Career Closeup

Today's episode features a very special interview addressing working in a field dealing with one of our country's leading social issues. We sit down with Megan Bennett, a case manager working with homeless teens in the Dallas area. We learn about the challenges and wins when counseling, parenting and guiding these troubled youths at times through the most fundamental life skills needed to transition to a more stable life. Megan's heartfelt regard for her work and residents of this transitional living facility is refreshing and reminds us there are many people out there who still care and work to make a difference. Additionally, you will be enlightened on the factors and difficulties that often leave young people feeling that the street is their only option. Learn how Megan found her way to this job, her experiences working with homeless teens and how you too can make a difference.

NOTE: Since recording this episode, Megan has transitioned to a position in school counseling due to an out of state move. We will catch up with her at a later date to find out more about her experiences in that field!

RELATED LINKS:

Promise House Dallas

NCSL Statistics on Homeless and Runaway Youth

If you would like to help: https://www.justgive.org/donations/help-homeless.jsp http://nationalhomeless.org/donate/index.html

Mark Cuban's strategy to get best college degree for less money

50+ best jobs with degree in Psychology (Associate's degree through PhD)

Bureau of Labor and Statistics School and Career Counselor job summary (recommended degree Master's in School Counseling)

Bureau of Labor and Statistics Social Workers (recommended degree Bachelor's in Social Work, but can use Bachelor's of Psychology)

Bureau of Labor and Statistics Psychologist (usually a PhD or PsyD, but in some fields a Master's Degree)

Dallas Pets Alive! -the group she worked with to rescue and foster dogs

SHOW NOTES:

0:00 Intro and description of work

2:10 How she got into social work

3:48 Megan's passion for her work and her background

5:21 Megan's course through college

6:30 Her average day at work

8:26 Best parts and more challenging aspects of job

11:59 Any specialized training needed?

13:59 Advice for those interested in this field

14:50 Advice she would go back and give herself in high school

15:50 How Megan deals with challenges and stress

17:23 Megan's passion for saving and fostering dogs

18:26 Misconceptions of job and homeless population

21:02 Summary

On this episode of Career Closeup, we meet up with Tony Kasowski. Tony is in an enviable position working a job he loves with both altruistic rewards and the ability to make a living. Together with his cofounder at Phoenix's St. Vincent De Paul's Urban Garden, they took on the challenge of converting an old parking lot in South Phoenix and transforming it to a fertile, high yielding farm. Tony's accomplishments with what was initially believed to be a "cute garden" with now the ability to produce enough fruits and vegetables to feed the less fortunate are a testament to his character, initiative and determination. Tony found a way to continue his work with the Urban Farm and supplement his income through consulting, teaching, and private contracting work. However, it was clear in our time with him that the fuel of his enthusiasm are his love of farming and contribution his efforts have in other people's lives. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode and you are bound to come away with some valuable knowledge about growing your own garden.

We encourage you to join his 15,900+ followers on Instagram @tonygrowsfood, on Facebook he's Tony Kasowski, and keep up with his latest adventures on FarmTrippin.com.

Show Notes:

00:00 Introduction

04:29 Problems with this approach to farming?

08:28 Converting an old parking lot to a fruitful Urban Farm

11:01 Tony's background

12:53 What got you interested in farming?

15:01 How was the transition from working 9-5 to farming?

17:56 Did you set out to farm as not for profit charitable type work?

23:15 Are you familiar with any other organizations that are doing something similar?

26:13 Do you find it difficult to feed 4,500 people every day?

27:43 How challenging is starting an operation similar to yours, and what resources would you recommend?

31:08 How important has networking been?

33:18 Do you practice crop rotation?

37:01 The impact on volunteers

39:37 What can someone who wants to undertake a similar project expect?

43:34 Where/what do you teach?

45:00 Different farming techniques

47:12 What is the most impressive thing you've grown?

48:57 Where do you see farming going in the future?

54:23 What goals would you like to see St. Vincent de Paul undertake in the next five to ten years?

56:25 What would you tell yourself in high school?

Links: St. Vincent de Paul Urban Farm UrbanFarmU podcast/blog

Tony's other Interview https://www.urbanfarm.org/blog/2016/03/22/tony-kasowski/

Article about the health effects of GMO's https://www.aaemonline.org/gmo.php

Tony recommends using YouTube to search for answers to your questions. (Search for Tony Kasowski and you will find different interviews he has done with other farmers.)

The medical field is consistently vast in its opportunities and career fields. On this episode of Career Closeup we sit with two emergency room ultrasonographers, Jaime Aguirre and Jezzelle Solorza. Jaime and Jezzelle were kind enough to make time to explain their role in diagnosis and management of the acute patient. From the training and education you will need to succeed in this field to the types of interesting cases where sonography is utilized, Jezzelle and Jaime share with us the details of their path and an average day working in the field. Ultrasonography is ranked as a top paying Associate's degree to obtain in 2017 and as Jaime and Jezzelle explain, there are many personal rewards as well.

SHOW NOTES:

00:00 Introductions

01:40 What ultrasonography entails and its role in emergency diagnostics?

03:48 What is a typical day for each you?

04:44 Obtaining different registries? Different subspecialties in US

06:29 Opportunities and Flexibility in your field. ER vs. Clinic vs. imaging center vs. hospital

08:45 Career progression and advancement to other areas in medicine?

10:50 Education and training to be a sonographer?

12:35 Challenging course in the study of Ultrasonography? Technology background?

14:22 High school courses that will help you in this field?

18:27 Favorite parts of working in ultrasound? Challenges of working in ultrasound?

20:28 Where do you see the field going in the future?

21:51 Career outlook for the future?

23:49 Advice for those wanting to go into sonography?

25:24 Different associate degree programs? Is Bachelor's degree necessary?

27:22 Summary

RELATED LINKS:

Southwest University - Diagnostic Medical Sonography program information

#7 on Business Insider Top 25 Highpaying jobs with Associate's Degree

GetEducated.com's list of highest paying Associate Degree jobs

Bureau of Labor and Statistics - Occupational Employment and Wages

Bureau of Labor and Statistics - Summary

Different career paths- http://www.ultrasoundtechniciancenter.org/jobs-and-careers/5-career-paths.html

More information on how to become a sonographer-

http://www.innerbody.com/careers-in-health/how-to-become-ultrasound-technician.html

More information on Ultrasound degrees and programs-

http://www.collegesanddegrees.com/programs/ultrasound-technician

http://www.allalliedhealthschools.com/medical-imaging/ultrasound-technician-training/

Thinking about a career in medicine? Are you working towards the daunting path of premed courses and MCAT review? This is the podcast for you. On this episode, we had the opportunity to sit down with Brennon Barajas (MSIII) and Angela Guerra (MSII) for a breakdown into the world of applying, getting in and surviving medical school. Both Brennon and Angela will be the first physicians in their family and describe their hard work and efforts that paid off with acceptance to medical school. Brennon is a third year student at UT Health San Antonio and Angela is a second year student at Paul L. Foster SOM at Texas Tech Health Science Center, El Paso. Angela and Brennon discuss their undergrad days and strategies that help them succeed then and now with the course load and stress of a continuum of standardized test, clinical rotations and the balance of keeping both feet on the ground. From their days working as scribes, an invaluable experience for anyone interested in medicine, to their latest stage of preparing to apply for residency, Angela and Brennon share a down to earth approach to "drinking from a fire hydrant." What makes you a great candidtate for medical school? Thinking about residency, do the challenges ever end? Whether you are in High School or undergraduate school, Angela and Brennon offer their advice of how to approach the process, taking the MCAT, programs and opportunities and the steps to take to streamline your process. You will come away with a great Closeup about the different personalities, the different degrees and the actual fun one can have traversing your four years in medical school. That is right - medical school can be fun!

SHOW NOTES:

0:00 Introduction 03:51 Adjustments from undergraduate school to medical school 07:18 Traditional vs. non-Traditional students and differing backgrounds of applicants 11:04 Other Requirements in medical school, Volunteer work, Community Service 13:49 Teaming up medical students, student wellness 17:21 Medical school, curriculum and USMLE 23:11 Medicine as a career, preparing for medical school, recommendations for someone who wants to go to medical school 27:52 PreMed, Early Acceptance and Double T program 31:43 The MCAT, studying for the MCAT and the best time to take it. 35:22 What Makes you stand out as an applicant for Medical School? 37:54 Scribing and what is a Medical scribe 47:13 Deciding on a specialty 50:08 Applying for residency 51:45 Research in medical school 55:53 How do you deal with stress? 57:47 Residency, what are competitive fields? What makes you competitive? What is the actual process for applying? 1:00:45 Downtime? Other interests? Time for family and relationships? 1:02:12 Do you have time to work in medical school? Family and relationships? 1:03:57 Summarize biggest challenges in going to medical school, anything you would dodifferently? 1:06:55 Angela and Brennon discuss their plans to apply for Emergency Medicine and why? 1:09:29 What advice do you have for someone who has taken the MCAT and maybe didn't do as well or didn't get an interview? Post Baccalaureate Programs 1:12:11 Summary

We sit down with Andres Capra and follow his journey to his career as a Tactical Paramedic. This is a relatively new field where he works as an Austin EMS Paramedic and also trains with Austin PD SWAT/ Travis County Sheriff SWAT teams. His pathway includes becoming a Marine right out of high school, digging ditches for electricians, having his own company building decks and framing houses, and being a college student and a bartender. He originally was interested in becoming a firefighter, but realized he was more interested in the medical side, because that's where the majority of calls happened. Andres explains how he takes lessons learned in one area of work and uses them to help in other areas. We rated this explicit due to the mature and sometimes graphic nature of emergency situations.

Show Notes:

0:00 Introduction

1:39 What is a Tactical Paramedic

4:59 The Tactical Paramedic Team

6:09 What made you choose medicine?

7:32 Anything you can do to standout as a paramedic 8:54 Break Down EMT to Paramedic

11:59 Getting hired and working as a paramedic

16:10 Andres background, high school, Marines

18:48 How did the your prior experiences (Marines and Bartending) help you as a paramedic?

21:41 "So our team." Coming over to Tactical Medic team.

23:08 Characteristics of a good tactical medic candidate.

26:49 Tell us about a notable experience/paramedic call

31:11 Other Cool Assignments: Presidential convoy, RNC

35:08 Continuing Education (CE) training as Paramedic/tactical medic

36:35 What are the challenges of your job both as Tactical medic and street medic?

39:52 What other opportunities are available for someone in your field?

41:22 What advise for someone interested in your field?

44:42 Anything else you wish you had done, prepared, school?

Mike Henderson is a Territory Sales Manager for Medtronic in their CBG division. He manges the sales of the Resolute Integrity Stent which is used for cardiac catheterizations.

In this podcast, Mike discusses working in many areas of sales, including: automotive, retail, pharmaceutical, orthopedic devices and cardiac devices. In each field he not only strives to learn everything about his products, he also learns about the competitor's products and current data that is always emerging. His attention to details and efforts to always be learning help him to succeed in this competitive field.

Francis and Abraham introduce how Career Closeup came to be, and what they hope to accomplish with this podcast.

David Chen is a young businessman, entrepreneur, rally car driver and we found him to be pretty motivational as well! He tells us about his path to success (becoming partner with Deloitte by age 33) and how it contained both wins and losses, and how he picked himself back up, evaluated his situations, adjusted his sails and tried again. He explains what it is like to grow up and have culture identity issues due to having Chinese parents who moved to Taiwan, where he was born, then moved again to the US, where he grew up. David watched his parents work very hard to eventually do well and provide for the family. He describes finding your niche (his is languages and understanding cultures) and learning from your failures, because you are going to fail sometimes, and that's okay. David tells us how the opportunities in the United States are the greatest, and if you want to improve your life, you can by seeking knowledge on your own and working to improve your weaknesses. He notes that you are who you surround yourself with and that life is simple - it's unfair- but that fate is in your hands. If you want to be better in any area, it's up to you to make yourself better. David is candid and motivational, and everyone can learn something beneficial from listening to his podcast.

SHOW NOTES:

0:00 Intro

1:50 Description of what David does currently

3:10 David's upbringing and family history China-Taiwan-United States

6:23 Cultural identity crisis, what do parents want vs. what he wants

8:00 Moved to El Paso when he was 10, take opportunities that come up, but new challenges come with that

10:48 Inspired by opportunities US provides and wanted to be better and work harder

13:25 Did you want to be a businessman when in high school? Struggles of being successful

14:22 Going from high school (class of 12) to a huge college with a classes of 489 people, adjusting with a "poor me" attitude

17:30 Fate and setbacks happen, reality sets in, who you are is who you surround yourself with, realizes life is actually really hard

20:38 Life is simple, it's unfair. You're going to fail many things, but if you see where you messed up or could have done better, and you change, you will do better the next time. You are not alone if you fail. It's not okay if you use it as an excuse to not try.

24:30 Coming back at 23 to try and take over family business. Ego was too big. Self-awareness had to kick in, but it took a while. Worked 20 hours a day 6-7 days a week, receiving no pay just to save his parent's house. That experience taught him humility and work ethic.

28:44 Meeting people through work opened up opportunities. Speaking English, Chinese, Spanish, and Taiwanese was his niche that made him stand out, despite having no college degree.

32:07 Got a manager position paying $60k/year,worked 8 months and then hits roadblock.

35:05 After analyzing what he could have done differently, approaches manager and gets job back at a 60% pay cut. Educated himself and worked harder, while still working weekends at the restaurant. Manager to Director in 4 years. Developed his niche.

40:50 Made managing partner at Deloitte in 8 years without even a college degree.

43:30 Using EQ to help clients in many ways to develop and maintain relationships with clients. Be willing to do more

47:10 Life after Deloitte

50:10 Successful people have mentors who taught them, important to have faith, find mentors and continue to evolve

52:50 Finding your niche as a student: what are you good at (get better) and what is your weakness (improve that as well)

54:43 Taking time for yourself, enjoying Rally racing

58:00 Finding a mentor

1:04:54 Good things about his job, connecting with people

1:05:30 Hardest part of job is disappointment, failing. Learn from the failures so you can move forward.

1:08:00 What would you go back and tell your younger self?