you’re a weirdo, or you’re strange. Because, yeah, I mean, I’m finding that the people that I talked to, on my podcast have very interests and, you know, that’s why they’ve changed careers so many times or, you know, one time or whatever. And I don’t know if you think of yourself as a weirdo, but I think of myself as a weirdo sometimes because like, I dig into stuff and I’m like, Yeah, that’s not it, and then I’ll go on to someone else, something else. And my mother and my father hated it. They’re like, just focus on one thing. You know, because they come from a time period where you worked at the same company for you know, 30 years or whatever retired and then went on somewhere you did the same, pretty much the same unless you went to management and that was it. So that that leads into my next question of, you know, what was the catalyst of changing your career?
5:12
Yeah, before I dive into that, and I know that’s a really important question, just responding to what you said, Yeah, I don’t think it’s being a weirdo to explore your interests. It’s called a career and a career is a combination of jobs. And those jobs can mean anything for you, as long doesn’t even have to have a meaning it just be something that you wanted to do at a time. And a job doesn’t define your career. So that means that anything that you do today, you can do something differently tomorrow. Now, it’s helpful if you’re on a certain path forwards, like you’re doing something intentionally, because whenever you’re intentional, then you can actually create something for yourself. So I’d say there should be some reasoning or interconnection between some things, but I always thought it was weird, like, not myself, where other people were, I was a bartender for a decade, like I started off door security, wanting to be a barback then became a bartender. And that led to so many incredible social skills and connections, and experiences and adventures that I never would have had access to. And I’m sitting there, I have a doctorate degree, and I have a business and a full time job and I’m bartending at the pay off the degree. And, you know, people are sitting across from me, talking down to me, because of me being a supposedly, like, how only a hospitality worker, and I personally, you know, I thought it was funny. Because you shouldn’t do anything for anybody else’s opinion. You know, I was doing it for my reasons, I knew the truth of my story, the people that mattered to me knew the truth of my story. And if I let everyone else’s opinion, curate what I did for my career, if what I did for work, I would make a lot less money, I’ll tell you that, and I wouldn’t be anywhere near as happy. Okay, now, I’m ready to get into your question. But I had to say that
7:03
what was the catalyst going from? I don’t know what your last career was to organizational development.
7:11
Okay, so I got out of grad school in about in 2000. And now I got an undergrad in trying to think of the actual story that I want to tell. Let’s go let’s go to Yeah, 2010. And it was a it was a, it was a time where I was working for the Illinois Department of Public Health, but the economy wasn’t doing very well. And so I received a job offer from the CDC, I received a job offer from an FQHC, which is like a health care clinic. But it’s federally funded. I received a job offer from Illinois Department public health. And these were not all at once these were over two and a half year period where the federal government had no funding. And so I would sign on the dotted line and the contract would be cancelled the next day. I wasn’t, I’m not kidding, I would sign the contract and they get an email. We’re really sorry to hear this, but we can’t fulfill this position. So what I thought I wanted to do for my career at the time, which was to go into health policy and change the world through policy and become a health advocate, pretty much got stomped on. And so through networking, through bartending, actually, I met a ICU manager of an ICU at a hospital, who got me an interview at a one at the hospital not too far from where I lived in Wicker Park Chicago. And I was not hired the first time because they didn’t want to hire a bartender. But the person that made that decision left to go train at a different hospital. And they brought me back when when he left, and they ended up hiring me. And so I kind of fell into that role, it wasn’t something that I chose. And whenever you don’t choose some steps in your career, it may be interesting and novel, and a new adventure for a little bit. But it whenever you don’t have control. And whenever it wasn’t an intentional choice, you’re kind of rolling the dice on if you’re actually going to feel aligned or satisfied by your work. And it was a for sure, roll the dice because it was interesting for a bit and then I started feeling stuck. And then they were able to keep me because they selected me for a leadership program. It was 16 months. So they kept me for a year, you know, over over a year and they promoted me to the executive team. It became the minute I was the manager business operations at the time. And I was even worse because at least my first job I was doing good this job I felt completely disconnected from the meaning behind the work itself was very much in the spreadsheets and business development and working on jobs with the executive team and around very bureaucratic and traditional leadership which for me was like very disheartening and to sit in my in my cubicle and have someone come to me crying because of what the VP said was, like gut wrenching. And so eventually that led to me going into work trying not to work you know, me skipping out going to the gym for half the day and coming back and trying to hide the fact that I was gone. You know me opening up different, different programs and My Computer and just not really working, I mean, not having conversations with people that I was that I was working with, because I didn’t want to build relationships, because if I built relationships, they’ll talk to me more that will waste my time. And I don’t want to be here anyways. So I had one foot out the door, one foot in. And when you do that, it’s pretty much a self fulfilling prophecy. It could be because you’re not doing anything to make you happy. You’re actually proactively doing things to make yourself really pissed off at your job, and really, really stressed and frustrated. And I was pretty lucky because I was in this place for a couple of years, trying to change things, but not really doing it with any sort of intention, very happy half heartedly. And so I was walking into work one day, and I felt this sense of dread, like I do every day. And by the way, here that I could walk to work, that’s how how good of a job it was, it was very close to my job. And I was making eye contact with people. And it was it felt like everyone was a mirror of myself. They were just kind of zombies dreading the day. And all of a sudden, I had the chance to look at me. And I woke up as like, what am I doing? This is terrible. You do not have to be in this situation, I lived the life up to that point of self that personal discovery, becoming confident, growing, being adventurous, being curious, but for some reason, I never took those lessons and applied them to my job as like, what am I and so that was kind of this wake up call where I go, Okay, let’s, let’s take control. Let’s be proactive instead of reactive. You know, your experience from 2010. Even my experience, even before that was soccer, the things that pretty much I had every every experience that proved to me that I could not choose the career I wanted. And I was letting that dictate my life. I said, this doesn’t have to be this way. So I did a career audit. I looked at what I enjoyed what I was passionate about what projects I wanted to work on what relationships I enjoyed the most being around, and where I really wanted to take my career. So personal professional passions as well. And I actually had because of the leadership program, a personal coach, like our director of people was my one on one Coach White vibed with like everyone in the organization and our system, this person was like, This guy’s my guy, this guy is awesome. And then I also had personal passions for coaching and development and impact, you can tell from my experience, like my desire for Health Policy and such. And I realized that the program that I was in the talent development piece, the leadership development piece, was was built to prevent me from being who I was this disengaged employee unhappy at work, I think, Oh, this looks awesome. This is like emerging of everything that I want to do for my professional career. How do I do this, which is so funny, by the way, because I was getting coached, and didn’t realize that I wanted to be that guy, like, I wanted that job. I needed to seriously think about it. And all these events came together. And I realized that talent development was a thing. And so that was the start of my path towards that career. And I took some steps, and I’m happy to go into them. But I’ll pause because that was a lot of talking.
13:14
Which is perfectly fine. You touched on so much, so much. I mean, you know, the whole effort part because there was a there was another lady that was on my podcast. And she was saying that she left before she got to the epic part, before she got super unhappy. And I told her I’ve never been at that part. I’ve always been at the epic part. And I burned a lot of bridges. And she said something about maturity. And I was like, Well, I never claimed to be mature. As one thing I never claimed to be as mature. And you touched on the part of you know, not caring what other people think. And that’s, that’s critical. You know, I guess my next question is, did you have a support system when you made this decision? Because, you know, not not claiming that you care what other people think, you know, which means, you know, people might say things here and there and you have no support. So did you have a support system when you made these decisions?
14:24
I’ve had a pretty supportive family, so I can’t disregard that. Let’s say that right off the bat. I also went for over 15 years of my life, maybe a little bit more, where everyone told me that I was crazy for trying to become a professional athlete. I didn’t have one person because I was I was good. But I wasn’t good. Like I was good enough to get on the team but I wasn’t good enough to start. I was good enough to run it on a on a pickup game and in most leagues, but I wasn’t. You know if you Pele or mayor down I wasn’t someone that was a shoo in for a lot of these ones. So I was going against the grain a lot when I said I was gonna dedicate my life to a sport where it didn’t look like I was, you know, I had the best opportunity to get there. And when I say dedicate, you know, I was spending, I was practicing three times a day, I was the only thing I would watch on TV with the recordings of games, I wouldn’t really make friends because the people I wanted to hang out with were just playing. And I thought anything other than playing was a waste of my time. I only got good grades, because you know, having the highest GPA on the squad was a asset to our team and to the coach, because it raised our team GPA. So I was used to making my own decisions. And then also going in and getting my MBA in entrepreneurship. People were like, what is that I don’t even know what that means. mph in health policy administration, no one knew what that was that I that I spoke to. So I was pretty much it used to be in this kind of lone wolf, when it came to my, you know, making decisions, I was able to support myself, and I stayed out of trouble. And that tended to be pretty good, good enough for the people that cared about me that were giving me their support. So I did not have a network in town with development, I don’t have a network of people that I also leaned on, I pretty much leaned on myself, throughout it.
16:18
Gotcha. I totally understand. When I moved to Mexico, I called my father a month and a half and and told him I wasn’t coming back. And then you know, I come back with all these stories, and he doesn’t care he doesn’t want to hear on so I just, I just don’t say anything. So, so I totally get it. But I do have I have a support system. And you know, that’s that’s currency outside of, you know, my my dual my dual life. So I totally get it. And you have to be strong enough in order to push through and basically take control of your life because, you know, no one else is going to live it. But you so why would you want to squander that.
17:02
To your to, I think what you’re saying, which is really important. Sometimes the people that we think are going to support us don’t. And that’s disappointing. And one of the best things that we can do for ourselves is if we know we want to go into a specific field, surround ourselves with people that have already done something within that space or aspiring to do something in that space. Things are so much easier when you can when you feel like someone gets you. And things are a lot easier to when someone has done what you want to accomplish because they can share their expertise. Now what they share is not the only way of doing it. It’s not the only way. It’s not what you have to do. Don’t feel like it’s the law. But it just is it’s creates hope. And sometimes provide solutions quicker than you can find them yourself.
17:48
Definitely, definitely, network is a is a key thing that other people have talked about in the podcast and I have a support system with my entrepreneurship shout out to Christian. We go back and forth every day about you know, entrepreneurship, pros, cons, negatives and positives. And because it Yeah, you’re you’re lonely at the entrepreneur. No one gets it.
18:14
What you’re doing right now, podcasting is one of the best ways I found to meet people that you can resonate with as a business owner. When I was a pre COVID, I used to build my my client funnel and my brand through in person events. And I would have two speakers to three speakers per event. And those people were people that did it that crushed it. They were doing really interesting things. And they become some of my best friends. Because I gave them value. And then we found that we aligned through the hour or two that we spent together. And now today, they’re invaluable. They’re priceless, not just from a professional perspective, but also from a personal perspective.
18:56
Gotcha. Yeah. One other thing I do is a monthly seminar on different tech topics. My popular one is live resume review the live LinkedIn reviews, and I’ve met people that way. So you are so great. You’re so right. Um, what was the process on switching? You know, did you go to seminars, take courses? You talked about your network, what was the process specifically?
19:24
So when I found out that I wanted to pivot my career, I went to my boss actually, and said, I would like to start doing some of this work. And it exists within our organization, Do I have your buy in? It won’t affect my current job? She said, Yes. She wanted me to be more engaged. So I went to that department and asked if I could do some work for them. And a lot of times when you ask them when can I do some work for free? They’ll you think they should say yes, but they don’t know what to do with you. So you have to be more a little bit more specific in what you’re asking them. So I asked them for some specific projects. They said yes, I started doing A little bit of work. It’s a very, very slow process, but it was working. And then we got acquired for the second time, and everyone I was working with got fired. And everything that I was working on got centralized. And so that was a kind of a dead end, unless I wanted to work in the corporate office, which would involve a pretty decent commute just didn’t want to do that. So my next option was to go to try to find another job in this space. And I don’t know the tips and tricks that I know now. So I did not get one. And so my third option was, let’s go get credible in this space, so I can’t get a job in it. And at the same time, maybe even start a business and a brand within this area, once I learned what I want to do in it. And so I made the, it was pretty difficult at the time decision to go get my doctorate. And I was excited about the opportunity to go to research. So I I would be very well read and experienced within this space that’s a lot of people don’t have because talent and organizational development, like it’s a pretty new field for a lot of places. And so if you pop up with a doctorate, and people tend to listen to you. And I was also hoping to build my network through that program, and do the professors and through my classmates. And so I got in After two rounds of applications that did not get in, took the test three times the standardized test three times, but then found a doctorate. Well, prior to that, by the way, I don’t want to I don’t want to skip over this, I was applying for PhDs in social psych. Because I thought that would help me get a job within this space. And I went to go volunteer in one of the labs, because you have to do a lot of lab work to get a PhD. And I hated it. So it was it was really good information for me to learn that I didn’t want to do a PhD in social psych that I thought that was the way to become credible. And I found instead a Doctorate of Education, in organizational leadership, literally exactly what I was trying to get into. Got into that program. And then, you know, long story a little bit shorter, about within the first couple of classes, I decided I want to rebrand and relaunch the business within the space because I was already coached at the time with clients and such, but it wanted to focus on something different. And then started building my network within the field. And then about when I left health care in 2018, because making enough money within my business, I got my doctorate and then in 2020. So two years later, I got called by an organization called YPO to come on as a regional learning director. And then after that, one of my potential consulting clients asked me to come on full board and create a talent development program for them. So now I’m the head of talent development or culture at that organization while I still get to coach on the side and do it’s a pretty, pretty sustaining business at the moment. So it’s kind of runs itself on SEO and referrals, because I had a couple of years to build it. So it took me if you want to look at the time, three years from when I graduated my doctoral program to become the head of talent development for, you know, a 300 person organization in the field that I was interested in. And the doctoral program took two and a half years. So along the way, I’ve had some really great journeys. I’ve met some really great people. And if you look if I look back, it felt like it was a blip. Yeah, I felt like it was a blink of an eye. And you’re looking at five and five and a half years to becoming one of the top positions in your field. Which is, which is pretty I think I would hope inspiring for people that are looking to craft a new career path.
23:37
Definitely, definitely inspiring. Because, yeah, I mean, people. People think that five and a half years is a long time, but it’s really not. And Time waits for no one. And yes, that’s that’s really inspiring for you know, for people that are trying to get into the field and, you know, don’t necessarily know the right path to take
24:05
one more thing, by the way, it was It wasn’t all like yeah, there was hard work, but you’re still living your life around that whole thing. So I had relationships, I found an incredible partner. I traveled to like all over the globe all over the world to Spain, to Italy, to Costa Rica to Guatemala to Peru to Colombia, like hiking, Machu Picchu Throughout all this, you know, it’s so life doesn’t stop because you’re pursuing another path like life still continues around you. And people tend to forget that. Oh, well, if I focus on this goal, it’s the thing I have to do like okay, yes, it’s the thing you have to do, but you’re still living. There’s still other time during the day.
24:43
We can only hope. But yeah, you’re so right. What are some of the positives and the negatives of this new career that you found?
24:58
Positives I get to help people Does the thing that I love. And I get to apply the things that I learned in the best practices into organizations to help them become places people can fall in love with. In terms of things that aren’t good, I honestly, I’d say that I’d say some organizations, right, they still have to hit their bottom line in talent development, and people being happy at their jobs isn’t always top priority. So it’s a you’ve trying to balance the impact and meaning of my work with the priorities of an organization. I wouldn’t say that’s something that’s terrible, it’s just a learning learning point, in some organizations are going to learn are going to move quicker than others. And then if you get into this field, they need facilitators. And so to find a position where you’re not facilitating as much, is a little bit more difficult. But if you’d like facilitating, that’s a great thing. And then it’s still a pretty new field. So you’re still pretty, you’re pretty unique when it comes to your skill set. But to that point, it’s also harder to find a lot of open jobs, even though they’re becoming more and more.
26:09
Gotcha. What are some traits that you think someone would need to have to be successful?
26:18
Within this space, so there’s a couple of different aspects of it, you can be a content creator, like learning content creator, you can be a facilitator, you can be, you know, strategize, or you can be a coach. So there’s like a variety different places within the field that you could grow into, or build your career in, you don’t have to do all of them. A lot of organizations will actually split these these roles up. So I’d say, I mean, just to list a couple of them, even though there’s so many, there’s like, there’s so many. You have to be a good listener, you have to have if you are a facilitator, presence, and curiosity, and the ability to present to speak in an engaging way, it’s helpful to understand learning theory. So how people learn. Really, what that means is people tend to learn more by doing and people learn a little bit differently. So you have to understand as to what the best way for someone is to learn as well as to immerse them the topic that you’re trying to teach them, and follow up consistently. You have to care about individuals and their jobs. So a lot of it is giving people the opportunity to talk and really hear what they’re saying and dive in deeper without trying to give advice right away. And when it comes to learning strategy, understanding what the being able to understand and pull out the purpose of what someone’s training or learning is supposed to accomplish. And then first, really try to see if what they’re doing is going to reach that goal, if there’s some other innovative ways that we can teach and help and guide individuals to learn what it is we’re trying to, to help them develop into. That’s kind of all over the place. But I hopefully touched on a couple of the key areas.
28:06
No, no, that’s that was perfectly good. Um, outside of that, what are some like, things that you wish you knew before you joined this career field? Like, can you give me any tips or tricks on things that you wish you would have knew or you wish you hadn’t done?
28:27
I’d say there’s nothing that I did that I wish that I didn’t do. But for people interested in this path. There’s a ton of really great podcasts on talent development and org culture. Really great thought leaders, Ted Talks, books, just immerse yourself in the topic and see if it’s something that you really want to do. And you can even probably find some contract work as a learning specialist and just kind of get your toes a little wet. I didn’t mention it. But like, for example, learning management systems that are more technical. So there’s places also for for people that are interested in data, or behind the scenes work when it comes to video editing, and like course, creation and such. So there is really a place for everyone within this space, and it’s only going to grow, I’d say the only threat that potentially is going to happen is just the integration of AI into some of the work. But I don’t think that’s too much of a threat for the next you know, 10 or 15 years, maybe more.
29:27
I don’t know I don’t think people want to listen to like, some monotone computer thing, computer generated image. But I could be wrong.
29:38
Well, the future is that that’s not when it’s going to be it’s going to be like you and me. And it’s going to be able to respond to questions. And it’s gonna be able to pull information from everything. So like it’s, it’s on its way I mean, they’re gonna they’re gonna they’re utilizing it for music. They will be utilizing it for movie But so if anyone’s wondering what career paths go into the terminal away from learning, but AI man, that’s gonna have some great opportunities in the future.
30:09
So more so of their stilling me and you meeting your voice, and basically, computerizing it to where it’s not boring and monotone.
30:24
Teachers that can, they’ll be able to take whatever we upload, or scan everything about me. And create a virtual avatar that has my inflections, my voice, right and speak, and be able to use that as a as a teacher, as an instructor.
30:39
Yeah, okay, that makes more sense. Like, yeah, I don’t, I don’t want to listen to any monotone thing. But last question, just any any last advice on career switching? I mean, you kind of touched on in the beginning, you know, telling people not to care what other people think. And, you know, I say YOLO all the time. And so yeah, any any last tips and tricks? Advice?
31:07
Yeah, if you’re making the switch, be patient. Be patient, if I compared myself to achieve people officer at the moment, and if I did, when I made the switch, I never would have made the switch would have seen way too far off. So be patient with your goals and give yourself grace in the transition. And at the same time, make sure you’re comparing yourself to the right people, which is really nobody. But for example, if you’re wondering, oh, I wish I could be here. You shouldn’t be comparing yourself to where that place is. You can compare yourself to where someone is where exactly where you are, and say, what steps would this person take to move a little bit more forward, and then take those steps because then you’ll feel that you’re making progress, you’ll be able to have be a little bit more happier with where you’re at. And honestly, you enjoy the present. Because very often, when we’re trying to make a career transition, we’re stuck in the end goal of that career transition. And we’re gonna also still feel stuck at times and unhappy at work and tired and demotivated. We’re just at least in a better environment, and in a better job that brings us more joy. doesn’t automatically equal more joy. So, in, take some time, give yourself some grace, set your sights and where you want to go. Don’t compare yourself to the people that have been doing it for a decade. And take one small step.
32:35
Definitely, definitely. I don’t have anything more to add to that. Because yeah, you set it all right there. Thank you so much, Benjamin, for coming on. Nobody wants to work though. Podcast, where can we find you?
32:49
Well, I’m out in Austin, Texas. So if you’re out there, find me and say hi. But if you actually want to see where I’m located, I kind of find my work and stuff. Go on LinkedIn, go to Dr. Benjamin Ritter. Type it in, I should be the only one that pops up. And you can also go to live for yourself. consulting.com. That’s Live For Yourself Consulting.com. And you can learn all about my coaching services. My podcasts are there immediately. They’re all that all that jazz. Online courses there. So that was recently launched a couple weeks ago.
33:19
All right, thank you, Benjamin for being on the show. And thank you guys for watching. Subscribe and see you next time.
About
Alexandria Leary moved from banking as a Financial Advisor then switched to becoming a Risk Manager, and finally landed in a role that she truly loves as a Cloud Security Consultant.
Alexandria Leary:
Website – https://www.linkedin.com/in/calexandrial/
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Financial Advisor to Cloud Security
From Banking to Cloud Security
Transition To A Cloud Security Career
Transition To A Career In Cloud Security
Use Your Skills To Transition To A Cloud Security Career
Use Your Skills To Transition To A Career In Cloud Security
Use Your Skills To Transition To A Cloud Security Career
Use Your Skills To Transition To A Career In Cloud Security
How To Move To A Cloud Security Career
How To Move To A Career In Cloud Security
The Needed Skills To Be A Cloud Security Engineer
The Needed Skills To Be A Cloud Security Consultant
The Needed Skills To Be A Cloud Security Architect
Show Notes
[00:00:01.370]
Hey y’all.
[00:00:01.880]
This is your host Elyse Robinson with Nobody Wants to Work Though podcast. I hope these stories will inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and now I’m in Tech and let’s get to it.
[00:00:20.130]
We are switching to Tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology. Monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships, free Udemy courses, free events, free boot camps, and more. You can find us at www.switchintotech.org record on this computer.
[00:00:45.690]
Hey, all this is Elyse Robinson. Where nobody wants to work, though. And today we have Alexandria. She was in banking and she switched to tech. Go ahead Alexandria, and give us an introduction to yourself and tell us about your story.
[00:01:04.950]
Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me today, Lisa. I appreciate it. I like you said, started off in banking and moved to Tech. I currently live in Denver, Colorado. Love what I do. Cloud security consultant. And I really enjoyed what I did before too, but I just kind of outgrew it. I started in finance right out of college. It was a great career, great way to start. Originally started kind of in a QA type role where I was reviewing money transfers and making sure that there was nothing crazy going on. Then moved into a financial advisor type role over the phone. It was rough, it took a lot of effort and everyone was not very welcoming to over the phone folks wanting to help them with money, which makes sense. Then I moved into a financial advisory role in person, which went a lot better. It was a lot more personable, a lot easier to build relationships and did that in California for a little bit, then ended up moving to Denver, Colorado and doing the same thing for about a year and a half. I really enjoyed it there. Lots of great relationships built and during that time I made sure to volunteer for as many things as I could.
[00:02:26.240]
We had a volunteer group there with bank of America and Merrill Lynch, so I was always trying to network, make sure that I got myself out there and learned as much as I could while I was there. Eventually I decided that I had done the job for long enough that I kind of felt like I knew everything that was going to happen and everything that people were going to say as I was asking questions, which then became very monotonous. In an effort to avoid that, I decided to move into management in a risk management type role, which really kind of goes back to where I started, risk management. I definitely enjoyed that part, but also monotonous in the finance field and management surprise. So I’d only did that for a little bit and ended up going and trying to I officially decided during that role that I was going to make a change. I decided that finance wasn’t for me anymore. So I was talking to one of the folks that I worked with and mentioned that I was wanting to go into technology and I had started a coding boot camp and they recommended that I go and chat with some of the folks that were moving to Denver within bank of America, but for our information security team.
[00:03:50.010]
So they were moving, not necessarily moving, I guess, but they were adding a separate area for the information security team to be there in Denver. And because of the time that I spent networking while I was there as a financial advisor and the fact that I was kind of one of the first employees for bank of America in Denver as it was growing, I got to know everyone pretty well. So they asked me to come on board with them to help get situated. I guess they were moving into a new office. They were trying to get involved with the local folks, get involved with the local business areas. And I kind of got to be the, I guess, bridge builder and introduce everyone. Got everything started I helped with onboarding. I got to meet a lot of the managers and a lot of the folks that were coming in, which was really cool. I learned a lot about a bunch of different areas, different people, different things that I would not have been exposed to if I had just chosen one path and been like, this is what I’m going to do, which I really think helped me a lot in the long run.
[00:04:59.810]
After that, well, I guess in the middle of that, COVID struck and it made it kind of difficult, right? We’re not really onboarding people. Everything was from home. And I ended up moving into an information security consultant role there within the bank. And that led me to a little bit more of consulting between the different teams that were there at bank of America. So I got to be kind of the mouthpiece for the security folks when going between the developers and the executives. So kind of trying to explain what the developers were doing and how they were doing it to the executives and making sure that what they were up to was a secure way of doing it and that the executives were on board. During that time, I finished my coding boot camp and I actually started my Masters in Cybersecurity and I had just graduated with that. During that time, I found Cloud and I really loved it. I thought it was so cool. I felt like it wrote really well with kind of what COVID was and the fact that I wanted to work remotely. It was a way to learn a broad skill set and put that into action, but also still stay remote.
[00:06:27.390]
I also felt like Cloud was really kind of democratizing technology, so it really put into perspective, I guess, my ability to kind of translate that technology speak to the executives. I feel like most business lines these days need to at least be familiar with cloud lingo and at least at a basic level. So I think that that was really what drew me towards the cloud portion of things. Really loved it and decided that I wanted to go do something more hands on so use that coding boot camp that I took and actually help companies build. So I struck out and joined a different company called Vertical Relevance. That was amazing. They took three months to help me learn how to do that, which is really awesome. There’s not a whole lot of companies that will spend that much time and effort helping you get up to speed with kind of where you need to be going. So very grateful for that. And that was kind of DevOps focused. So a lot of building pipelines. I was on a security, mostly security projects. So making sure that the pipelines are secure, making sure that any of the rules that are written are codified somehow, a few different things like that that were really fun to me.
[00:08:01.850]
Kind of mixed my risk management and my tech skills. So I was able to build out my actual coding practices. And about a year into that I got approached by somebody on LinkedIn and kind of had an offer presented to me to look at something else at Scale SEC, which is where I am now and that has been amazing as well. It’s a very small company, which I love. Very different from bank of America. There’s I think less than 30 folks there right now. But it’s fantastic. It is completely security focused. So it’s all on the risk management side, all helping companies to make sure that they are doing things in the cloud in a secure manner, which I think is awesome. And I think that there’s going to continue to be a large focus on all that going forward. Yes, that’s where I am now. Cloud security consultant. Absolutely love it. It was a long road to get here though.
[00:09:11.310]
I can imagine someone that’s looking to take it was a long road myself too. Do you still code in your position?
[00:09:28.630]
Yes, I would say that on the pure security side, there’s probably less coding than if I had stayed in DevOps. But there is definitely still coding and using those skills that I originally learned, which is perfect. That’s what I want. I don’t ever want to stop using that just because I feel like it’s kind of like using a language, you kind of forget it a little bit if you don’t put it into use frequently. But it really depends on the project for kind of how much coding there is every day. The project that I just left was purely coding. The project that I’m going to is kind of more of a strategy project, so probably significantly less coding.
[00:10:10.290]
Got you. I’m just curious to know.
[00:10:14.550]
What skills.
[00:10:16.320]
Do you necessarily need to be a cloud security consultant and how in depth does it have to be? Because one thing that I run into in tech, and I know other people do too, is that you have to know all these things and they want you to know not even like a surface level, very deep. And so how do you work around that?
[00:10:43.950]
I have found that as well, and I find that it’s really hard to keep up with everything right? There’s so much information out there and there’s new things coming out all the time. There’s open source software, there’s different people using different coding languages. So I think that the number one skill that you need to be in technology is the ability to learn. So if you are somebody who likes learning new things and can kind of ingest them quickly and make use of them in a pretty quick manner, then I think that you’ll do well here. I think that it’s impossible to know everything within the cloud, but I do think that a base level of, like, cloud computing in general, security in general, those should probably be deeper than anything else. And then the coding, I would say that as long I guess it depends on where you want to be in cloud security, because you could do more of the strategy type projects and strategy type roles. But I would say that knowing how to code at a reasonable level in a language is a necessity. I think that really helps. Once you know one, I feel like it’s a lot easier to learn the others.
[00:12:06.040]
It’s just that first one that is really super painful.
[00:12:10.650]
So which languages did you learn in your coding boot camp and which ones do you use, like, on a regular basis?
[00:12:17.770]
So coding bootcamp was actually in Ruby and Ruby on Rails. My favorite is Python. I really enjoy it. I think that it’s simple, straightforward, and it’s easy for scripting. And the one that I was using most recently in a project was actually Goling, which is not my favorite. It took me a little bit longer to learn that one, but it was something that was doable just by knowing the other two. If I were to recommend one to choose, I would say to start with Python. It’s a pretty easy one to get started with and you can do a lot with it.
[00:12:59.610]
Definitely. I would recommend Python as well. I totally rearrange the questions because I wanted to know more. But here’s a quick one. What did you want to be when you grew up?
[00:13:14.990]
I guess this should have been a clue because it depends on the day that you asked me. I actually found like a little journal of eight year old me or something like that. And I think in there it listed that I wanted to be an astronaut. Marine biologist was in there because I love dolphins. A veteran veterinarian because I love horses. Like, there was a smorgasbord of things that I wanted to do. I think that it really was everywhere too. When I was super young, it was literally everything. I wanted to be a lawyer for a really long time, and that still comes up every once in a while just as like a back thought that maybe I want to do that one day. But the one that I spent the most time on before I started in finance was actually probably a nurse.
[00:14:06.670]
Yeah, I wanted to be a vet for a very long time. As a child, I used to go to the library and check out little horse books and farm animal books and stuff and little dog breed books. I was a weirdo. But anyway, I love it. Let me see. What was the catalyst that made you change your career? I’ve done other interviews with other people and they were like, yeah, you can’t get to the point where you say epic because that’s usually where I am. I’m always at the epic phase when I want to move on.
[00:14:41.450]
Yes. I think that it actually happened while I was still in my financial advisor situation. I just hadn’t really figured out where I wanted to go yet because I was like, well, let me try and stick this out. I’ve already been here for so long. Right. And I think that realizing that finance was so, I guess, kind of stuck in its ways, there wasn’t really a whole lot of change. There wasn’t really a whole lot of new information or anything that I could spend my time learning. And I really can’t be in a situation where I’m not continuously learning things. Otherwise I feel like I’m stagnant and then become miserable. And so because I really felt like I wasn’t learning anything new or doing anything different, I knew that I had to find a way out. I just didn’t know what it was yet.
[00:15:36.730]
Got you. Yeah. One thing I say about audit is audit has pretty much been the same probably since the beginning of time. Like accounting, one plus one equals two. There’s new laws that come about and things like that, but you’re going to look at something in a book and see if it applies. That’s pretty odd. It is. And tech is different because like you’re saying, you’re constantly learning, things are constantly changing. So I have a fight with myself. I call it my business brain versus my tech brain. And sometimes I don’t feel like learning new things, and then sometimes I’m like, oh, well, this is shiny and pretty and cool. Let me dig into this. So I don’t know. It’s a huge thing, at least for me. Let me see. All these things come at a cost. You said you were in a coding boot camp. You said you were in a master’s degree. Where did you find the time?
[00:16:38.590]
Luckily, I have had friends and family that have been very supportive. I am somebody who always kind of has really appreciated my alone time, so I’ve kind of gotten that regardless. Obviously there was a lot more of it that I had to ask for when I was in that situation. At the time, I was actually going through a divorce as well. So it was kind of good because it gave me the time to take a step back on kind of everything, right. So I could have time to myself because it was just me again. I could reassess everything because there wasn’t really anyone else that I had to take into consideration when I was making decisions. And so it really gave me a chance to reset and kind of, I guess, start over.
[00:17:31.630]
Got you. Yeah. I tell people all the time, people don’t understand how having family as a support system is money. It’s currency. And I tell people all the time, one reason why I’m able to do these crazy ideas, like start this podcast and things like that, is because I have the support of my family. Like, if everything just blew up, I can go sleep on my father’s couch or my sister’s couch. Not to say they wouldn’t be mad and unhappy about it, but they’re not going to kick me out.
[00:18:04.590]
But you can do it.
[00:18:11.310]
It’s truly a blessing to have that support. Outside of that, you kind of touched on it about with the coding boot camp and your master’s degree, what else do you think help you make the transition? And what was the process on figuring out that, hey, I needed to do the coding boot camp, I need to do the master’s degree to help me?
[00:18:38.390]
So the number one thing that I think helped me get where I am is actually networking. So nothing to do with coding, even. I think that if it hadn’t been for me talking to the people that I met while I was volunteering and kind of just throwing out there, hey, I don’t really want to do this anymore. Any thoughts? Just chatting with people has really made a really big difference for me in knowing where to go next and knowing what might be a good step and finding different opportunities that I might not have found otherwise. So I think that networking is definitely number one as far as kind of choosing where I was going to go next and how I ended up in different places. It’s kind of a crapshoot, to be honest. I didn’t really know. I was like, all right, well, if I was going to hire me, what would I want me to have? And because I didn’t really know where I was going, it gave me a lot of liberty and kind of choosing what I thought would be a good skill to have. So I kind of went general first, right?
[00:19:51.960]
I was like, okay, well, technology is usually dealing with coding I think coding boot camp would probably be good, so then I at least have a basic understanding of that. And there’s a few other things along the way where I kind of just was what would be a good thing to have, kind of no matter where I end up. And I think the education, whether it be free or paid for, is really the way to do that. You can learn anything on the internet these days, which is awesome. I think that the biggest thing is to just take action. Learning a new thing is likely going to help you somewhere down the line. It’s probably not going to hinder you. So as long as you’re willing to continuously take steps towards where you think you’re going to go, then it will eventually lead to kind of a crossroads, in my opinion, where you’ll be able to choose. Okay, well, I have this big area of knowledge, and I know these things. And I can do either this with it or I can do this with it. And then you get to choose which route you want to go.
[00:21:02.710]
But the first and most important thing is probably just taking some action to go somewhere.
[00:21:10.630]
Definitely. I tell people all that like, time waits for no one. And even if you went down the wrong route, those skills that you learned along that route can be applied somewhere. I truly believe in no dumb questions, but that goes back to my business audit brain. And I believe that nothing that you learn can ever be taken from you and you can apply it somewhere, somewhere along the line. It may take 510 years, but you’re going to use it one day. You’re going to think, oh yeah, I learned that when I was like 15.
[00:21:50.050]
Absolutely.
[00:21:51.330]
And then outside of that, you touched on something else that was really important. Was it’s a crapshoot? A lot of times when you’re looking for a position, I talked to a lady yesterday and she was like, yeah, so we have this position and stuff. And I’m like, well, you can’t really choose where you work and all this other kind of unless you have some type of connections or something like that. People do have that, but most people it’s just like, okay, well, you learned this and then it’s whoever picks you up. Did my phone die on me?
[00:22:32.850]
Now.
[00:22:35.250]
Outside of that, what are some of the positives and negatives of your new career?
[00:22:44.630]
Okay, so positives are they definitely way outweigh the negatives positives are they. I do get to be in a situation where I am always learning. This has definitely been a career change. That has been for the better for me. It is something that fits my personality a lot better, especially being in a consulting role. Before this, I would switch jobs every year or so because I would get bored with what I was doing and want to do something different as a consultant, you are expected to move to different projects every couple of months, which is great. Obviously, in the long run, I might not want to do that, but it gives you so much opportunity to meet new people, learn new things, and then apply it elsewhere. I am working fully remotely now so I can travel. I get to see the world. My company is pretty awesome and encourages me to go and see things and come back and share it with them. I feel like working in a smaller company has really made me kind of develop different skill sets than if I had just decided that I wanted to be a software engineer for another corporation.
[00:24:02.270]
It really lets me kind of choose what I want to grow into. And again, this has to do with the company a lot because it just allows me to. Like right now, for example, I’m in between projects and so they’re very good about saying, hey, what is it that you want to learn? What do you want to do during this time? So I wrote a blog on cloud transformation. I have a few other things that I’m working on, but very different than what I do on kind of a normal day to day basis. So it provides that variety that I was missing in my last role. As far as negatives go, this one is much harder for me, to be honest, because there’s not really anything that I dislike about where I’ve ended up originally. I was going to say that I guess that it feels like I was starting over a little bit later in life, but I don’t think that it was actually starting over. I may have taken a step back a little bit in the middle there for a brief time, but it’s actually more than picked up for itself in the long run.
[00:25:16.150]
And as you pointed out earlier, everything that I learned in my prior role is something that I still use now, just in a different way. I know this sounds cliche, but I can’t really think of anything that is like a negative to what I did. There are things that if I had to do it over, I might do differently or something like that, but I wouldn’t necessarily give back what I have for any reason.
[00:25:42.910]
Got you. You just made me think of another question to answer my questions is the whole starting over thing. Because I felt that before. Like I said, I was an auditor. I call it my past life and things happened in my life. I moved to another country and I’m like, oh my gosh, am I going to be able to come back and have a career and do all these other things? And during that time, I wasn’t making nowhere near what I was making as an auditor, but I was free, I was happy, so it didn’t really matter. And then when I decided I want to get into, or at least try to get back into tech again, because I wasn’t my first rodeo. The money was there, but I guess more so touching on the belief that you’re starting over. And we don’t even have to get into maybe an income cut or anything like that, because tech is different than financial advising. But the feeling of I’m too late or I’m starting over and I don’t want anyone to believe that because we have so many roads and maps and ways that we can go in our life and you should never, ever feel like that.
[00:27:20.100]
I mean, the average age is 78 years old. So we, we have a long time to do things in our, in our life and, you know, long gone are the days where you stay at one company, you stay in one career. All this technology and things did not exist because my father thought I was insane when I quit my good federal job, my good government job, and I’m like, well daddy, things happen to where I needed to. So yeah, just a side note for people that are thinking about dropping everything and the fillings that go along with that, outside of that, what tips and tricks can you give to someone that wants to get into being a cloud security consultant? Are there any specific languages they should learn? Any topics? The fight between Azure, AWS and GCP, what do you think?
[00:28:27.410]
Yeah, I would start with kind of there’s actually a few people that I’ve kind of taken on as mentors that are trying to get into the field. So I found it really interesting because it’s not necessarily the same for everyone. They come from different backgrounds and each of them has their own skill set that you can take advantage of in being a cloud consultant. So for me, it was the business background actually that was really helpful. You still need that business mindset that is there because you still are translating technology to folks and explaining it and showing them how to make things better. So if somebody has that, then you can go a long way with that. As far as kind of the more tech skills go, I would say that learning python or something similar would be a very wise move. I would say that if you’re interested in cloud learning, I would say pick one of them originally and it doesn’t really matter which one because they’re similar enough that once you understand how it works, it’s usually just a difference in names. And yeah, there’s intricacies that some have this and some have that and some work this way and some work that way.
[00:29:45.660]
But overall, as long as you understand the basics and what the building blocks are, you can switch pretty easily between them. So pick one and I would learn it as well as you can build things. Start with one of the basic certifications I know for AWS it’s. The certified cloud practitioner, the solutions architect associate is also another one that is a good one to really dive deep and kind of be able to understand those building blocks and how you build things in the cloud and actually build projects. The cloud resume challenge is, I think, one of the best ways that you can really take the time for yourself to have a project, to show an employer if they ask and if you’re interviewing for things, if that’s something you want to move into. Showing them that you built that on your own, of your own volition, like in your own time, without any other reason for it, I think really goes a long way. And for me, it helped me with just understanding how things connect. It’s really hard to fully understand things until you actually are in there building things and it just makes things connect differently.
[00:31:04.550]
Aside from that, I would say those are probably the most important. I think that having a basic understanding of kind of what infrastructure is code is important, and knowing kind of the basics of that. So whether it be TerraForm or AWS, CDK, knowing essentially how to build something with that, which depending on how you do the Cloud resume challenge, you could kind of work that in there as well. And then I guess those are pretty much the basics. The other one that I would recommend knowing fairly well is git and GitHub. Hopefully that goes along with your python learning. But still, we’ll throw that in there just in case.
[00:31:52.690]
Great. Thank you. Alexandria, any last words for people that want to just career switch in general or career switch to cloud security?
[00:32:06.090]
Yeah, do it. Kind of back to our other conversation, don’t ever feel like you’re behind. As you pointed out, you might not have been making as much money, but you were free and happy and that’s not all that matters. But like, who you are and how you feel about things is the only thing that matters. It doesn’t matter if somebody else thinks that you have taken a step back or if you aren’t doing things the way they would. That’s not up to them. It’s up to you. So make sure that you go towards what you think is going to make you happy. And even in the long run, if it doesn’t, you’ll learn something along the way and you can always pivot and reroute. So just take those initial steps to move towards something and then you can figure it all out later.
[00:32:52.150]
Definitely that’s a whole other topic in itself, is caring what other people think and as I say, keeping up with the Joneses. Thank you, Alexandria, for coming on to the show. Nobody wants to work though. My name is Elyse Robinson. Please subscribe and leave a comment and see you next time.
About
Sylvia Heisel once owned a fashion company, but the time came to switch to a new career. She discovered fashion technology and has been very successful at it. Learn the steps she took to pivot to fashion technology from fashion design and how she was able to apply her fashion design skills along the way.
Sylvia Heisel – http://www.heisel.co
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Owning A Fashion Brand To Designing Wearable Tech
How To Cultivate A Career In Wearable Tech
Show Notes
0:19
We are switched into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to me courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switching to tech.org. Okay.
0:45
Hey, y’all. This is Elyse Y. Robinson when nobody wants to work though, podcast today, we have Sylvia Heigl. And let’s get right on to introduce yourself, Sylvia.
0:59
So hey, at least thank you for having me. Um, yeah, so I am a fashion designer, I guess is kind of what I consider myself or what goes on, like, you know, tax returns at all. But that being said, I don’t actually make any clothes at this point. And I guess my, my, my first big career change was that I had this storybook career where I was a fashion designer with a brand and, and I started super, super young. And did you know what? Lots and lots of people kind of dream of building their business and, and doing it in something that you love. And then it kind of turned into a total nightmare of something that I hated. And something that was not, you know, and that for a while it was really good. And I made money, and it was great. And then I think I’m super proud of my, the fact that I got out. And that, that when you you know, I think that the thing for me, I’m old, and I’ve had a lot of different things I’ve done. And I think one of the most important things is to go, Okay, this year that I am doing has been great. And it’s not going to be going forwards. And it’s time to move on before it comes around and bites you in the ass and you have to leave. Or it puts you in a different in a situation where you are kind of stuck because you didn’t leave in time. So that’s kind of an I still get from a lot of people because because I was a fashion designer and everyone thought that was really glamorous. And I made clothes. And I still have all these people who are basically, my friends because they wanted free stuff. And that kind of thing. And like you’d have all this like and you know, and I had press and I had all that. So it was this thing where people are like, Well, how could you leave that? And why would you ever want to quit that’s so great and do other things. And, and I’ll never do anything as glamorous as that. But I’ll never do anything again that says like, makes me as miserable as I was before I got out on doing that. And I think that’s kind of a part of my story. And so now I kind of do all these really crazy projects between fashion and technology. And I’m really, you know, because I’m always kind of doing stuff where I’m excited about the future and that keeps me motivated. I’m not someone that’s a good stay with it. Stay in the same position forever person.
4:02
Yeah, you touched on a lot. On the last podcast guests, she said that she left her career when you know before the effort phase and I’ve always been at the FFA is when I decided to leave and burn bridges. And so she was like you have to be you have to leave before you’re at the FFA is um, and I was listening to a podcast last night. And, you know, my mother used to tell me, you know, focus, you know, why are you jumping from this to that and it’s just, it’s a part of your personality. You want to touch and learn all these different things and be excited and I mean in in the podcast, that person was saying that it adds to your skill set, and you can talk about it. So Many things and have all these experiences, and hopefully it’ll make you money. So jumping from one thing to another is not a bad thing. What was the things that? Basically, what was the catalyst that made you leave and transition to something else? Because you touched on that you hate it certain things?
5:30
So yeah, I mean, I think, you know, the first, the first catalyst was you the economy and money that it as a business, it started getting harder for us to get paid. And we could see that a lot of the stores we were selling to are in trouble. And that, it, you know, one of the things especially I don’t, I think in any business, but especially in fashion, once you create an identity, it’s harder to change your brand, than it is to just get out and start something new, it’s easier to start a new brand than it is to change an old one that, that, you know, I try and do anything that was new? And the answer was customers didn’t want that. They wanted what they always had. And, and I just everything around me was saying, okay, the world is changed, you know, when it was a time when the economy was going down. And when there was a lot of new technology a lot the way there is now going on where there’s just, there was a lot of stuff. And and it was like, Okay, I just knew I had to, you know, I knew we were going to just start to lose money, and I had a payroll to be responsible for and I had, you know, rent to pay on a showroom and this kind of thing. And it was like, well, we’re not gonna be able to keep doing that forever. And so I didn’t, it wasn’t like, okay, one day, it wasn’t like quitting a job where you can go, Okay, I’m out. That’s it, you walk out the door, and you’re done. It had to be kind of wound down over a number of months, where it was like, Okay, I’m going to, you know, I’m going to slowly, you know, let everybody know, as gently as I can, and some of them completely got it. And some of them completely did not have like, this company is not going forwards. And that’s just the reality of it. And, and sort of, we’re not renewing leases, we’re not doing anything, you know, and sort of winding it down. And then at the same time for me going, Okay, what, what, I gotta go out there and learn new things, I’ve got to see a new world and understand, you know, I had no idea, I sort of had an idea that technology was informing the changes, and that I had to technology and sustainability. Because that was something I deeply cared about. But I didn’t know where they fit in. So I kind of didn’t have a, I didn’t have a direction. I just knew I had to learn stuff and change.
8:42
Talk about the process of, you know, where you went to learn new skills, what skills did you learn? How did you figure out what skills that you that you needed to learn to make this transition?
8:57
Um, I went What did I do? I think, you know, I think I went to every kind of every trade show, every meetup, every everything like that, that I thought could possibly be interesting. Every, you know.
9:28
I would kind of go down the rabbit hole on, you know, anything that had that I could find that had fashion and technology or innovation or design. I mean, um, I think I spent, you know, I spent a lot of time going to things that were, you know, UI UX kind of oriented before I realized that that was completely different than anything I did, but that had the most similar descriptions. And, and the first thing where I really found any kind of fit for myself was in wearable tech kind of products. And, and working with, with with companies developing wearables. And I think I think the first thing was to go to Yeah, the first thing was really to go to every trade show every event, every free anything I could, like, walk through more so than anything online, and anything of YouTube or anything, it was like going to things where they actually like, see people or see businesses or see real life stuff, and get a sense of what was out there. Really. And, and kind of learning that way. And then from there, yeah, kind of then from there, kind of trying to hone in more on what could I do? And what would what would people ever hire me for?
11:21
Gotcha. Yeah, I guess one thing that a lot of people run into is, they don’t know what they don’t know. So Right. You know, I don’t want to say it’s a waste of time, because anything that you find out about or learn about is, is never a waste of time, you might find something that you that you love, and you’re really interested in. And that goes back to what I was saying earlier on, you know, all these skills that you have. But yeah, I understand on that, one thing that I like to do when I go to new places is fine meetups and, and events and things like that, um, I’ve lived in a lot of places. So I’ll just, I’ll just go out and, you know, walk around. One thing I used to do is hop on, like, if they had a public transportation system, go to a new stop, and then just walk around. Yeah, probably have been in some dangerous neighborhoods because of that, but Well, yeah, but I’m still hearing. Oh, yeah.
12:29
I think it’s Yeah, I think that’s where it’s like, you know, yeah, just experiencing stuff and getting a sense of what it really is. Yeah,
12:42
all these things come at a cost. What did it cost you?
12:46
Um, well, number one, it cost me financially. But that was inevitable, because it would have cost me a lot more. If I had kept going with my business. I was, you know, the fact that I got out early enough, left me without debt from it, or without, you know, and with some savings. So, but but I don’t think, you know, I will probably never earn as much as I did during the years if that was good. Again, I probably those were, you know, there were a couple of years that were really good. And I probably will never earn that much. Freelance again. But never say never, you know, it’s, so it costs me on that. I don’t, you know, I don’t know besides that, because I think that life is just this progressive thing. And you have to keep the biggest cost is if you stay in the same place, wishing that things were like they used to be. And the older I get, the more friends I have, where they’re going, like, oh, yeah, you know, back in the day, and it was so amazing. And it’s like, I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter, because it’s not back in the day now. So here we are. So I don’t know on that of cost. I mean, I don’t think it’s I think it’s really hard to change and do anything new. And I’ve certainly gone in a lot of kind of random directions and had startups that failed since then. But But I think you just keep You know, to me, it’s more exciting to have a startup that fails without hurting other people than to have a job of gotta go to every day hating it.
15:13
Did you have support of your circle? You know, people think when you make a drastic change that you’re, you’re insane. Why would you give this up for this?
15:24
I did not. I did not. And I did. And that was a really, that was a really hard part of it is, I would say that I did. Um, I met my husband after I had closed my business, or sort of as it was in its final stages. And I would say that part of it when we met, part of the reason that really worked is that he was really he was one of the only people that was really supportive of my leaving it and changing. And that was really painful that I did not have, you know, support. What I found was that, you know, a lot of my friends were in it, they were my friends, because I was a fashion designer. And that was exciting. And I got invited to cool places and had clothes to give away. And so I lost a lot of friends, but it did clarify who were my friends. And my mother 100% didn’t understand. I mean, she just, you know, to her, it was like, You’re doing what, and you’re interested in technology, like, that’s kind of weird. I mean, she was really like, she thought I was crazy and couldn’t understand it. And there was a lot of drama around that. I don’t think she ever understood it. So. But but they were, you know, I will say my family is supportive. They weren’t like they weren’t going to kind of cut me off or not talk to me, but they will never, you know, they’ll never understand to them. It’s just, you know, how could you do that you had such a great career, and no, but I think also that’s generational, someone that, you know, they came from backgrounds where you, you worked for a company, and that company supported you. And you stayed in that world, they weren’t familiar with the, the idea of freelance still, like some other thing, and
17:56
you touched on so much. I mean, when I left my audit job, I had a traumatic event, my mother, my mother passed away, and my father was like, Why did you leave that job? I’m like, Do you not understand that my mother passed? Right now. And, you know, I ended up moving to Mexico, and, you know, to mourn and to heal. And I was like, you know, I’ll do this for I gave myself 90 days. And then about a month and a half, and I ended up calling my father and saying, I’m not coming back. I love this so much. And, yeah, I mean, our parents didn’t. I mean, my, my mother and father are boomers. Yeah. And so they didn’t have outsourcing. They didn’t have, you know, h1 B’s and, and, you know, in sourcing, you know, and they didn’t have at will employment and all this other kind of stuff. So, it’s, it’s crazy that, you know, they’re getting on us, and it’s just a totally different environment. Ya know, my parents worked for the government. And that’s, that’s why I work for the government at a point in my life, but yeah, they they work there. I mean, so they retired. Yeah,
19:15
that’s the, you know, well, they, you know, my I mean, my parents didn’t, I started my business really young. And they didn’t understand at the time that I was dropping out of school to start my business that was, you know, major drama one, because they came from backgrounds where they were the first ones in both of them were the first in their families to have college education and get like, white collar jobs and no, and they were successful that way of, you know, education was everything to them. And then here, you know, they get this kid that’s like, going to drop out How to college and do fashion. They were horrified and, and then I was successful at it. And then and then I’m gonna go and quit, like, and be like, Okay, I’m going to, you know, figure it out and do other things that interests me and that that just didn’t, you know, just didn’t didn’t work for them. They couldn’t they couldn’t wrap their brains around it, but I think it is, it’s totally different now. It’s totally a different world of that. And we’re really lucky, we’re really, really, really lucky to be in a time where we can do that.
20:38
Definitely, definitely, I will say that I had to, you know, tell my father that, you know, if I could do it once, I should be able to do it again, ya know, replicated. And, and so he got off my back about it.
20:56
Yeah. And it rolls his eyes. And it’s like, yeah, okay, you know, whatever.
21:05
Right, right, right. Right. Right. Right. And so, next question is, what was the process? I mean, you kind of touched on it that you went to meetups and things like that, how did you get someone to take a take a chance on you and say, hey, well, you, you had your own company, you know, I find that being an entrepreneur, people don’t don’t want to, you know, mess with you. Because they’re like, Okay, well, they’re entrepreneur, they can just leave, and we train them. And, you know, they’ll the goals start something else, and they might be a competitor or something like that, too.
21:38
Yeah, um, I mean, I guess for me, a lot of that was, at first being the fact that I had such a different background, I kind of had to, I had to kind of embrace, walking into, like, meeting with people and going, okay. You’re like, you’re a technology company, and I’m the fashion designer, I’m going to be like, that wacky person that comes in there, that is completely different to everything that, that this company does, and I’ll but you need somebody like that. Um, and I think part of that, of being freelance was that, that and I still struggle with this, because I think I always want to, I go in, and I work with a company and I want to fit in, and I want to, you know, I want these people to like me, I want to be part of the team. And then it’s like, now the only way I’m going to be successful is to be that kind of crazy outsider, and be myself in it, and have them kind of be afraid of me or respect me on that for who I am. Because otherwise, it just doesn’t, doesn’t ever work. And I think, you know, the first the first jobs for a while I was, you know, everything I was working on was with wearables. And with that, it was like, you know, it was mostly hardware companies, it was hardware companies developing like smart products, and things and, and they had no background in consumer goods or anything like that. And I had to learn the, the engineering side and start to understand what they do. And they did not have to learn what I did, they just had to kind of trust me on it a lot of times, and they weren’t interested in learning it either. I mean, that was something I had to accept is that they didn’t want as a freelancer and I think I’ve found this on a lot of jobs is that people don’t want they don’t they’re not interested in what I do. They’re only interested in my coming in and solving their problem. And, and I’ll And whereas, I’m viewing it as holistically, this is an interesting job for me, and I’m really, I get kind of emotionally attached almost to what they’re building. But to them, I’m just somebody on the design, you know, and and they want a deliverable. But yeah, I don’t know if that answers your question. But yeah, I think it’s hard to I think you have to go in I think the main thing is to go in and be yourself and find also start with small jobs start with really small things to test out, you know, I did some work and I still do some work where if I’m, I’ll work on something for free, or for very low money in a new area to be able to kind of learn as I’m going. I’ve worked on a lot of, for a while I worked on a lot of Kickstarter projects, and stuff like that, where I wouldn’t get paid, but I would get a lot of experience. Because that was someplace where people needed they needed somebody with my skills. And so it was, yeah, but it wasn’t, you know, it was all most of those I never got paid on. But at least he gave me a resume.
26:03
Did you get any of the product for free? Yeah, I mean,
26:09
I mean, you get product, you get a little but, um, I think also you develop along the way you develop certain skills, I would, and I would recommend this if a developing some skills that are kind of dumb things you can kind of drop in, in a lot of situations you have like, like, you probably have a lot of accounting and auditing skills where it may not be really fun for you. But you could do that as freelance work by the hour if you need to. And like I do, I do some work where I’m doing digital fashion design and tech pack, which is what the fashion industry uses for their showing factories, what you know, it’s kind of like the document that goes to factories on a garment. And that is not very creative, interesting or inspiring work, particularly. But it is something where it’s easy to go on to Upwork or a lot of other platforms and sort of connect easily and get part time jobs that fill in. I mean, I, you know, I spend part of my time doing projects I’m really interested in and projects where I’m a partner, and they’re creative, and, and then part of my time doing freelance work, that I know, I’m not worrying about my rent.
27:56
You touched on a lot. Some of my other questions matter of fact, more so of, you know, taking on things so you can develop other skills. And you know, I touched on that earlier in a podcast on having varied interests. So, you know, like, you’re saying, I can use my accounting or audit skills to freelance if I want to, or tax or something like that. And I thought about it, but it’s just, I have so much stuff going on already. I just I started this podcast, like two weeks ago. And it’s like, okay, it’s booming. So, you know, things like that. But yeah, what and I also want to touch on, you know, the, the personality change of working in fashion design to tech, because I’ve experienced the same issue. I you know, I call it my business versus my tech brain. And that’s actually one of my podcasts where I introduce myself and so business, I can get up in front of people do presentations, and you know, work a room and things like that, and, you know, do research and writing tech, you know, I have to spit things off the top of my brain instantly. I am not bubbly. I sit in a corner and do nothing. I’m not nothing but program or whatever. And when I was at Microsoft, I ran into these problems of, you know, my co workers are math majors. They’re their computer science majors and they’re not. They’re not bubbly. And they’re like, you’re you’re you’re the weirdo not I’m the weirdo. You’re the weirdo because you’re supposed to be a computer science major and, you know, sit in the corner and not really want to fool with people. Yep, so I mean, I guess she we should talk to dwell back into that deeper on the personality change sometimes to have have careers
29:58
Yeah, um, mess, that gets, you know, for me that gets into a whole thing of soup like that is, that is a whole thing I mean of, because I went from, you know, in working in fashion is about, I would say, you know, 85% women that I dealt with that. And, and so I went from, from, especially with with traditional fashion, certainly it is, you know, this very kind of female centric and bubbly and fun, and it’s about being pretty and stuff, which I always kind of felt, I think somewhat of an outsider in, but it was also something where I was familiar with it, because I did it for so long. And then I went into tech staff, and I’d walk in and you know, there’d be three women in the room of 200 people and have some stuff, especially with, you know, with hardware. Computer hardware is not a very female centric area. And then now, and and I’ll from, you know, I also then went on and did a lot with 3d printing, which I still do in 3d printing is an industry where it is currently 15%. Female. And so, you know, you’re always kind of the stranger in the room, and it’s a challenge. It’s definitely, you know, it’s definitely a challenge of what’s what’s your persona, what, who are you? How much do you let that get to you? How, you know? I struggle with that a lot of trying to figure out and have a kind of public face for, for who I am in business situations or in work situations, because I think that is really, you know, it’s a really big part of it. I wish I had a better answer. Yeah, what was your solution? I’d love to, you know, yeah,
32:39
my solution is just take me as, as I am, you know, it was to the point where, you know, I’m messaging my coworker. And I’m asking them how they’re doing and stuff, and they’re just like, Yo, what is wrong with you? And I am an introvert, I’m actually an introvert, I’m not an extrovert, but I can put that aside, and, you know, get my money. That’s how I see it, I’m gonna put it aside and I’m gonna get my money. And so, you know, audit was was good to me. Because I can sit behind the computer, do research and writing to an extent, and then go out and do interviews, you know what I’m saying? Right? So it was like, and I would say, 70% of research and writing 30%, you know, customer facing people facing. And then when I got into tech, I was customer facing too, but it was a different type of personality to where they’re like, We need to get it done right now. There is no Hi, no, thank you. No, no, anything, you know, and I’m just like, oh my god, they’re not even courteous. When in business, you know, you’ll get those people where, you know, they want it right now. And you know, time is money, but even so, they’re like, yeah, thank you at least. So, I just say, you know, take me as I am, and, you know, every now and then I’ll have to, you know, shut down a little bit of myself, but I’m just like, No, I’m just I’m not going to do that. Because that hurts me in the long run. That’s that’s just how I see it. And I mean, you touched on a lot with the male dominated and all that other kind of stuff. We can we can go into that all all freaking day long. But um, yeah, that’s, that’s just how I see it. Ya know? I guess to an extent tech is changing because more women are getting into it, you know? And more people that are the opposite of the stereotype of tech. Yeah, I’ve always loved Tech, I taught myself how to program when I was like nine or 10 years old. And I was going to be a computer science major. And I got into prestigious San Jose State their computer science program, I went to the orientation. And I saw nothing but men in there. And I was like, Oh, my God, I’m not going to be able to. I was the only black person I was the only woman in the orientation. And I’m just like, yeah, no, I got scared. And then I seen equations on the board. And I’m like, oh, no, this I’m going to do. And then outside of that, you know, I took classes at the community college. And so by that time, I was like a junior, and I was fine trying to find an internship. And I couldn’t find an internship to save my life. So I’m like, okay, they’re saying there’s a shortage of, you know, people that want to be in this field, but, um, I’m not getting any traction. So then that’s when I switched to audit, I won’t necessarily say it was because of the male dominance or anything like that, it was more so I couldn’t find the internship, when I got to audit, and I got an internship, I gotta got, I got a job, like, three weeks after I was done with my accounting courses and all this other kind of stuff. I’m like, what, what’s what’s wrong?
36:20
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it’s just all these, you know, there still is, you know, there’s still a reality on some of that stuff, where you have to, you know, you have to have your identity, be really confident, and then fight it and fight the fact that you’re going to walk into a lot of situations and not look like everybody else. And that sucks. And that should not be it’s better than it ever was. But it’s kind of still, you know, certainly in the, in some stuff, it’s still there, I think, but less so than ever. And it’s just about being as strong as you can. And confident. You know, I, I don’t I’m totally different subject. But like, all this stuff, I’m doing a lot of stuff with now with augmented reality, and with designing clothes, and filters and things for AR and VR, and for Metaverse, fashion and things, and a lot of the people in that world that I’m dealing with, you know, just use their avatars, and we all just meet online, so you have no idea what anything about anyone’s identity is? And it’s kind of wonderful, you know, it’s kind of like, there is something really, really different about dealing with people when you have absolutely no idea about anything of their physical reality. You don’t know what country they’re in, you don’t know what gender you don’t know, anything. You just know, the the pixels that they’ve chosen to put up as their image, kinda. And also, but I don’t know, you know, we’ll see where that goes.
38:28
Yeah. Because, yeah, I mean, they’re, they’re, they’re big on identity. I mean, they’re, they’re huge on identity right now. So I don’t know how, you know, augmented reality will play into that, and meta, aka, Facebook and reverse and things like that. So, yeah, that I mean, that’s, I mean, that’s a new field. And I mean, outside of that, you know, circling back around to our parents, like, all these fields didn’t exist. Yeah. Yeah. So you know, it’s like, oh, that’s fair. I want to I want to do that now. Yeah. Fair, you know, so it’s, it’s really crazy. Last question. And then you can give us a spiel on you know, where to find you and all that good stuff. But what are some tips and tricks that you would give to someone that first of all wants to transition into your field? And then Excuse me?
39:33
Sorry, I’m still getting over a cold. And then outside of that, what tips and tricks would you give someone in general that wants to switch careers just in general?
39:46
In terms of just in general, I would say just do it. Get you know, educate yourself as much as you can and just do it. The longer you wait, the harder it gets on any thing. But look around look before you leap, don’t just you know, but look around, try as many different things, do everything you can and just do it. In terms of my work, it is a lot now. It’s digital fashion and crazy, crazy, tremendous amount of opportunity right now. Because everything’s changing super fast. And I guess I would say that the the biggest changes and the thing that, that a lot of the digital skills are based on software that’s free now. And I think that’s a huge difference is that like, right now the game engines, if you’re going to be anything related to fashion, or product design, or interactive, anything, Metaverse design of any kind, Blender Unity and Unreal Engine. And all of these software’s are really hard. But they’re free. And that’s a big, like, that’s a big, big opportunity for anyone that’s willing to learn them. Because it used to be that if you were designing anything, any kind of product design, you kind of had to go to a bigger company, because a lot of the software that was needed was expensive. And you couldn’t just do it independently. And if you learned it in school, you couldn’t then update your knowledge unless you had the subscriptions and all that. And now it’s just like, there’s this incredible opportunity for whoever can, you know, whoever wants to be creative and wants to put in the time learning all of it. And that’s on the you know, there is a lot of that also on programming for it as well as designing in it. But, but I think that’s a super exciting area. And I think, you know, we’re going to see a lot of digital products have consumed, you know, fashion and beauty and stuff and all coming out in the next couple of years. And it’s really exciting being a creator and being part of that now.
42:57
Gotcha. So, so right here, what a time to be alive. Yeah. And Tom waits for no one. Go ahead. And you know, tell us where to find you. And
43:14
so yeah, so um, I guess well, my website is hazel.co.co. And my Instagram is Hazel underscore CO for my work and and then project that is coming up really soon. That’s my kind of passion project is 3d met address. And for that, I have one partner on it. And then a lot, a lot of collaborators working on it. And we’re doing a it’s a 3d printed dress with the names of 300 women in web three and stem plus bios of all those women attached to it. And the dress will have one of the physical version of it. It’s 3d printed, and one that’s a digital version of it. That will be in it will. It will debut as a project in decentraland in Metaverse fashion week at the end of March 2023. Um, and then it’ll be kind of spun off from there. And we’re working on other a lot of other digital wearables and things from it. But the main thing of the whole project is to kind of celebrate women who are innovating in web three and some of them are really big name well known and some of them are up and coming and some of them are. A few of them are historic have have led up to it. But anyway, it’s about celebrating, empowering and promoting all these women that are innovating. And then giving back and hopefully raising some money for education in that. And see, so that’s yeah, that’s my passion project. So we have at 3d met address on Instagram and Twitter, which are just getting started. They’re not really anything there yet. 3d met address.com. And then I’m on Twitter at Silvia Hazel. Although I’m not sure how long I’m going to stay on Twitter at this point. We’ll see where that goes. Yeah, that’s me. And I welcome anybody to reach out. I’d love to connect.
46:02
All right, thank you for being on the podcast. Thank you guys for watching, and hope to see you next time.
46:12
Cool. Thank you.
About
Carleen Dark-Bays realized life is too short after her job changed drastically and going through a divorce. She divorced her job and found love and support again then went straight into entrepreneurship by helping people through the realities and hardships of divorce through Restoring Hearts Academy.
Carleen Dark-Bays: Website – https://www.linkedin.com/in/carleendark/
Nobody Wants To Work Tho Website – https://www.nobody.chat
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From Owning A Fashion Brand To Designing Wearable Tech
How To Cultivate A Career In Wearable Tech
Show Notes
0:19
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0:42
Okay, all right. Today we have Carleen Dark-Bays. And my name is Elyse Robinson. I do nobody wants to work though podcast, and we can just jump right into it. We have a great switching story. Again Carlene dark. Go ahead and introduce yourself and what are you about?
1:03
Well, hello, and thank you for having me. So my name is Carleen, I am I made a massive career switch at the age of 54. I’m going to be 55 this year. So I have been in broadcasting and media for 30 years and loved it loved it, it wasn’t that there was any horror story that made me want to switch for me it was more about something brewing in my heart for like three years. And then you find that life kind of points you things that happen, point you in that direction, or point you away from where you are. And that’s kind of my story, I loved my job, I was top of my game. In a high leadership position as high as I could go in my local home market without going corporate and did a lot of good things had a lot of fun. It was a fun job. You know, when you’re running radio stations and digital marketing and running live events, that’s a lot of fun, you’re having a lot of fun, right. But there was, there was just a confluence of things that partially results of COVID You know, things that made the business and the industry and the expectations just a lot more stressful. And the older I get, and the more I realize how what a physical toll stress can take on you, it can age you tremendously, it can interfere with your relationships, it can, you know, give you wrinkles and gray hairs and stomach ulcers and, and things like that, that just let me know, it was time, it was just time to make a switch and move into my passion project. And, you know, I kind of had thought before it’s too late. But really, it’s never really too late, especially in today’s world, it’s not the same where you have to get out of school, go to college, get a job, work there for 50 years, get your gold watch and retire and live off your pension and Medicare and Social Security for the rest of your life. It’s a beautiful world we live in where you can create your own opportunities, there’s so much out there that you can do. So I decided it was time to do it while I was like I’m gonna get while the getting’s good, so to speak,
3:17
I would imagine in broadcasting is a lot of odd hours, or
3:22
it certainly can be and certainly for the On Air talent, it absolutely is. When you’re the manager, it’s a lot of long hours, just getting things done. There’s a lot, there’s a lot to be done. Besides, you’ve got clients that you’re dealing with, throughout the day as the leader of the organization you’re so very client facing even though you have a sales team, and then you’ve got your people that you got to take care of. And a lot of time is spent with them in the field answering questions coaching, one on one meetings, you know, helping with things and then there’s all the administrative stuff. And so, honestly, a lot of times the administrative stuff starts at 5pm when everybody else goes home. So there were a lot of 10pm exits from the building a lot. And you know, that’s not a sustainable pace, but I’m just that type of leader that I will stay until I get it done, or I can’t keep I can’t think straight anymore, and I’ll tackle the rest of us. And part of that’s on me but you know, that’s just not sustainable. For me.
4:30
Definitely. You mentioned about you know, the, the 50 years staying at one position and if you watch my very first video no, my second video I talked about myself and how I was auditor and I worked for the federal government. Everybody knows you get a pension. And my father was so upset with me when I left my job but I had a significant life event. That’s why I left but he was like you have a good job and I’m like, Well if I got one the first time I’m then you know, I’d be able to get one another time. That’s That’s how I see it. And like you’re saying things move very quickly, you know, things change. And, you know, my whole philosophy is if you can do it once you should be able to do it again, you should be able to replicate it. So next question is, what did you want to be when you grew up?
5:24
When I was little, I wanted to be a veterinarian, I love animals so much as a matter of fact, you might be able to hear one of my animals being very vocal, I must be getting an Amazon packaging. I love animals and wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up, because I could help all the animals. As we can see, I did not end up being the Federer I
5:46
want. That’s what I wanted to be to is to go to the library and check out these books and look at little animals and horses and stuff. And but being a weirdo.
5:59
Now that I’m a grown up, and I realized that sometimes part of being a veterinarian is having to put an animal down. Right, so glad I didn’t choose that path. Because I’ve been I’m too soft. I that would that would crush me. I wouldn’t be able to do but I can.
6:12
Yeah, no, that’s my sister. She’s in healthcare. And she she deals with all that stuff. And I don’t know how she does it. But But yeah,
6:22
we have people who are willing to do it. Right,
6:24
right, right, right. Right. Right. Um, let’s see, what was the catalyst that made you change your career? You kind of touched on it, you know, COVID? And a little bit, but what was it really what made you say, just, I’m gonna do this?
6:41
I would say it’s probably a confluence of, of circumstances. I think that difficulties in the job were coming my way that some of them didn’t make sense. And so I would, in my, in my talking with God, I would be like, This doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand. Like, are you trying to tell me something? Are you trying to? Is there something here? I need? Some always got that in the back of my mind? Like, why are some of these things that don’t, that don’t aren’t necessarily logical shouldn’t be happening? Why are they happening? And then, additionally, I got I got married, I been prior divorce, I found this most amazing man. And we got married in April. And he sees the stress that I’m under, he sees the hours that I’m putting in, and he’s like, you know, for for what do you make? That doesn’t make sense? Wait. It’s out of balance. It’s out of balance. And, and his concern for me? And, you know, he would say, Are you sure this is what you want to be doing? Are you sure it’s what you need to be doing? So I would, you know, vent the things that would happen to him? And I would say, Okay, now, this doesn’t make sense. But this is happening. Do you think God’s trying to tell me something? And he’s like, Yeah, maybe. So we were really paying attention to those signs. And I had shared with him, this, this passion that had been in my heart that I do believe God put in my heart about three years ago, that in any spare time I had, I would, I would work on it. My, my goal at the time was, let me put this together. And if I can launch it, then as a side hustle, then maybe at some point, Lord willing, or if this is, if I feel like God is telling me, this is the direction I’m supposed to go, then it will, at some point, replace my income, and then I can transition and retire from the media world and move into this full time, once it’s replaced my income. Well, that’s when I was still single, and not dating anyone. And then I start dating Brad, and there’s not as much time to work on it, you know, I would steal away moments, I would actually take camping weekends, where I’d get in an RV, and I’d go out to the lake all by myself, so that I would have some time to think and write and I would turn off my phone, there was no Wi Fi out there, which was a beautiful thing, because then I couldn’t check my email. And people had a harder time getting in touch with me. So it just he would, he would encourage that passion. And you know, if you if this is something you feel like you’re supposed to be doing, then do it. Like you have it my paycheck and don’t want to, you know, just say, Hey, we’re married. Now, this is all on you while I go chase this dream, and he encouraged me to. If that’s what you want, then we’ll we’ll figure out a way to make that work. And so all of these conversations happening, and then just interesting situations happening at work and some changes that happened at work that weren’t necessarily negative changes, but they weren’t positive for me, if that makes any sense. You know, again, it’s that all right now, some of this doesn’t make sense. And I think this is just God telling me telling me something and when I had determined that Okay, I think it is time for me to make a career change, then it’s just a matter of what timing makes sense. Then I felt that confirmation and it was like dominoes fell, and something would happen that who maybe, maybe I just, that’s what I want to hear, maybe that’s not and then something happen that would frustrate me so deeply or grieved me so deeply that I didn’t have the ability to affect it in a positive way. And that’s what I told my now former boss that I got into this job to help people, you know, with what what I what I was doing, we were entertaining and forming and growing people’s businesses and, and helping people with their American dream if they’re a local business, and I took the management job to help make this life work thing better for all the people that worked with us. Oh, sorry, my phone thinks that I was talking to her. So when you are in a position of leadership, that you’re supposed to be making the decisions executing and propelling the vision, and then you don’t have the ability to do that anymore. That’s kind of your title is still the same, but the role has changed to where you don’t have that ability. It’s like, this is not fun anymore. This is a beating. You know, and that’s, that’s a me problem. That’s just what, what I was in it for nothing negative against the organization, my bosses are amazing. That is the best company I’ve ever worked for my boss was, is a fantastic human and a great leader and a great boss, it just was very clear that it was time for me to leave to close that chapter, I had some highs, we have some big successes. And it was I spoke to my mentor about it. And he said, you know, this is your ultimate Mic drop. He said, This is the perfect time for you. You know, get out now while you can smile about it, be proud of what you’ve done. Knowing that you you, you did everything you could and you’ve got this other opportunity, take it while you can. And what I told my boss and, and my mentor and the head of the company when I gave them my resignation is look, I don’t want to be like Emmitt Smith who stayed in the NFL too long. I’m not going to play for the Cardinals, it’s time for me to retire. And and on a positive when we’re we all still love each other to death. And we all still have wonderful feelings. And I’m not, you know, a big stressful kind of a long answer. Sorry.
12:27
No, it’s perfectly fine. I mean, you touched on a lot. I mean, the last part, I mean, leaving before you, you know, where you say f8 And you’re upset and you’re mad, and you’re taking your feelings out on your family or you know, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. That’s, I mean, that’s, that’s crazy. That’s crucial, right there, you know, because most people wait into that point. And then, you know, they start looking for other answers or, or, you know, a direction to go so, so yeah, I mean, you know, that’s, that’s crazy.
13:01
Well, I’m a true believer that we we get to choose we don’t always choose initially how something makes us feel but we choose the feelings that we nurture. And we choose what we decide to really do with that and becoming bitter becoming negative becoming dead disenchanted doesn’t, does it isn’t good for you, much less the people that you work with and the people who count on you. And so for me, it it was about I it is becoming more and more difficult for me to maintain this demeanor and this positive attitude. And so, let’s, let’s end on a good because that’s better for everybody. I don’t want to be that person that when when she’s gone. They say wow, she really went downhill, she must have just thrown up her hands and given up and you know, and not everybody has the luxury of being able to walk away the way I did. You know, I was setting myself up for it at some point, but it’s possible to leave while things are still good. I mean, that’s That’s maturity that’s sometimes it’s been in touch with let me exit Well, it was very important for me to exit well, for my reputation for the health of the organization, and the people there and myself and my family.
14:26
I’m trying to think I don’t think I’ve ever left a job on a good reputation. At the at the epic part, I was always at the epic part. And, you know, somebody mentioned to me the other day that my life is interesting. And I’m like, Well, I crafted my life this way. So when I get to the point of epic, you know, I have something to fall back on. Or, you know, I’m not at the point where I have to depend on someone else or something like that. So, so yeah, I totally understand it. and get you, you kind of touched on a little bit more, but what support did you have? You know, did you did your friends that you were crazy for leaving, you know, you’ve been doing this, you know most of your life and all this other kind of stuff? What was the feedback that you got when you left and decided to go do something else?
15:20
Yeah, wow, that it was a mixed bag. This is interesting. And I you think you kind of know, but you don’t know. And I’m, I’m very involved in my local community, I’ve served on several boards. Being in media, it’s a higher profile type of a of a industry in your local market in my with my title, I, I’m very involved in a lot of things. And so I know a lot of people in the community and there I was kind of known for what I did for living, you know, my career was kind of my identity. And for many, many years, I leaned into that. And I think to the point where that probably wasn’t healthy, but it is what it is I’m I’m kind of a workaholic. So that was my identity. I will say, you know, my husband, as we talked about was extremely supportive. I have a small group of women, a very close knit group, we get together on Wednesday nights at my house, and it’s a Bible study and prayer group. And they all knew that this was something that was on my heart and that it was brewing. They’ve known for three years that I’ve been working on this project on the side, they’ve all been very much in favor of, hey, when it’s time for you to jump, we’re in your corner, we’ve got you. So all of those people very supportive. My my boss, when I told her her first, her first thought was, excuse me, what, then when I told her, Hey, here’s, here’s why, here’s what I want to do. I need to shift from helping business to business to more individual humans. There’s just so much heartbreak in the world that divorce causes and I need to help those women. And so she was very supportive and totally understood. And everybody at my company, it was kind of that excuse me what? And then okay, that’s amazing what you’re gonna do in the community. I’ve gotten a lot of this. From what you’re doing what you’re doing why? How’s that gonna work? Exactly, you know, people, no one has said anything to my face that they think I’m crazy. I do feel like there are probably some people that their inner thought bubble, if I could have seen their thought bubble would have said, this woman is a nut job. What is she doing? But nobody has said that. To me. Everybody has been very supportive and kind. I think some people are probably like, Hmm, okay, we’ll see where this goes. But, you know, it’s been a mixed bag for sure.
17:52
Gotcha. stay muted, because I have a lot of background, please. Yeah, cuz I mean, I asked that question, because people thought I was insane when I said I was gonna go study Spanish and Mexico.
18:08
Wow, from you. Is that when you went from being an auditor to studying Spanish? Yeah, I
18:15
mean, like, I like I told you before, like my mother passed. And so you know, I quit my whole life in order to take care of my mother. And, you know, I didn’t have a job. So it was like, Okay, so where do I go from here? And so I ended up, you know, hey, well, I’m gonna go spend some time in another country. I’ve never been to another country before. And you know, I had gotten my passport, like, maybe four years before, like, I had this passport, but I never used it. And ended up I was like, you know, I’ll go spend 90 days or something and see how I feel about it. You know, I can always come back. And, you know, I think it was like, the month and a half mark, and I told my father, I’m not coming back. It was like wax. And so, you know, I asked that question, because, you know, people thought I was insane. They were like, What do you mean, you’re not coming back? Like, you don’t know anyone there you don’t speak the language. Like it’s a different culture. Like what the hell are you? What are you on about here knows. So? Um, so yeah, I mean, sometimes you have support, sometimes you don’t? And, you know, that’s where the strong separates from the weak. Are you going to continue at it because you don’t have support? Or are you going to, are you going to, you know, cave. So, so yeah, um, what was the process of switching careers? Like, how do you how did you reformat your resume? You know, how did you convince people to trust you and take you on and you know, all this other stuff that goes along with it? What was the process on that?
19:53
You know, I have not actually re done my resume. I because I’m, I am forming my own company. So I’m not necessarily I haven’t thought about that at some point, I will, because I need to update LinkedIn. And that’s kind of your, your, your virtual resume these days. So one thing that helps me with the transition, I believe is because I have run this market, it’s like running your own company, there’s corporate attached, but I had all my business units I, I managed the expenses, the revenue, the admin, so I know how to run a company. And that was such a gift to have learned over the last several years in this position, not just how to lead a team, because I’ve been in sales management before for many, many years. But this was really not just how to lead a team, but how to run a business soup to nuts, all the things from paying the bills to your licensing to equipment, and how the expenses work, and how the audits work, and how all the things work. So, so that was, that was helpful when I first thought, well, this is such a crazy transition, there’s nothing that is alike about what I’ve been doing and what I’m about to do. And my mentor actually said, you know how to run a company, now, you’re gonna be fine. I was like, Oh, thank you, I need you to hear that. So I will say just in the, in the making sure that I have a good plan. Instead of just holding my nose and jumping in the pool, I took some time to kind of de stress, get some things out of my head, and then it’s like, Alright, I’m going to form an LLC, what are the things I need to do, and then I’ve also paid for some courses and some, some consultants to help me set up the right way. Instead of just, I’m going to, you know, break a lot of glass. And I’m just going to try this and see if it works and throw this spaghetti up against the wall, and I’m going to fail fast. And I’m, I’m being methodical. And I know that when it’s such a new world, I bring in a fresh perspective. But there are those who have gone before me that I need to take some time and learn from so that I get that head start. And I’m not just charging in like a bull in a china shop. So that’s been really taking a minute to decompress. You know, it takes a long time when you work in a very high stress environment. And I’m sure you can relate to this working for the federal government. The cortisol, from all the stress doesn’t just leave your body the day you walk out of there, it takes it it probably took me I’m gonna say four to six weeks before this. Not that I constantly had in my chest east of stress of worry, is this going to be okay? Is this person going to be okay? Are we going to hit this goal? You know, am I going to have to cut this expense? What happens if there’s a recession and half of our advertisers cancel like they did at COVID? How am I going to handle that? How am I going to hang on to the people without having to lay anybody off? How am I going to do this? You know, what if we miss this mark, then how do I? How do I talk to my boss about that, you know, all of those things that you carry in, and I’ve got to hire some people, and it’s really hard to find good people, and I can’t pay them what they want to make. But I you know, it’s like finding that person that you can afford to pay that has your qualifications. Like this was the things that would keep me up at night. And it was this ball of stress, you know, and it probably took about six weeks before I woke up one day, and I am like, oh, I don’t feel that anymore. So I had the first week. So the first week that we after I resigned, we left and went to Hawaii and I had like work stress nightmares every single night who were in Hawaii, and some of them were absolutely bizarre. I would wake up and tell my husband, you’re not gonna believe what I just dreamed last night. You know, just crazy stuff. So the transition, I believe it’s important to give yourself some time so that you can transition well and feel like you have a good plan. And you you’re rested and refreshed and ready to be creative and take on the next challenge if you’re still exhausted from like being in a fight, you know, people they take, they take breaks during the rounds off for a reason. You got to have a minute to recharge your batteries and catch your breath so that you can come into the next one and be your best. So
24:44
gotcha, gotcha. You touched on a whole lot is a fellow entrepreneur. You know, I understand that all these things keep me up at night too. It’s like, you know, when you have the security of a job, it’s like you just wake up, get dressed and get in your car and and go to work or now you just roll over and turn the computer on, you know. But I want to circle back on the advisement part, and investing in your training and courses and things like that, because there’s not very many things that haven’t already been done before. You know, and so, my thing is investing in the courses, investing in yourself, you know, get a good group of people, if possible, you know, reach out to people, you know, just because one person says no, doesn’t mean that the next person won’t say no, you know, and my last one was with Christian Evans, we talked about closed mouths don’t get fed. And you can’t be scared, you know, scared money, don’t make money. Here, so having the confidence in order to put yourself out there and things like that. But, um, but yeah, definitely, you have to, you know, spend money, so you don’t waste money later. Because, you know, you might drop $500 on a course. And if you had dropped those $500 on that course, and went through it, you might not have the knowledge and now you wasted $5,000, you know, instead. So I’m a big proponent of reaching out to people asking questions, I believe there’s no dumb questions. And I also believe that you have to invest in yourself and you know, take it all in and read through things and do lots and lots of research before you make a decision. So good stuff. And outside of that, I’m resting. I mean, if you if you can, you know, like I said, I spent time in Mexico, that was my recipe period, a lot of times, you know, dealing with the death of my mother and then losing a job and you know, just life changes. That was my rest period. Yeah. No, I literally was on unemployment. And I was like, Well, you know, this should hold me over. And I went and rested. And then I got back into my entrepreneur chops. But, um, but yeah, you touched on a lot of good things. Um, let me see what, well, you kind of touched on this, you know, being an entrepreneur, but what are some of the positive and negative of your new career? What what kind of tips and tricks can you give to?
27:21
So the, the first and most obvious positive probably is you get to own your time schedule, right? That also can be a negative, because it’s so easy to get up. And she’s gonna give spindle extra time at the gym, or I need to vacuum the house. Let me throw a load of laundry and, you know, I need to run to the grocery store. And then it’s noon, and you’re like, oh my gosh, I frittered away half the day, what did I even do? One of my dearest friends just transitioned from being an attorney into being a judge. And so at some point, in 2022, she had to release her docket, when it became very apparent that she was going to win the election for that Tennessee. And so she, she kind of helped wrap up cases, but couldn’t take on anything new. And then at some point around the fourth quarter, I believe, she had to actually leave the firm in preparation for being a judge. And she told me, she said, You’re gonna wonder how you ever worked, your days are going to be full of tasks and things and, and you’re gonna wonder how you ever got your life done, when you had a job and work the hours that you did? And she was so right. You know, interestingly, all all the boards that I serve on, they’re still having meetings, I’m still going to meetings and serving on committees. And then when people when people know, oh, you’re not working at the company anymore, or that you’ll have time to help me with this project or this project. And yeah, so the, some of the cons are, people don’t understand the amount of time and attention and dedication needed to get a company off the ground, and they see Oh, good, you have more time now. And they, Oh, now that you’re not working for the company, you can help me with this project, that that I want to do, you can volunteer more you can tell me everything that you know, and, you know, give me all the contacts that your company was. So it’s, it’s it’s an interesting shift in how people I thought people would ask less of my time because what value do I bring if I’m, if I can’t do anything with you with my media properties, but quite the opposite, actually. But then back to the pros, I think, knowing that yes, my time is on me. I can say no to meetings. I can say yes to meetings I can. I can do the creative work when I’m the most creative I can get my productivity stuff done when I’m the most productive I get to to do Be in charge of that. I think also knowing that the the, the core beliefs that I have as far as people, and how an organization should be operated I get, I get to do that I don’t have someone else telling me this is how this is going to be handled. This is how we are going to approach this situation. It’s it’s exciting and terrifying all at the same time to know that I get to make all those decisions, and I’m sure they will all be great, but I’ll have the ability to pivot. And so, so far, the best parts of this are that I get to, I get to see my vision through because there’s no other I don’t have a boss or an organization structurally telling me how we need you to get from here to here. And we’re gonna tell you how to get there. If I know I want to get from here to here, I get to blaze that trail myself. That’s exciting to me
31:07
being an entrepreneur, I mean, you pretty much summed it up. I mean, I don’t even know what to add to that. It’s, it’s, it’s terrifying, but yet it’s exhilarating. At the same time. I will have to say it’s one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done in my life. But But yeah, you said it. Um, what are some traits that you that you would think would make someone successful? Whether it’s, you know, what you’re trying to do specifically or being an entrepreneur, what what do you think are some good traits to have?
31:49
Resilience, resiliency? First of all, like you said, it’s the hardest thing you’ll ever do, most likely. So you’ve got to be resilient. And I think that so often people that make a change, they hear a call, they feel that it’s time and they start moving in a direction. And as soon as they face opposition, they’re like, uh, maybe I wasn’t, you know, maybe I wasn’t supposed to do this. And they start that the self doubt creeps in. So I think you got to be resilient. I use this, this analogy, and I don’t know if you remember these, you’re way younger. And I don’t know if they had them. When you were a kid. Do you remember the little toys, they were called weebles. And they weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down. And they had to also have those big clowns that were blow up that were weighted on the bottom, you could punch it, and it would come right back up. The entrepreneur has to be that you have to be able to pop that back up, when you get knocked down, because it’s going to happen, you’re going to face opposition, you’re going to fail. But if you think about it, the things in our lives that we are the most proud of that bring us the most joy and probably where we’ve had the most impact happened with opposition. When things are easy. We they don’t tend to be as impactful or as meaningful. And so resiliency, number one, I think there has to be a certain amount of confidence, but not hubris, there’s a huge difference between confidence and hubris. I think that you, you have to be able to kind of master the things that go on in your mind, I was just listening to a podcast, this has come up a couple of times this week with how leaders so often have that imposter syndrome and if it makes them become a people pleaser, or it makes them work that much harder that most people who are achievers high, high achievers have some sort of impostor syndrome. And that’s why they’re constantly pushing to earn the position that they have, I think you have to be able to, to get that in check. And to recognize it and go okay, none of us are ever truly good enough, because none of us are ever absolutely perfect. But I want to be smart about it. Let me keep that in check and maintain a certain level of, to me confidence means I know where my shortcomings are, I know where my strengths are. And I’m going to work to maximize those strengths and overcome those shortcomings and give myself the grace because I’m human. And I’m just going to keep moving forward in the face of fear in the face of insecurity in the face of uncertainty in the face of difficulty going to keep moving forward. To me that’s what confidence is. So I would say resiliency and competence are the two
34:47
big Gotcha. Now you touched on a lot that that pretty much sums up being an entrepreneur. I don’t know about the imposter syndrome, right? I want to say that I’ve never had it but You know, like you said, I play on my strengths, and I leave my weaknesses over there, you know, me, me and my friend, Christian, the last person that was on the last podcast, you know, he’s an entrepreneur too. And we go back and forth about delegating, you have to be able to give up what you don’t like what you can’t do and delegate. So I’m real good about delegation. And he’s not.
35:26
I’m not either if you have, like, give me your top pointers, or I’ve gotten better at it over the years, but I’m horrible.
35:36
It’s like, I guess you like you saying, you have to know where your weaknesses are, I do a lot of web development. And I don’t I call it coloring. Like, I can’t design like, I’m not a designer. So I’ll outsource all of that, you know, and I know what I want, I know what it you know, what I want my stuff to look like, outsource all of that. So that’s a big thing that I delegate, and outsource. And then social media stuff I don’t really care for either. So I’ll outsource a lot of that. But, um, that that plays on my weaknesses, though, as for, you know, the strengths and wanting to give things up? Um, I know because I haven’t I haven’t run into that, really, it’s more so of I don’t have time to do it. So I’ll give it to someone else to do. That’s, that’s really where the line is on the strength part.
36:31
Yeah, that’s great. Well, I know my I was raised with the mantra if it is to be, it’s up to me. And that really stuck with me. So much of my leadership at my previous company, I felt like the, the more I delegate, the more I’m taking people away from what they do. And I learned to choose certain things that I needed to delegate. But the difficulty for me was in wanting so badly to support my people and keep them free to move and do what they were hired to do that, I would, I would think, you know what, I’m not going to delegate that because then that slows them down. Or sometimes it’s a control thing. Sometimes it’s Listen, in the time it takes me to explain this, I could have just done it myself. And I’ll know it was done, right. Because there’s a little bit of a control freak there, as well. So I know where the sources of my weakness in delegation come from. And so I’m hoping that this reset, like right now, I have a staff of one, this one. And so I’m already setting up processes, I’m setting up a workflow, workflow boards, I’ve got monday.com, I’ve got my subscription to Monday, and I’m setting it up as if I have an assistant. And as if I have employees so that as I grow, and it’s time to bring people in, they’ve already got a workflow. And so it’s just going to be everything that’s this color, I’m changing from my name to yours. And I’m, I’m committed to forcing myself to taking the time, even if it feels like you don’t have it, if you take the time to teach it once, yes, it slows you down that day. But then I don’t have to do it again next week, and frees up more time exponentially because I’ve trained to this person, and they can do those things that don’t propel the mission. I’m the one that has to propel the mission. So, in theory, it sounds like I have my act together, we’ll see if I can do it. This is my hope that I can learn to delegate Well,
38:38
right. And I’ll also say like, I don’t have employees, I hired contractors. And so that was the other thing that we discussed is, you know, how do you find these people, and I told him, You know, I have like your thing, your processes, going back to my audit brain, you have to have your processes, right, you write it down, you know, whether you have to record a video or you know, add pictures to it, or whatever you need to do in order to get this process down. That’s, that’s one part of it. And then, you know, when you hire someone, hopefully you have the time and the ability to, you know, basically, I don’t want to say quiz them, but see what their their background is, their portfolio, and when my case would be a portfolio because I do you know, I don’t want to color and see what they’ve done and then hire them. One designer, I’ve been working with him since like, 2019, like, I steadily push work to him. So, you know, it’s, it’s, you know, once you find someone that’s good, you know, stick with it, you’re gonna get some rotten apples. I’ve definitely had rotten apples before, like I’ve had like maybe five over the years, you know, and that’s just part of being entrepreneurs is the cost of doing business, you know, so you have to factor that into when you’re playing your part. assesses your budget and everything else that goes along with it. I mean, it just happens. Just it’s no different than hiring a bad employee and having to fire them, you know. So the thing is, you have to trust your process. You have to trust. Sometimes it’s gonna work sometimes it doesn’t. That’s just life.
40:17
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that’s great advice. That is great advice.
40:21
Um, and then last question, what would you tell someone that wanted to career switching in general, you know, the fears, the doubts, the pros and the cons? Like, what what would you say as a last final statement,
40:35
I have always ascribed to the Benjamin Franklin method. When making a decision like that list out all the pros, like take a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle, all the pros here, all columns here, first, and that’s not the whole story. You don’t just this list is longer so I mess it the pros are, are more than I go for it. If the cons are higher, I don’t I think then you prioritize you say what’s the most important to me? What is what is going to nourish my soul? What is my driving force? And And where am I seeing a theme of listen, if, if I’m just miserable at this job, and I’m willing to take a new one to get out of this one. But if that’s going to set me back, either, depending on what your core drivers are, either, if it’s going to set you back financially, or if it’s going to set back your career, or if it’s going to prevent you from being able to follow your dreams, you know, some companies sign noncompetes non disclosures, you know, you have to look at all those things and see is, is, is this, I’m taking a temporary or taking the change because I hate where I’m at, that’s horrible motivation to leave, or to do something else. It’s not a horrible motivation to leave, but a bad motivation to do something else. But then on the flip side of that, if, if staying here, for more money cost me my health, my quality of life, my relationships, my ability to to function, normally, you know, if this job is causing me to drink more every night than I would normally drink and binge potato chips and cheese at midnight, you know, maybe it’s worth taking a pay cut, to do something that’s going to nourish my soul that I’m that it’s going to help me develop better habits, or at least be better for my emotional state of mind. So that I’m not falling prey to my bad habits or, you know, there. Those are just a few examples, I think, definitely outweighing pros and cons and then putting those through the filter of what is my purpose? What do I feel like I’m here on this earth to accomplish? And my core beliefs and my core drivers, which which is going to ultimately get me where I want to go in life? Because because the the other the other cliche thing is, you know, at the end of your life, nobody’s going to say, Wow, she gave it 60 hours a week, high five to that girl. No, what do you want him to say? What do you want people to say at your funeral? What do you want your tombstone? How do you want to be remembered? And if sticking this out, because I’ve also stayed through really hard times at companies when I wanted out. But the good Lord, or the universe was putting blocks in my way. And I’m like, okay, apparently, I’m supposed to stay here. I’m glad I did. Because I got through tough times. And there was huge blessing and reward in that. So sometimes you’re called to stay through adversity. And sometimes you’re called to the next chapter. And it’s really about getting in touch with the pros and the cons and your ultimate destination in life and how you want to be remembered and which path is going to take you in that direction, if that makes sense.
43:46
No, definitely makes perfect sense. I don’t really have anything to add, but basically, you know, when I’ll say when everything just lines up, you know, is how you know. I’ll say when I moved to Mexico, like I didn’t have any issues, like everything just went so smoothly. And that’s how I knew that I was supposed to be here in this point of time. Like I was telling you, I’m born and raised in Sacramento, I seen street signs that said Sacramento is you know, and stuff like that. And it’s just like, oh my god, like, you know, what is this? So you know, the universe will work it’ll work for you. If you if you truly believe so. With all that said thank you Carlene for you know, being on my podcast, I reached out to you and I so appreciate your time. And being a guest and I hope your business you know, shoots off and you’re happy and not terrified being an entrepreneur. I know how that goes. And any any last final words, you know, give me a pitch on your business or anything like that. No. for you where people can find you
45:02
certainly thank you and it’s very nice to meet you as well and it’s been a joy and an honor to be asked to be on your podcast so thank you the the parent company is restoring Hearts Academy I am the the product is an online course it’s basically a guided but self paced journey toward true healing from divorce. I’m the title is still a working title. I’m back and forth with GoDaddy and what domains are available out there you know, are looking at restore restoration after divorce life after divorce, I wanted the divorce course that URL is taken. So the website is in process. So right now you can find me on LinkedIn and Facebook with more to come as soon as I get the URL and the course so the content is almost complete. And so now I’m in the building stage of getting the course materials formatted into the platform, getting the website built out and then hopefully the launch will come in the first quarter of 23
46:11
All right, you heard it first from Carlene Thank you for watching. Nobody wants to work though podcast. My name is Elise Robinson and I hope to see you next time please subscribe
About
Get ready for an incredible episode of the podcast, as the amazing Christian Evans from Success Fitness joins the conversation! Christian shares his powerful story of losing over 180 pounds as a cook, and how that experience led him to become a personal trainer, transforming not just his body but his mind and soul as well. But that’s not all – he also opens up about his experiences as an entrepreneur and the hardships of life, including how to refocus after traumatic events. You won’t want to miss Christian’s inspiring insights and practical advice on how to overcome obstacles and reach your full potential. His energy and enthusiasm are infectious, and you’ll walk away feeling motivated and ready to take on whatever challenges come your way. So tune in now and get ready for an unforgettable conversation with Christian Evans and the “Nobody Wants To Work Tho” podcast!
Christian Evans: Website – http://www.christiansweightsuccess.net
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Show Notes
0:18
Hey, my name is Elise y Robinson and I am your podcast host with nobody wants to work though. And today I have you with Kristian Evans. He is our official first podcast guest. He runs a SAS fitness I’ve no Christian way, how many years have we known each other about
0:40
being over for over four or five, somewhere around there has been probably longer, probably longer.
0:45
And I find him to be so inspiring his whole story, I’ll let you talk about it, but very, very inspiring. He puts in work, he puts in work and keeps me on my on my p’s and q’s. So yeah, just go ahead and introduce yourself. Who are you? And what are you about?
1:06
Okay, I am Christian Evans. I’m out of Peoria, Illinois. I am a personal trainer. And I guess the title of entrepreneur, I am somebody who was just, you know what, it just came naturally in regards to the request of people wanting me to help them I was a cook for about five or six years and a nursing home. During that time, I had gone from 405 pounds and lost a total of 187 pounds in 10 months. And from there, people were asking me to help them lose weight to try to duplicate what I did. And I was reluctant. And I was hesitant at first, but I ended up getting in and started helping people. And it kind of led to me exiting that job and going full time as a personal trainer. But during that time of me transitioning, I learned a lot, I learned a lot things weren’t as smooth as I thought they would go. And there were some strange things I had to do for change. But I overcame that. And now I’m here I also run my own podcast called The Success fitness podcast. And from there, we just pretty much just talk also had at least on my podcast at the top of probably 2020 During the during the initial COVID lock downs in how COVID kind of affected her in you know, everybody’s during during that time. But I run my first personal training hours one on one or Zoom trainings from my home gym, and I call that success, fitness. And you also work at a commercial gym at Gold’s Gym. And the process of going from a cook to full time personal trainer wasn’t easy, but I’m here now. So that’s my story in a nutshell.
3:06
Yeah, I had the excuse me, I’m getting over nasty, nasty code. Um, so what was the thing that made you say, hey, I want to lose this weight, you know, because people go, you know, their whole lives until, like, literally the very end and, you know, they’re, they’re a certain size. Um, what was the catalyst? What made you say, Hey, I gotta change my ways.
3:35
Um, well, I had three deaths in about 556 year span. First, my mother passed away in Oh, eight of from complications of breast cancer. And then my cousin passed away, maybe about two years later, have a heart attack, I believe. And then my grandmother passed. But she she was she was my grandma was 70 years old for 10 years to me. And so I think she was probably about like, 80 something. But during but after that one, it was like, you know, three strikes, you’re out. After that I just said just enough is enough. I just went into seclusion went to hiding. And just got to myself and found a found found, found a regimen found a regiment that worked for me, because I’ve always had certain type of regiment one way or another if I was working out. But one thing I didn’t have fully was the diet. No, it was worked out one way or another. But the diet once I got that, and that clicked in every day, I will weigh myself and I will see positive results. So I just duplicate it, whatever I did the day before. And then there was day three, day four, day five, day six, day seven. And I just kept going on from there and it was just trying to duplicate what I did the day before. And within 10 months, that’s when I dropped the one 187 pounds. And from there, things change, things change, things change from a standpoint of what I wanted to do in my life, and things in my story kind of going forward. You know, from there, I created and started my blog, Christian’s weight success.net to just document down what I did. And some of the recipes that I use some of the workout regimens that I used, and just, you know, my backstory. So that is, you know, my story in regards to why and how I lost my weight.
5:36
Oh, gotcha. Yeah, I mean, I don’t even know how we met in online,
5:41
it was probably on Twitter, because during that, during that time, I knew I came off of Facebook, because I was just over it. During my desk occlusion phase, when my grandmother passed, I was just over, I didn’t want to see any family members, I didn’t want to see any family members post or agers just anything like that. And I just went to Twitter. And so more than likely probably through a retweet, or hashtag or something one way or another, that’s probably how we connected.
6:06
I have no idea but we always connect on health diet. And you know, if you don’t know anything about me, I lost my mother at a young age to my mother was a leaf, like a couple of days before 57th birthday, from blood cancers. So, you know, we go back and forth on that all the time. And you know, we lost our mothers young. So we connected on that, for sure. Um, and outside of that, you know, I’m always asking for help tips and am I doing this right? Am I doing that? Right? So so yeah. All these things come at a cost? What did it cost you? Did you lose friendships? Did you know to have support or your family? Were you not able to go out and party anymore? What What did it cost you?
6:59
Um, what did it cost me, it cost me, it just cost me focus, it caused me focus from a standpoint of having to redirect what I was thinking about, I had to just invest time, how to in, in invest just in a relationship just with myself trying to find myself and actually discipline and to go to a place mentally that I had never been before from a standpoint of challenging myself. That’s the thing to a point to where, when I was, you know, on my weight loss journey, is I had to challenge myself every day, let’s see if I could do what I did. Yesterday, today, even though I don’t feel like it today. I want to do something else. But the ability to stay consistent when I want to just do something else. Relationships, you know, come and go. Some, some relationships ended and some relationships started, you know, some relationships started and you started well, I started just to learn just that balance in life. And it’s like, you know, what, if that person or those persons don’t want to stick with me through that, that’s fine. It was tough, but I couldn’t stop what I was doing. And I started to realize whenever I’m trying to do something, is something good, something positive, that negativity will be around and that’s just going to be a part of life right there.
8:25
There you go. The negativity is always going to be around preach.
8:33
For those that are thinking about becoming like a personal trainer, or something like that, or get into the wellness field, in general, what are some of the positives and negatives of your career,
8:44
the positives is that you can make your own schedule and the negatives is you can make your own schedule. So the same thing that can let make you laugh, make you cry, and going further into that is that we’re all looking for freedom, some type of freedom one way or another. And you try to like occupy your time, but there will be slow, slow seasons and slow times. And you know, you may not be booked, you know, 9am 10am 11am you may have a 9am and then a 1pm and it’s what do I do in between that time? What do I do in between, you know, the hours of, of 10 to one in my personal experience, I Uber and that was a tough part about when I left my cooking job and went into personal training full time as far as where I thought and I just thought that hey, you know what, I’m gonna have clients you know, left to right, you know, I have all these credentials. I have a website. People see my before and after pictures, this is going to be a piece of cake. And it was you know, it wasn’t there were times to when I would have an eight o’clock client in Vienna wouldn’t have anything till maybe four o’clock and I’d have to noon, and so they also have to get paid. So I Uber, or Uber, DoorDash, Instacart in between clients, and that was tough, because I wanted to do personal training, you know, full time. And that was the cost that I had to pay, you know, I had to work on getting my name out there, I had to work on my promotion, I had to work on establishing who I was, and having people trust in me having people believe in me. And that was challenging, but just sticking to that, you know, every single day, as I was in my car, just driving, I got to thinking, I’m like, I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do this, you know, there’s risk on the road, you know, let alone just drive and you know, car accidents, you see crazy things and, you know, gas, you know, you got tires. Remember, I bought a new car. And literally when I pulled off the lot, a nail got into my tire, you know, I had to cover those costs, you know, right then and there. But I had to Uber that day, like literally got the car, sign the papers, and I turned my app on within like, the first hour, you know, and flat tire. But if I didn’t have any clients, I wasn’t getting paid. And so with that being said, you I had to become more creative, so I can occupy my time, so I can get a schedule so I can be able to provide for myself. So again, one of the you know, positive and negatives is is time, you know, being able to make your own schedule. So it’s a, it’s a gift and a curse at the same time in the ability to appreciate both sides of it, so you can respect in both sides of it. Another another positive thing, above all is your ability to help people is the ability to help somebody do something that they have never done before or they did not even believe that they could do. And I learned that still to this day, even some of my long term clients, they are, you know, message me about certain, you know, achievements that they’ve made, and they would not have made it, you know, without me and I don’t, I don’t like taking credit for it, because it’s still them, but I guess I’m their guy in this fitness journey, you know of theirs, of helping them recover from an injury helping them benchpress 10 pounds higher than what they normally would or just be able to just finish a workout. My demographic a clientele is late 30s to about mid 50s, early 60s, somewhere around there. And these people are busy, they’re professionals, and they don’t really have time to just really spend two hours in the gym and just go full bore, like I did at one point in time. So you have to respect their time. And this may be their first time working out to a lot of times do and so you have to be gentle, you have to be careful, you have to be attentive and just that has taught me just in myself how to be patient with people. So that’s a that’s a good part that’s that’s a positive part I will say a negative a negative can be sometimes clientele to just at the same time to you can be ready for client and then you you cancelled you know fires for that day. Or you think somebody’s going to renew for the for the month or whatever and then things change and just learning having learning how to not take that so personal because it may not be about you it may not be about you 100% of the time life happens you know the economy and people have children things happen they may have to pay for their kids flat tire you know, I mean and the money that they had for personal training now has to go into their to their kid or whatever but you just have to be the Agile you have to be agile be able to stop on a dime and then turn and go the other direction you know without without having to get too emotionally involved. It challenging is tough, but you know you’ll get over it.
14:04
Yeah
14:07
it’s more so life as a entrepreneur to um because yeah, me a Christian go back and forth on or our business stuff all the time. About Yeah, you know, this, this and this. But as we say there are no feelings in business keep you out of it. How did you balance your, you know, staying in your old career and then trying to transition to your new career? Did you quit it? Or do you just wake up one day and quit? So I’m gonna go all in, like, what was the process on that?
14:45
The process was, I believe is 2017. It was about February. And my brother called me over he said, I got a way that we can make some money. I’m like, alright, you know, what’s that mean? He was like Uber and I’m like, What’s that? And he explained to me what It was and I’ve always been the guinea pig between us too. And he’ll say, go do this. And I’m like, alright, I’ll go do it, first I go test the waters out, and then we can both, you know, go go from there. But what I found I made just as much, if not more money driving about 20 hours a week, probably about four nights, probably about four hours, four hours a night, about four or five days a week that I was making working. What was that? About 20 hours, 20 No, 40 hours, actually 40 hours, during my my day job. And once I started doing the math, and I’m like, if I can get this amount of money by just driving Uber, and then combine that with personal training rates at the time for the area, then I can make it, you know, I felt I could make it I felt I could make it you know, during that time. And so probably about April, that following April, because, you know, it’s February and then march and then April, I was like, I’m gonna go all in, I’m gonna go all in because, you know, this job is cool, I love to cook, I’ve always I’ve always loved to cook cooking is easy, to me is just time and temperature. They have been capped off, and rightfully so, you know, it’s a job, you know, job, they do balance and budget sheets, top of the, you know, top of the year or six months, six to eight months prior, you know, the year before and irregardless of how much effort that you put in how much of a good job you do, you you are just kept, you are just kept. And that’s just business. And that’s just business. So me understanding that I made a choice to just leave, you know, I wasn’t really for sure when I was, but I knew I was towards about the top of May I put my two weeks and I put my two weeks in, and I’ll let people know I’m, I’m going all in with this personal training. And probably about five days into my 10 day 10 day notice my my aunt had passed, my honor passed and she was a real, she was like the catalyst to a lot of what I’m doing right now. And she was my shoulder to cry on my mother passed. And pretty much my, my, my sage, you know, my guide my guide and life after my mother passed, and when she passed, and I just literally just walked out that that day, from my job. I was like, You know what, this is it, I can’t I can’t do this anymore. And that was how that came out, came about as far as like, you know, cooking. After I left, it was it just it wasn’t the same. But I was trying to leave that life behind. It didn’t take any other jobs. It was just personal training and Uber. And that was tough. I did more Uber and then personal training that summer, you know, during that summer, so from from from May, until about August, that’s all I did was was Uber, Uber, Uber, Uber personal training here and there. And then things start to change probably about like that, that September where I start to do a little bit more more training than then Uber.
18:19
I gotcha. I guess my next question is more so entrepreneurship question. What emotions went into the jump of that? Did you lose benefits because, you know, a lot of reasons why people stay at jobs is because of the benefits. They don’t want to lose health insurance and dental vision and, you know, the 401k package like, you know, what, what decision went into that to go into, you know, full time of being entrepreneur and giving giving that up.
18:55
The emotion was the security, the financial security, you jumping into the unknown of it wasn’t guaranteed that, you know, I was going to make what, you know, I was making back in February, in in May for Uber. And that was another tough thing I realized. Excuse me, the guaranteed paycheck, I’ve every week of having this amount of money deposited into my account. That wasn’t, it was just all out. So everything was all on me. So far as emotion it was. I think I would be lying if I said I wasn’t fearful, but I didn’t. I think the fear drove me. I think the fear drove me because it’s like, I gotta make it work. I got to make it work. I got to make it work. And so the fear was kind of more emotion. And I think that I gotta make it from being in fear was from when my mother passed. You know, my mother passed everything was a lot and put it like that. A lot was on me a lot was on me to figure out what to do, from, from that point on, you know, fires, bills, what to do with the house, just things like that, and I kind of work best under pressure, if I’m putting a corner, I will find my way out whether I got to fight or whether I got to do some type of kung fu move, or whatever the case may be, I’m gonna find my way out. And I don’t necessarily like to be in that position, but it seems like I get a little bit more focused. So that was that time of my life, you know, once I left there, so I gotta make it work. You know, I can’t be can’t be relaxed, you know what a job. It’s like, okay, I’m gonna work, you know, get paid for eight and a half, nine hours only work maybe for whatever you understand that system, you unless you understand the system of coming and going, what to do, what not to do, in the security that can come with that. But once I left, all that was gone. It was on me, I had to make it work, I had to make it work. I saw other people do it. So I cannot, you know, that was more of my mentality. So that fear really, really drove and push my confidence, it drove me to speak up more. My grandma told me that closed mouth doesn’t get fit. So my, my shyness at times, I had to get rid of that. You know, I had to ask people, Hey, you wants personal training? Or, you know, what’s your, what’s your goals for the year, just different things that I was uncomfortable with? So every emotion that kind of comes with like fear, I had to find the the the, the opposite of it and do it quickly. If not, then that meter mean that one, I was not making any money or two, I will have to Uber more to make money so I can make sure my bills were paid. So just what would that being say at fear? Fear was was was a driving force for me.
21:58
Yeah, one of the things that I described myself as fearless because like you said, after, after my mother passed away, it was like, Be scared away. There’s nothing to be scared of. And when your mother passes so young, it’s like, you’re at a point where you you have to do everything because you you don’t know when your last day is either. And so if you don’t know anything, that catalyst for me was moving to Mexico and learning Spanish and everything like that. So that’s another reason why me and Christian connect it because it’s like, fear fear of what? Yeah, no, you can’t be scared anymore. You have to go out there and basically take life by the horns. And, you know, like, they say, manifest destiny. And you know, you’re the only person on this earth that can drive drive your life, no one else can can do that to an extent. And so, yeah, fearless is definitely one of the words that I will describe myself as always. And what would be some traits that would make someone successful in this career, like you said, you can’t close mouths don’t get fed, you can’t be scared. So
23:13
I’m definitely closed mouth does not do not get scared. Well, calls mouth doesn’t get fed. Don’t be afraid of fear, either. You know, fear can make people just stop. But also fear can put you in a whole different phase of yourself or a whole different mentality of yourself that you didn’t even know. You could, you could you could persevere through, you know, it’s kind of like I remember one time, me and my brother were out selling CDs, right? We were out, you know, selling CDs, hand to hand on the streets. And I remember I went up this hill, and I was getting ready to make the sale to this lady. And this dog just came out of nowhere, literally. And it was like, slow motion. It was slow motion. This dog was coming on to the right. And my heart was just beating real fast. And I just looked at the dog and had like, literally to stop. And I was scared. Don’t get me wrong. I was scared. And then I freeze. I froze. But it was like, what else can I do at that time? And I was preparing myself for okay, if this dog bites you, this is what you need to do. So just in that moment about fear. It can challenge you it can challenge you to react, it can challenge you to stay still. And that’s when you have to like a note in that neck. Quick moment. You have to decide what’s the best move for you. And Hindsight is 2020. Then you look back and you’re like, Okay, I could have did this. I could have did this. I should have did that. And when I look back at that situation every single time I believe what I did was right because if I were to react it to that dog, then I probably would have got bitten You know, so you, that’s one trait that you have to have is just, you have to be, you have to be sure of yourself. But even if you are not, that shouldn’t stop you. And you know, sometimes we can overanalyze things, you know, they call analysis paralysis, where we just overanalyzing everything we don’t move, I was just watching a YouTube short about that I probably about an hour ago, he’s talking about kind of just dumbing down something, sometimes you have to just not be attached so much to the to the end result all the time, and be able to listen, be able to listen, and you have to be able to listen. So the whole thing about communication, it goes both ways. You can’t just always want to talk, you have to be open to somebody talking to you, you have to always be open to receiving additional information, additional perspectives. So just be an open minded, you know, that’s one. And lastly, I would say, consistent, you have to be consistent, irregardless of the outcome, you know, be consistent. You know, a lot of times we’re so attached to the end result, we’re so attached to the analytics that if they don’t say or do what we want them to, then we completely stop. And I’ve done that so many times. And I realized in those times, those were the worst times for me to stop. And sometimes it just doing it, and you just just get your reps up, just like well working out, it’s okay, I don’t, I don’t feel like I’m doing this, right. And you you do, you do take time out to make adjustments, but you just keep trying, you just keep trying, because maybe you just don’t get it in that first rep, maybe don’t get it in that second rep. That’s why personally going to work it out. I like doing high reps, say 15 to 20. Because sometimes I may not get reps, right as far as my form by the sixth or seven threats. But by the 10th. Our perspective, you know, less than perfect. And then I can just write out from there on out. So you have to learn how to just be consistent, you know, inspired?
27:03
Do you think that you should have done this career, let’s say I mean, I know your age, but let’s say, you know, 1015 years ago? Or do you think when you did it, it was the right time in your life?
27:18
I believe. I believe I did it at the time that you know what, when it came to me, you know, I That’s my honest belief. Now, are there some things I could have tightened up on during the time when the idea came to me and I was executing? Yeah, of course. And I think that’s part of being an entrepreneur to where you look back, like, I could have did this, I should have did that. But I had no knowledge or no desire, I had no desire, let’s say to be a personal trainer, you know, five years, prior five years prior to when I did become one I wasn’t interested, I wasn’t interested at all never came across my mind as to being one even when I would go to the gym with my cousins or lift weights with my brother, it was just for me, it was just for my experience, just chilling out with my family, and just getting stronger. And it had nothing to do with me teaching I didn’t know how to teach. I didn’t know what the purpose was. So just with that being said, you know, it’s you can’t you can’t can’t really question you know, God’s timing, you know, you can question it from the standpoint of what is it? You know, but it’s like, Is it is it right or wrong irregardless is is the lesson in that time, you know, so the lesson you know, in that in that time to when you know, I became let’s say entrepreneur or full time personal trainer was me paying attention, paying attention to signs paying attention to what’s going on and just making sure that I’m making the right move just make sure you make the right move and even if it’s not the right move, what do you learn from that mistake?
28:57
No
28:57
console Greek as I was just telling my other friend earlier that you know, I never thought about teaching or you know, doing seminars, having a school or doing a podcast hell literally living in another country speaking Spanish I could have been a auditor my whole life working for the federal government. My parents were government workers. So I could have totally did that my whole life I’ve been totally content doing. And then you know, life life happens. And, you know, it got shook up and all these crazy ideas started coming. So man life is so funny.
29:36
Right, right, right, right. Right. Right. Right.
29:39
Last question. Oops, excuse me. Yeah, I’m, I’m really not trying to be be gross over here. What tips and tricks would you give someone that wanted to be in this career? What were what are some things that you that you wish you knew, before you started being a pro? Personal Trainer and you know, what advice would you give someone wanted to get into this this career field
30:10
invest, be prepared to invest financial, be prepared to invest financially, that is one thing that I thought I could get by on or get by without meaning like, oh, I don’t have to pay for this, I don’t have to pay for that. And that’s not saying that you should have to pay for everything that somebody puts a price tag on. But to think that you can get over the bridge without paying the troll, you know, he’s going, if you’re going to have a tough time, you’re going to have a tough time. And that is one thing that I wish I would have subscribed to mentally, at the top of knowing that you got to pay for this, you got to pay for that. Because it’s going to either make your life easier, or that’s just the industry norm. Being that we’re on social media, things can look a certain way, but they’re not. And once you get once you get down to the guts of something, you see how it works. I used to take away not take aways to take apart phones, when I was younger, just I was always just always trying to take apart stuff, just to sorry, I tried to see how it works. And I remember one time, our phone or landline, our phone, it broke, and I didn’t want to pay for another one. This was I was probably maybe eighth grade freshman year in high school, and I didn’t know anything about phones, I don’t think Google was you know, as accessible back then if even out and back then so there had to be 9697 Somewhere around there. But I took the phone apart and took the phone apart and saw that some wires were loose and that’s why I didn’t get any connections to it. And that’s kind of a testament to how things are right now you have to see how things work you have to see how things work get down to the nitty gritty of it versus just saying oh, I’m opposed to this and you know is going to get shared or people are going to like it or whatever that is true and that can be true but there’s always much more there’s always much more to it there’s always much more to it so be prepared to invest in an invest fires you know financially so have your money saved have your have your money saved up have a way to make some money so you can take that money then invest and then invest into your idea and invest into what it is that you are doing or or want to do. Because it’s important because you’re going to get to a certain place that where you’re like I need to make the logistics of what I do and how I do it better and that is going to take money whether it’s you know hiring somebody to do your social media work or do your editing or whatever, it’s going to take money it is going to take money so if anything to get away or to take away from from this or to answer the question is financially in this be prepared to financially invest.
33:14
Yeah, me a Christian, talk about it all the time, scare money don’t make money. And you know, you you see those stories of people on there like last $10 and they put $9 into something and it just clicked so don’t don’t be scared to invest. I have to agree with that as as a fellow entrepreneur and outside of that, even if you’re not an entrepreneur, and you know, let’s say you have a professional career, one thing that I have is an insurance license and so one thing you have to do every two years is continuing education and so that cost I have to renew my license and things like that so um you know that is investing in myself and keeping me abreast of new ideas and new things. So yeah, you know, if the course is $500 and it’s gonna make you $10,000 Don’t be scared to do it go ahead and do it as long as it’s not going to you know, compromise paying your rent or something like that. But But yeah, scared money don’t make money and you definitely have to invest in yourself or your business or whatever you’re trying to do. With all that said, thank you, Christian for coming to the nobody wants to work podcast. Sorry, guys. Like I said, I got a cold so there’s that and anything else you want to say, Christian? Before we go.
34:49
Well, thank you for having me. Thank you for for me being the first guest on
34:56
your podcast practice
34:59
that means a lot that means a lot if if any of your your your listeners want to connect with me make it short and simple you just reach me on my blog Christians weight success.net That’ll lead you to so all my socials that’ll lead you to you know my podcast and if you’re wanting to have some some some some zoom workouts that actually do actually do zoom workouts and also some you can download a free workout ebook and also create in right workout ebooks based off of the equipment that you have and yeah so Christians weight success.net
35:37
All right you heard it from him Christians waste assess dot next and again I am at least why Robinson with nobody wants to work podcast or nobody wants to work on podcasts. Gosh, I don’t know the name my old podcast and let’s let’s close it out
35:56
bisa
About
In this episode, Elyse shares her inspiring career switcher story, taking us on a journey from her days as an auditor to her current role as a tech professional working with Azure Cloud. You won’t believe the twists and turns in her path, but Elyse’s determination and passion for learning and growing will leave you feeling inspired and ready to take on your own challenges. Her witty commentary and relatable style make this episode a must-listen for anyone considering a career change or looking to expand their skills. Don’t miss out – tune in now and join the conversation!
Elyse Y. Robinson: Website – http://www.switchintotech.org
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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Owning A Fashion Brand To Designing Wearable Tech
How To Cultivate A Career In Wearable Tech
Show Notes
[00:00:18.460]
Music.
[00:00:21.940]
Hey, y’all, it’s me again with nobody wants to work though. Podcast. My name is Elise Robinson. I am the host, and this episode is going to talk about my career switching story. Most people don’t know that I used to be auditor in my past, past life.
[00:00:39.790]
And not an It auditor, a real life auditor, because I’m so deep into this tech stuff now, and I’ve been on lots of interviews and podcasts and been invited to different things. So I want to talk about my career switching story, which is sad. It’s not sad, but I will start off talking about my love for tech and how I got into it when I was a child. I’m going to date myself, but I’m really not that old. But around nine years old, I wanted to know how those websites worked.
[00:01:30.570]
I got my first computer. It was a packer bell computer. It literally had four megabytes of Ram, because we’re like in what, you can get 32 gigs now, right? 32 gigs max on most computers.
[00:01:48.260]
And I found this website because I wanted to know how those websites worked. It still exists. I’ll put the link down in the comments, and it’s called Lisa Explains It All, I think. And she’s the same age as me.
[00:02:07.090]
She’s the same age as me. And funny enough, I chatted with her briefly on Facebook. I had reached out to her, and it took her a whole year to find my message, but it was during 2020.
[00:02:24.860]
And I told her thank you, because without that website, I don’t know if it would have been easy enough for me to learn and all that other kind of stuff.
[00:02:38.440]
So, yeah, around nine, I wanted to know how those websites worked. Found that website, got into it, started building these little dumb websites. I still remember my old website. I’m not going to name it. I’m not going to name it because you could actually find it online.
[00:02:59.740]
But I was pouring my little heart out. My first little blog. I don’t know, were they called blogs back then? I don’t know. I don’t know.
[00:03:07.500]
I guess they were called blogs.
[00:03:12.490]
I built it on B two. B two, which is now WordPress. Which is now WordPress. And then that turned into taking classes in high school and college.
[00:03:26.810]
And I was going to be a computer science major, but I couldn’t find an internship. I mean, I must apply it to thousands of internships, literally. And they kept saying there’s a shortage. And I’m like, there’s obviously not a shortage, or else I would have an internship. Right.
[00:03:49.010]
And come to find out, H one BS were deep. Me being a black girl at the time probably contributed to it, too. Black people as a whole are deeper into tech now than even five years ago. Right?
[00:04:09.640]
And so I switched to accounting and became an auditor for a number of years. And I loved it. I really did love it. It spoke to my business side. I say my business and my tech side.
[00:04:27.040]
Business is my serious side. Tech is my artistic side, businesses my cutthroat side.
[00:04:38.060]
So, yeah, I could be either or.
[00:04:43.240]
I got to do fascinating things that most people don’t get to do.
[00:04:50.140]
Classified, secret things. One position I did pensions and health plans. Pensions as in I’m throwing out a company, but let’s say Adobe. Adobe has to put your 401K monies in there on time and then make sure that they’re not stealing it, right? Because that literally happens.
[00:05:14.340]
I got stories for days.
[00:05:18.640]
And then Obamacare ACA, also known as and making sure that your health plans were in compliance with Obamacare, which was so boring. So boring. I hated that part. But pensions were interesting. I got to talk to CEOs of large companies, small businesses, medium businesses, all the way down to the secretary and basically demand that they give me this information that I wanted or you would be sanctioned.
[00:05:50.960]
Right. And then I moved on to working for the military, and I really loved that because I was real auditing. I would get up and do presentations and meet with officers and airmen. I was literally an authority figure. They hated me.
[00:06:13.560]
They hated me. I was always the most hated person in the room. That’s the life of being an auditor, but taking a stride because you’re trying to keep the public safe, whether it’s internal, external audits, or, like I said, pensions or financial statements of, let’s say, Citibank or something like that, a public company, you want to make sure that your money is safe.
[00:06:44.360]
And I had a lot of authority to tell people what to do and what not to do as a civilian. So that was interesting, me being a tall black woman, and I was bald headed. I loved it. I loved it. So, yeah.
[00:07:08.590]
And then life happened. If you know my story, then you know that my mother passed from blood cancer, and I had to quit my whole life in order to take care of her and help out my family. So I quit my audit job, and I never went back. I ended up moving to my second home of Mexico. I didn’t know a damn thing about Mexico.
[00:07:35.830]
Never been in my life. But that’s why I went with my Southwest Points, because that’s the only place I could afford to go.
[00:07:46.760]
I fell in love with Mexico. Mexico City. Specifically. I always have a special place in my heart for Mexico. Mexico City.
[00:07:57.480]
Specifically.
[00:08:02.290]
It helped me heal and more, and I built a business there. I built a cloud business. I didn’t know what the cloud was, and so I had to fall back on my tech skills there. I learned AWS, and then I pounded the pavement and would work with real estate companies in order to bring them into the 21st century. Right?
[00:08:31.460]
And I built, like, smaller zillow on AWS.
[00:08:39.260]
So, yeah, learn the skills over those couple of years and then life happened again, right? COVID 2020, I didn’t know when I was going to see my family again, so one way to stop isolation and to not go crazy is I taught myself Python. I didn’t know Python before that. Well, I got deeper into it and so one thing I had never been on was Twitter. They said Twitter was popping.
[00:09:16.240]
So I got my ads on Twitter and started tweeting out my daily progress on Twitter. Somehow, some way, people started asking me for advice and I’m like, I’m not even in tech, like officially. Like, this is some stuff that I just played with as a child.
[00:09:35.360]
And then one thing I knew was that you needed exam vouchers and I mean, I didn’t want to pay for them, so what I did was I got some free stuff, got scholarships, I got all this stuff and then I would tweet that out and they’re like, well, how do you keep winning all this stuff? This is like every week I was winning something, I was like, just Google it and search for it, that’s what I do. And so I turned into business and that’s how Switching Attack came about. And I got my first customer, my first day of launching, and luckily I launched around like Black Friday for Thanksgiving and so I was in a whole bunch of publications for that.
[00:10:19.840]
Mine is kind of somewhat no code since I use Google Sheets as the back end. So I was featured on like the no code founders and things like that. So I celebrated my two year anniversary last month. So excited about that. And then once the US opened back up and it was, oh my, I ringed, I’ll just keep it off.
[00:10:45.730]
It was safe to do so. It was safe to do. So I came back to the states and during that time I was looking for a position. I wanted to be a cloud engineer, but I didn’t know what it took to become one, honestly. So a lot of failed interviews, lot of looking crazy.
[00:11:11.670]
Good thing I don’t get embarrassed very easily, I could care less, move along, right? And so in that time I got recruited by Microsoft and I started at Microsoft, right.
[00:11:30.110]
I moved back to the states and the rest is history. So yeah, that is my career switching story. But let me answer some of my own questions that I have along the way.
[00:11:49.160]
One of my questions is what do people out there need to know about switching from going from audit to tech? I will say the tech role that I was in at Microsoft was very, very similar to audits. Lots of research, lots of critical thinking, lots of meeting with different people and figuring out what needs to be done. Lots of interview questions. As an auditor, I never worked as a team though I was always in charge of my own audit.
[00:12:29.220]
So I was lucky in that regard, which kind of spoiled me, I guess. So when I got to Microsoft, I was like, oh, I have to work in a team. There were some projects where I worked on it by myself, but yeah, mostly as a team, a very large team at that. And I talked about the catalyst that made me change my career because I was just always in love with tech and I wanted to see if I can get in there again. Hell at this.
[00:12:57.540]
It took me seven months to find a position in the middle of COVID and during that time I was like, I should just give up and go back to audit. So there’s that. Especially when I was selling interviews and I didn’t know anything, so there’s that. So I need to study more. One thing I’m good at is research and that is probably one of my weaknesses when it comes to tech.
[00:13:20.160]
Tech once you just stuff out off the top of your head and I’m like, why would you want someone to do that when it changes constantly, right? I am a researcher. Audit is research, accounting is research. People think it’s one plus one equals two. When it’s really not, it’s law, it’s research, it’s interviewing people.
[00:13:42.860]
And so tech has been hard for me and spitting off the top of my head because one thing I want to make sure of is that I’m right. You can’t go into audit and say you want to make sure that you’re right on what you’re demanding someone to do. So that has been a struggle from audit to tech.
[00:14:09.340]
Did I have support for the people around me? There really was no one around me when I was doing it. Actually, you know what, I have a friend, he’s a software engineer, so he supported me, he supported me along the way. We were programmed together and things like that during COVID But honestly, my family didn’t really know.
[00:14:30.640]
I don’t really like telling them my plans because they be trying to stop me from my crazy plans. They try to stop me from my crazy plans. So there’s that.
[00:14:44.660]
But yeah, I had definitely had support and what did it cost me along the way?
[00:14:56.510]
Time is the thing is always the thing, right? Time waits for no one. So if you’re thinking about making a career switch career change, time waits for no one. Next week will be here like next week. Tomorrow is not promised.
[00:15:18.410]
What do I love most about my new career as a tech professional? You can do so many different things as long as you put in the time and the work.
[00:15:32.060]
You can do SAP, you could do cloud and there’s three different major clouds. You could do salesforce, you could do programming, I mean the networking, the list goes on, right?
[00:15:45.640]
But to switch from one career to another could be very difficult. So there is also that the positives and negatives about my new career. The negatives are the constant learning. Literally there was a button that moved and we were like, Where’s the button? So here today, gone tomorrow.
[00:16:08.890]
Like your brain could explode from all the knowledge they want you to just keep in the back of your head. And that’s another negative I was telling you about, audit. I’m a researcher, so I’m always wanting to research before I answer a question to make sure that I’m 110% right. Tech, they’re like, can’t do that, can’t do that at all.
[00:16:31.010]
What would I tell someone that wants a career switch into tech?
[00:16:38.740]
I would say study as much as you can in your field, but that’s legit. Literally impossible.
[00:16:47.660]
I mean, I’ve been on interviews and they don’t even ask the same questions over and over again. So I don’t even know how you would prepare for one. I really going blind a lot of times and then just hope and pray that my pretty smile helps.
[00:17:05.890]
But make sure you’re able to talk about the basic things in your career. Like, you know, Kubernetes is big in cloud, so learn Kubernetes. You have to learn whatever’s hot at the time.
[00:17:27.190]
Also, I will say that I didn’t have any certifications when I got recruited by Microsoft. I got someone in the middle of recruitment. I think I got my Scrum Master and my product owner in the middle of it. And I think I passed. Yes, I passed AZ 900, which is a very basic one for Azure, in the middle of being recruited.
[00:17:53.210]
So I can’t sit up there and say that I had Certs. But certs will keep you on a path of learning, help you get the knowledge that you need. So that’s the only reason why I’m a proponent of absurds.
[00:18:08.440]
Some tips and tricks I wish I knew.
[00:18:13.760]
Tips and tricks. I would say work on the behavioral part of interviews, practice interviewing as much as possible. Also, do not apply to companies that you really, really want to work for in the beginning so you can get some practice. Apply it to like lower level ones so you can practice and know what to do and what not to do during the interview. I will say that don’t apply to Google and markets all VMware, whatever and blow those interviews because you might not get another chance.
[00:18:54.210]
So start off with some midlevel ones, whatever places. If you did get an offer, you’d be like, okay, I’ll work there. But if you didn’t, no hard feelings. Right outside of that, I think that’s pretty much it. And how I want to talk about me switching from audit to tech.
[00:19:19.010]
At this point, I’m really trying to combine the two of business and tech, which seems like that would be GRC. So that’s what I’m doing now. I’m looking for more of a leadership type of position because I’m literally working with a bank in my other country and I don’t like it. So I’m looking for a full time leadership position in GRC. So if you’re out there, you see this video holla at me and fully remote outside of that, I think that is it.
[00:20:00.400]
Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for watching. If you’re thinking about making the opposite direction, you can holler at me. We can set up like a consultation or something like that. And if you’re going from audit to tech, you can Hollywood meet up a consultation.
[00:20:18.560]
This concludes the interview for nobody wants to work though. And please check out switching to Tech.org. And I have my tech freebie website on there. This podcast, my monthly seminar that’s coming up this weekend. I’m going to do live LinkedIn reviews and I try to hold a seminar every single month for those that want to switch into tech or any career in general.
[00:20:47.440]
I like to do live resume reviews like LinkedIn reviews and please subscribe and thank you for watching. Bye.
[00:21:14.510]
Music you.