Career Can Do

In this episode of Career Can Do, Mary Ann Faremouth chats with Andrea Sanchez. Andrea is Director of Communications at ENGIE North America, where she oversees internal and external communications efforts for over 1600 employees. She is also Community Ambassador at HumansFirst, and Executive Director at SparkStory. Andrea works with a humanitarian effort to create a more harmonious work environment and bring a ‘we’ mentality to corporate culture. She talks about human connection in the workplace, and how she is creating spaces for authenticity. 

All workplaces start with people, but we tend to lose sight of that because we focus so much on business, Andrea shares. The people are what make workplaces successful, and when it comes to people, emotions are key. The more we can have respect, understanding, and compassion for others, the better we are going to be and the bigger contribution we're going to be able to make, Mary Ann adds.

Andrea started her online rally, initially called A Rally for Equality, as a way to spread good amidst the social unrest of June 2020. Since then, it has exploded into a vehicle for authenticity, kindness, and connecting with other people. “It grew to be more like A Hope and Kindness Rally, and I call it that because I want to remind people that there is hope regardless of what you've been through, and we show up because we want to be kind to each other,” Andrea says.

Resources

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In this episode of Career Can Do, Mary Ann Faremouth chats with Diana Galindo, a nutritional therapist with a background in corporate marketing in the oil and gas industry. Diana served 12 years as the Honorary Consul General of Bolivia. Diana is highly motivated to help people improve their mental fitness and protect their brain from neurodegenerative diseases. She talks about healthy eating, and shares insights on what that entails.

Diana started doing research about health and wellness when her father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She wanted to find ways to slow down the progress of the disease. She gained new insights about food and the brain: that food is connected to mood, our gut health is linked to our brain health, and there are essential nutrients for our brains, are a few such insights.

The impact of COVID-19 on the US has been devastating, and further proves how important it is to eat for your health. Because of the number of chronic diseases that significant percentages of the population suffer from, the country’s general health was already weakened. Diana recommends that listeners take note of how many plant foods they eat in a day, including spices, and that they should have at least three or four colors of food on their plates.

Resources

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In this episode of Career Can Do, Mary Ann Faremouth chats with Melanie Bragg, who is an author, speaker, and coach. She is an attorney and mediator at Bragg Law PC, and the President of Legal Insight, Inc. She writes for the American Bar Association flagship division’s Defining Moments: Insights into the Lawyer's Soul.

Melanie shares legal advice for listeners. As a business owner, having a good lawyer on your side from the beginning will save you money in the long run, especially if you encounter legal problems. The best thing to do is understand your provisions, duties, and responsibilities, and do them correctly from the get-go. Additionally, in certain states, it is against the law for recruiters to ask candidates how much money they usually make. 

If you invest in yourself every morning, you end up walking through the day as a successful person, Melanie adds. Many of the obstacles we perceive to be in our way are all in our heads. If you tell yourself you can’t do it, then you’re not going to do it, but if you tell yourself you can, you’re going to achieve it. Your mindset plays a crucial role in your performance.

Resources

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Melanie Bragg on LinkedIn | Twitter

MelanieBragg.com

BraggLawPC.com

In this episode of Career Can Do, Mary Ann Faremouth chats with Merritt Chastain, who is Director of the National Association of Pipe Coating Applicators, the organization responsible for promoting a higher standard of pipeline coating quality. He is also a shareholder at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

NAPCA was founded out of concern for the integrity of pipelines, because an insecure pipeline could result in large explosions and potentially billions of dollars in losses. They focused on standardizing the industry: they educated pipeline companies and contractors about the benefits of having a plan applied coating and how much better it could protect their investment. Due to NAPCA’s dedication to ensuring premium quality and their approach to training, their employees are always in alignment with all the policies and procedures that prevent safety and quality issues.

Being a member of NAPCA gives you an advantage, whether you are a company or candidate. Relationships have always been important in every industry, but the current pandemic has revealed to organizations the importance of prioritizing them, both internally and externally. NAPCA has been ahead of the game in this regard for decades.

Resources

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Merritt Chastain on LinkedIn

NAPCA.com

In this solo episode of Career Can Do, Mary Ann Faremouth shares valuable insights and life lessons we can all take from the Tree of Life. The Tree is a symbol of togetherness and the interconnectedness of everything in the universe. It serves as a reminder that you are never alone or isolated. Trees also often represent strength, as they can weather the toughest storms. 

Mary Ann advises listeners to learn from the Tree of Life by doing the following: nourish your unique abilities to become a better you; stay grounded; connect with your roots; turn over a new leaf; bend before you break; and keep growing. 

Resources

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In this episode of Career Can Do, Mary Ann Faremouth chats with Mario Rodriguez and Rich Marsh of Between Jobs Ministry, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people navigate the new work world. Mario is the administrator of the Senior Manager’s Group, established to help those seeking senior manager positions. Rich is the leader of the Orange Job Search Work Team, as well as an author, editor, proofreader.

Between Jobs Ministry has over 50 volunteers and provides their services - which include job search and salary negotiation training - free of charge. They hold meetings every Wednesday morning, where they facilitate job search work teams, networking sessions, and resume workshops, and they invite recruiters to conduct short interviews and collect resumes.

Job search work teams are located all over Spring, Texas for the convenience of those who live further away.

A major theme that the job search work teams teach is self-care: if their members are going to do 40 hours a week of job searching, at least 10 of those hours are allocated for doing things that make them feel better about themselves because job searches are tumultuous. 

Resources

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Mario Rodriguez on LinkedIn

Rich Marsh on LinkedIn | Twitter

In this episode of Career Can Do, Mary Ann Faremouth chats with Alan Bourgeois, founder and CEO of Authors Marketing International LLC. Alan is also founder and Director of DEAR Texas, Inc. and Texas Authors Institute of History Museum. He is an award-winning indie author and speaker.

Authors Marketing International is dedicated to helping authors - whether they are beginners or veterans - market and sell their books. In addition to this service, Alan also runs an online bookstore for readers and indie authors, which Mary Ann is a member of. Many authors run to Amazon to sell their books, but they have to set their prices so low that they don’t make their fair share. This is why Alan created B4R.store: so indie authors could get more than the bare minimum.

It’s not the journey or the destination, but the people you meet along the way, Mary Ann comments. She talks about being granted the opportunity to network with other authors, marketers, screenwriters, and even people in Hollywood, through Alan’s organization. 

Resources

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Alan Bourgeois on LinkedIn | Twitter

B4R.store 

In this episode of Career Can Do, Mary Ann Faremouth chats with Natalia Johnson, HR Compliance Specialist and HR Assistant at G&A Partners. Natalia is a former employee of Faremouth & Company, where she was Administrative Assistant. 

Natalia strongly encourages high-schoolers and college students to get involved in as many extracurriculars, clubs, and organizations as they can. Her experience as part of the organization for her major not only helped her in her job, but also provided a support system and networking skills, which are both incredibly useful. She talks about how she changed her career course and advises listeners on how to do the same.

Sometimes people are so afraid of looking like they don’t know something that they just go ahead and do things without asking questions, and the repercussions of their mistakes are often worse than the temporary shame they might have felt if they had just asked for help, Mary Ann comments. She asks Natalia about the growth of her company, and if it can be attributed to people seeing the benefits of using an outsourcing firm.

Resources

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Natalia Johnson on LinkedIn

In this episode of Career Can Do, Mary Ann Faremouth chats with Elle Ballard, founder of Women of the World Network. She is also a leadership trainer and speaker at John Maxwell Team. Elle has been featured on notable media outlets such as ABC, NBC, Ask, and CBS News.

Women of the World Network is a community that welcomes women from all over the world to become their best selves. Their goal is to help multicultural, multinational, and immigrant women strengthen their unique identities and voices, network, grow together, and offer support, resources, mentorship, and education. Elle talks about their most recent program called Empower: a custom 24-week program of holistic coaching that includes leadership, health, business and individuality.

According to Elle, Women of the World Network holds a recipe for success: it includes personal and professional growth, learning how to work with others, and expanding who you are and what you want to be. She discusses how the community helps each member, and how everyone benefits when one woman shares her story. 

Resources

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Elle Ballard on LinkedIn

In this episode of Career Can Do, Mary Ann Faremouth chats with Deepak Sharma, a professional life coach, and certified world class speaking coach. He is also the author of the Amazon bestseller, Move Mountains: One Story at a Time.

Deepak talks about how he overcame his aversion to storytelling and transformed it into something he now teaches to others. Everyone has a story, he says. It doesn’t have to be sensational, all it has to be is sincere. He now helps entrepreneurs use storytelling to empower their vendors, teams, and individuals in their organizations. 

Deepak shares advice he was given when he was struggling with effective communication. Not long ago, mastering English was a challenge for him, and he even struggled with communicating in his native language, Hindi. He grew frustrated, but his mentor shared a gem of wisdom that motivated him to persevere. “Every master was a disaster before he became a master,” he was told. This encouraged him to not dwell on his failures but instead learn from them.

Resources

Deepak Sharma | YouTube | Email

Your Story Your Glory Podcast

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