Career Catalyst

In the 4th episode of season 2, I talk with an old friend and fellow Northern Michigan University graduate, Braden Graham.  Braden has had a fascinating career in experiential marketing, creating brand experiences all around the country and working with great brands like Cadillac.  He is an expert in combining the brand promise with the moment or event that brings to life what that brand wants people to feel when experiencing their product.  These experiences range racing cars around test tracks or going inside the design of a high performance vehicle.

Braden talks about the importance of learning how to do the work at an early age; when he was 14, he went to work at resorts near his hometown in Michigan.  He feels strongly about the importance of mentors in his life and why finding good mentors and great leaders is the key to success in any career.  Also, why being able to look at yourself in the mirror and have the honest conversation about what your good at, and what your are not.

A great conversation all around and some strong advice on how to work your way up in any career.

In the 3rd episode of Season 2, I talk with a former coworker and friend, Joanna Scott, who has had a great career in Corporate Finance.  Joanna's career story starts when she was hit by car while training as a member of the Central Michigan University distance running team and how that event put her on a path to study Business/Finance at Eastern Michigan University.  She talks about why Finance is an excellent field for her, and how it has created a number of opportunities to learn new businesses and different functions with a corporate organization.  

Joanna has learned a lot in her career, like taking a public company private, changing a fiscal year of an organization, and the process of spinning off a business.  She also talks about the importance of stepping back a bit, finding more time for life and working less.  

Like other guests, Joanna has experienced a lot of success by staying close to her network and jumping at opportunities, while also recognizing when it might be time to find a new role.  A great conversation all around.

In this episode, my guest Kevin Robinson talks about how his early aspirations to be a teacher shifted while attending the University of Notre Dame and how he found himself in a career in program management.  Kevin has relied on his strong belief system and core values to make tough decisions about career pursuits.  Also, how he has focused on cultivating strong relationships and used self-reflection to find success and satisfaction in his career journey.  Kevin recently started Liberty Corner, a consultancy focused on helping purpose driven organizations reach the aspirations of their missions.

To kick-off the second season of Career Catalyst, my guest in the first episode is Meredith Smith, and Innovation Consultant based in London.  Meredith's job is to work with some of the world's most fascinating organizations and brands to build innovation and create inspiring concepts through human-centric approaches and consumer research.  She talks about how she found her way early on at major retailers like Target, created a unique role for herself that eventually put her on a path to study innovation and design in London, and how she found herself where she is today.  Meredith has great advice on career management, accepting the non-linear nature of careers, and how to embrace risks in life that can open up tremendous opportunities.

You know from the get go that Neely is going to be a special kind of guest when she describes herself as an "economic nutritionist."  She has built her career in research, starting out in banking, then moving to Piper Jaffery where she led the consumer practice, and then in 2016 struck off on her own to start an advisory firm called DISTILL.  In here latest venture, she advises executives and C-Level leaders.  Neely's wit and humor make her insights that much more enjoyable, especially when it comes to learning how to listen to the advice from the people closest to you, or how to really understand what is most important to you.

Neely covers a lot of ground and has some great perspective on the "pushes" and "pulls" of your career, how to think about creating value, having options, and appreciating intentionality.  Not to mention, she has a great Tedx talk about "Mindful Consumption"  (Tedx talk:  https://youtu.be/ZEi1JKQ7maE).

In this episode, Paul Giudice talks about not having a great plan for what he wanted to do coming out of school.  While working in the service industry as a server and in security at restaurants and clubs in LA, he was punched in the face during a bar fight.  That moment put him on a path into sales where he found success working with companies like Salesforce, Square, Predict Spring and now a start-up called Avochato.  

Paul talks about learning how to grind early on and how that set him up down the road by learning how to be comfortable with uncomfortable situations.  He also talks about how important it is to surround yourself with smart people who will push you to challenge yourself and grow outside your immediate circles.

A great conversation, perfect for someone looking at a career in sales and a great example about how you sometimes just have to grind it out to find your path.

In Episode 6, Kurt Phillips shares his background growing up in Wisconsin and finding his path in finance.  He has built a great career working with technology enabled growth companies, helping those organizations transition from a focus on small-medium business offerings to scaling operations to deliver larger enterprise solutions.  Kurt talks about how he has built a strong morale foundation and uses his strong value system to guide his management style.  Leveraging great mentors and a MBA from a top-tier graduate school, he provides excellent perspective on how to build a rewarding career in finance.

In episode 5, I talk with Kat Van Fossen, who used a MBA from a top tier school to make a career pivot from the Insurance industry to leading a brand strategy agency that focuses on behavioral science and consumer insights.  She explains how she has built a strong professional network, seeker advice for tough career decisions, and found opportunities to stretch herself.  Kat also talks about some mistakes she has made in pursuing promotions and overcoming tough situations in her career journey.  Kat has spent most of her career in large corporate organizations ranging from Progressive Insurance, PepsiCo, and VF Corporation, but now has found career satisfaction in running her own business.

When Tony started at West Point in the late nineties, he knew he was committing to serve his country.  Four years later, after the 9/11 attacks, he was leading a platoon of tanks in Iraq.  After 5 years of service, he came back to the US to  complete an MBA at the Tuck School of Business and start a decade long career in consulting.  Today he has switched his attention to smaller, faster moving growth companies, leading the operations of Wellnecity, a business focused on transforming how businesses manage their health insurance programs.

Adam is a serial entrepreneur who has gone from creating metal sculptures at the College of Charleston, to producing a web TV series where he took people like Snoop Dog and Kevin Costner fishing, to running a company that is capturing some of the most unique live music experiences in the world.  He talks about how to deal with getting punched in the face and strengthening your BS filter, and how learning from both of those experiences makes him more confident about the work that he does today.  Adam is a high energy, entertaining guy and has a great story to tell about his career.