How We Got Here - Career Stories

In this special clip, Meghan Rowe, co-founder, and co-owner at White Leaf Provisions shares her story of visiting Charleston, South Carolina, and knowing she wanted to move there not even 8 hours after arriving!

After she made that decision, things just fell into place for her.

We talk about the larger lesson from this story - if you are pursuing something and things just start to fall into place for you, lean into that.

Conversely, if you are constantly hitting dead-ends, it might be time to rethink your approach or make a pivot.

Be sure to catch her full episode for her full story about how she started and grew her business!

In today’s episode, I am joined by documentary filmmaker Serene Meshel-Dillman. Serene has directed Getting to The Nutcracker and The 5th Dementia with more documentaries on the way.

We share her story as she was on the path to becoming a lawyer, but decided it wasn’t the right fit for her.

By wild circumstance, she was able to land her first job as a production assistant in Los Angeles.

We discuss her rise through the ranks in commercial film, her favorite commercial she helped to produce and how she ended up directing two documentaries.

Serene offers advice for those looking to break into commercial film as well as general advice for students today.

Enjoy!

In this short clip, documentary filmmaker Serene Meshel-Dillman talks about her favorite experience working in television commercial production - a Miller beer commercial that featured a group of athletes, musicians, and other famous people. 

The reason Serene enjoyed the experience so much is that she didn't know who most of those people were and was able to interact with them normally. 

There's a key lesson here - at all times of our career, we're going to meet people who we are fans of, who may be very well-known and might even be famous. It could even simply be interacting with an executive or senior leader at the company you work for or a key stakeholder for a large client. 

It's important to remember that they are people, too, just like us, and want to be treated as such. Going into those interactions with this mindset should reduce any performance anxiety you might have. 

Enjoy! 

In this short clip, documentary filmmaker Serene Meshel-Dillman talks about her favorite experience working in television commercial production - a Miller beer commercial that featured a group of athletes, musicians, and other famous people. 

The reason Serene enjoyed the experience so much is that she didn't know who most of those people were and was able to interact with them normally. 

There's a key lesson here - at all times of our career, we're going to meet people who we are fans of, who may be very well-known and might even be famous. It could even simply be interacting with an executive or senior leader at the company you work for or a key stakeholder for a large client. 

It's important to remember that they are people, too, just like us, and want to be treated as such. Going into those interactions with this mindset should reduce any performance anxiety you might have. 

Enjoy! 

In today’s preview episode, Serene and I chat about how she was on the path to becoming a lawyer but decided it wasn’t for her.

Like something out of a movie, Serene experienced an earthquake while visiting Los Angeles, and happened to land her a production assistant job because of it!

Serene shares that story and gives advice for those trying to find production assistant jobs and how to prepare for those interviews.

Be sure to catch her full episode to see how she eventually became a documentary filmmaker, directing films such as Getting to The Nutcracker and The 5th Dementia. 

Enjoy!

In today’s preview episode, Serene and I chat about how she was on the path to becoming a lawyer but decided it wasn’t for her.

Like something out of a movie, Serene experienced an earthquake while visiting Los Angeles, and happened to land her a production assistant job because of it!

Serene shares that story and gives advice for those trying to find production assistant jobs and how to prepare for those interviews.

Be sure to catch her full episode to see how she eventually became a documentary filmmaker, directing films such as Getting to The Nutcracker and The 5th Dementia. 

Enjoy!

In today’s episode, I chat with Yvonne Prang, a Senior Director at McDonald’s who oversees teams across 19 countries!

Yvonne and I cover a range of topics in this episode, including how to maintain a work-life balance, mentorship, career challenges, traits of good leaders, and advice for young women starting their careers.

She also gives us her secrets to success :)

It’s rare to get the opportunity to chat with a Senior leader and get their perspective on a range of topics in this setting. 

In this short clip, I chat with Yvonne Prang, a Senior Director at McDonald’s who oversees teams across 19 countries!

Yvonne talks about how she defines success and why she specifically feels successful today.

She also sheds some light on what her secret ingredients are to be successful. These are things you can start applying in your life today!

You don’t want to miss this one!

In this special edition episode, Matt and I spend the next few minutes talking about how he goes about marketing a healthcare technology company. The strategies are very similar to other verticals, but the tactics he takes given his industry are much different. He details that and more in our chat.

We also give advice that applies to students, alumni business owners and marketers about how powerful joining the conversation can be. This is something you can do RIGHT NOW. Listen for more details :)

Enjoy!

In this short clip, Melanie and I discuss her experiences seeking full-time permanent positions after taking the summer off post-graduation. During this time, she interviewed at numerous companies, facing a lot of rejection, but powered through, taking an internship initially, and eventually landing the full-time role she was seeking.

This is incredibly important for students to hear - you will face rejection. Melanie talks about the biggest differences between college and the real world, and simply having this awareness can leave you better prepared than you otherwise might be.

Enjoy!