The Bearded Baker, Allan Hursig, joined the podcast in February of 2021 to discuss his transition out of oil and gas and into entrepreneurship. 

Check out Allan’s products:

Website: https://thebeardedbakertx.com/

After his layoff from the oil business, Allan picked up baking as a hobby by watching YouTube & Food Network shows. He started off baking and selling his (now famous) custom sugar cookies to friends and family. Over the course of a few years, he outgrew the kitchen in his house and recently opened his own store in the Heights neighborhood of Houston, TX. He’s expanded his offering into other types of cookies and cakes. But his #1 seller is still the one-of-a-kind, delicious sugar cookies.

This week, we’re blasting off! Jonathan Kemp joins us to share his childhood dream of working in Mission Control at NASA in Houston, TX. His journey started as a Process Engineer in oil and gas before pivoting to the Space Industry in the Space City. 

With famous tech billionaires personally funding their own companies and SpaceX’s recent ISS shuttle mission, the space industry is booming. And it’s exciting to hear about Jonathan’s journey into the industry and his current responsibilities on the International Space Station (ISS).

Jonathan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-kemp-a9094518/

Recommended Resources:

• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

“... But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

Ryan Torregrossa joins us to explain his journey transitioning from oil and gas landman to renewables landman.

Ryan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-torregrossa/

Ryan’s Music & Finance blog: https://www.covercalled.com/

Need private piano or guitar lessons (video or in-person)? [email protected]

Ryan shares his career journey from Jazz & Music major to Landman in oil and gas, to getting his professional MBA degree, his exit of the industry, and on through his successful transition into the land and legal team at RWE Renewables. Ryan’s passion for music continues to this day and I was impressed by the abundance of personal stories and professional lessons to learn from his journey.

We discussed:

1. Energy Management (Petroleum Land Management & Energy Commerce) degrees

Do you know  someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email [email protected]

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Was the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review.

You’ve probably seen Jeremy Jenson’s posts or name on LinkedIn. Born, raised, and residing in Houston, TX, Jeremy is the owner of Encore Search Partners. He founded the company in 2010 specializing in oil and gas placements, where he’s had great success for many years. Since the downturn in 2015, Jeremy has worked to expand their industry coverage to legal services and wealth management (among others). He’s seen the ups and downs in the oil business first hand as he’s placed top professionals in many of the industry’s largest firms. I really appreciate his openness and perspective on business, careers, and mindset.

My big takeaway was that Jeremy’s focus since dropping out of college is to be compensated for his work by how much revenue he can generate. It’s an incredible lesson for many petrotechnical experts that were high salaried employees with very little impact from direct “revenue generation”.

I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I did! And if you did enjoy the podcast, consider rating it 5* in iTunes and leaving a review.

Jeremy took his strengths in Mathematics and pursued a B.S. of Mathematics from the University of Houston. When he was halfway through his studies, Jeremy landed his first lucrative sales job at www.GoDish.com where he sold DirecTV and Dish network (cold calls) on the phone. He liked sales and the money associated with the job. And after making $108,000 as a 21 year old, “slinging Dish Network and DirecTV”, he dropped out of college and doubled down on his sales career full-time. Never looked back.

When he was 25, Jeremy started his first company - a lead generation company. At the time he was engaged to a Chemical Engineer working at BP and his future inlaws tried to disown him because he didn’t have a college degree. Jeremy appreciated getting paid on what he produced rather than focusing on his certifications or accolades. 

Jeremy is a STRONG presence on LinkedIn. He’s “Jeremy Janson (GOAT emoji)”. 

His mentor told him: “Money is made on the phone. Stop playing around on the internet.” He started using LinkedIn as a lead generation tool. Today he’s got 40,000 LinkedIn followers, he is selective with his “approving of connections”. He is picky about who he lets into his network. Engagement on the content - likes, comments, and shares - allows him to reach many new people and see some “virality” in his posts. 

What is the biggest mistake that Jeremy sees on LinkedIn? People like posts and don’t engage much. The best way to get out there is to ENGAGE in content by COMMENTing publicly. These people will click on your profile to learn more. Comment on everything!

Second tip: Let’s say you’re unemployed and so you have an “END DATE” on your unemployment, so that is not your “current title”. Most recruiters when they search on LinkedIn are looking for “CURRENT TITLE” you won’t return on their results as easily. If you’re unemployed and looking for an opportunity put your desired job title e.g. “Completion Engineer / Petroleum Engineer” with “Seeking new opportunities”. 

Focusing on the recruiting side:

• Shied away from recruiting for oil and gas operators: they can waste recruiters time trying to interview 40 people to find the perfect candidate

• Were able to help service companies meet their mandates

Drilling ENgineer in West Texas ($220,000) and Sales person in West Texas makes $700,000 because they closed a $14,000,000.

Moving from salaried to sales positions for strong, talented, ambitious and aggressive technical people is a likely path for many.

Because “The days of buying from the guy in the boots and blue jeans because he and I go to church together and we go to West Texas Permian High together. These companies are starting to hire and train technical engineers to sell those products and services since you can provide a full suite of solutions rather than just fulfill the purchase order.”

Sales people are losing their interest in “cold calling”.  And the ability to just have a massive rolodex of people to call on is losing a little bit of its value because of the internet and need for technical sales people to solve problems and provide technical support.

Accuracy of data

Having a technical sale ability

Having the confidence to ask for the business - technical engineers struggle

• A select few that are fearless and willing to pick up the phone

Believe in the product or service you’re selling

• If you’re not passionate about the product and solution it provides in the marketplace, then it won’t carry through in the sales pitch

Tons of industries that would love to have you in an entry level position.

Displaced six-figure earners in oil and gas… go into wealth management or insurance… I don’t know anything about these industry.

A lot of companies CAN teach you about their business and train you in the products or services. But very few of these companies can teach you how to find dozens and dozens of oil and gas employees with 10-15 years of earning 6-figures. You have a rolodex of people with nest eggs. They’re probably working with someone that doesn’t understand their career, risk tolerance, or salary.

• Displaced oil and gas workers consider selling insurance, investments  

Showed up on time, did great work, and were smart - these characteristics transfer to most other jobs.

• A players will always be A players 

The peak of oil and gas workforce was probably July 2014. But let’s talk about the recent local peak of March 1, 2020. Most companies can now operate and go back to normal with only 80% of their workforce because they’ve invested heavily in software technologies to eliminate full times jobs, investing in automation and scada systems at the wellsite, and companies are investing more in employees working remotely. 

We’ve seen over the last few months that technical folks can work effectively remotely. So there are a several hypothetical reasons that petrotechnical workers might see a decline in salaries:

1. Reduction in demand for petrotechnical specialists due to software, automation technology, and decreased activity

1. Competitiveness in jobs creating an oversupply of petrotechnical employees

People are realizing WHY THEY GO TO WORK - their kids and family. And now they want to preserve that through vacation, work from home, and spending more time with everyone.

BECOME A REVENUE PRODUCER. If you generate revenue for the company, your job is important to the company. And your company will compensate you based on the direct revenue that you bring to them.

Jeremy talks about technical employees that he’s had in the past that transition from a technical role to a commission-based one and succeed greatly!

Three things every candidate should emphasize in their resume or interviews

1. Confidence - walk the line between confidence (positive) and arrogance (avoid)

1. The reason that I’m good is because I had to walk through all that shit

We have access to so much data now. The experience and “gut feel” decisions aren’t as critical. We can focus on what the data is telling us and spend time interpreting the data to help us make the right calls.

Data science and statistical analysis is a huge vertical in many companies now. 

• Strong technical backgrounds, meticulous, accurate

Resources:

• Traction by Gino Wickman - helped early / mid career entrepreneurs gain clarity in their business

• Helped entrepreneurs gain scale

Don’t pull by saying “give me a job”. Instead, give value and share content to inspire and motivate supporting each other.

• Create a network of people

How to find Mentorship

• Cocky and arrogant 30 year old entrepreneur (“God’s greatest gift in recruitment”)

• Surrounded himself with executives with large

• A global fraternity of 14,000 entrepreneurs (180 in Houston). 

“When the person on the otherside of the table doesn’t need your business… that’s how true friendship and mentorship can be cultivated”

What gets you up in the morning?

• #1 love language is “Words of Affirmation”

The American way has taught us that we need to be greedy and scratch and claw our way to the top

• If you can find a job that gets you excited to prepare for Monday work on Sunday morning, then you’ve got it made

Do you know  someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Was the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review.

Ana Peternell joins the podcast to discuss her transition from a 17-year career as a Petrophysicist expert to full-time real estate investor and agent as the leader of Peternell Property Group in the Houston, TX metro.

“Regardless of how awesome my oil and gas career was... I never received a thank you.

 And now (in Real Estate) I receive ‘Thank You’s every day.”

If you have any questions regarding Houston area real estate - investments, residential, or commercial. Ana is happy to discuss on these platforms.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-peternell-903a8656/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeternellProperties/

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 832-913-9624

Ana began her professional career at Schlumberger after graduating with her B.S. and M.S. in Control Engineering in Mexico. Working at Schlumberger as a Petrophysicist Champion and Formation Evaluation tool specialist was rewarding and lucrative. It allowed Ana to do what she loved, being a specialist and having a deep understanding of controls and tools to help clients gather data and make the best decisions.

Ana came to the United States in 2006. She bought her first 2 U.S. properties in ‘06 & ‘07 but was not satisfied with service she received when buying these. She became curious about real estate and the transactions and liked that REAL ESTATE IS A GAME. It's a negotiation game. It's a transaction game. Ana Got hooked on the process of buying, renting, building equity, and selling. She describes her strategy as “buy & hold” investments with her business partner.

In 2015, Ana prepared to go full time into real estate as the oil and gas commodity prices tumbled. This would be her “plan A” if she was impacted by layoffs, and sure enough it happened in 2016 and her new career going all in on real estate began.

It's easy to think that oil and gas is so different from real estate or building construction... but Ana reminded me that it really isn't. Both industries involve multi-disciplinary teams managing large capital projects and seeking returns for investors. As the U.S. leader of LWD tools & Petrophysics, she was always on a team: research, technicians, engineering, field workers, clients, data services. Many of these skills carry over into real estate.

Learnings from Ana's first (residential) real estate deal...

1. When you find a "good deal".

Mistake Ana learned from her experience

Using leverage (the money of others) to buy real estate (versus all cash)

1. Paid all cash on her first US real estate deal. This is a common Mexican cultural trait because there’s a lot of pride in paying in cash.

When investors or homebuyers reach out to Ana:

1. She says... let's sit down and talk about what you're goals are

What are some interesting real estate investments that someone might look to make their first deal?

1. Look at something like Warehouse or Storage, where there aren't a lot of specifications on materials used on the build and the renters have a lot of flexibility in the use

Some thoughts on being a Real Estate agent

1.  High turnover in the profession: About 80% atrition rate in the first year of a real estate career

Time Management with Ana

1. On Sunday she writes down what are my objectives for the week

On life & business

Being an entrepreneur DOESN'T have to be your whole life

Your job is a way to design your life. But it doesn't have to be your whole life.

You can design your job around your life.

If you're laid off. 

1. Call people and ask if they will have a zoom call, a quick chat or coffee. 1 zoom or coffee each day. 

What's something that people in oil and gas may not understand about Real Estate?

1.  It's a numbers game… you must be patient and find the best deals possible. Don’t be emotional.

Do you know  someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Was the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review.

Reed Stiles explains his transition from Senior Reservoir Engineer at ConocoPhillips to first engineer and partner at a financial technology startup in Houston.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reedstiles

You should walk away from this podcast with:

Reed compares the compelling pros and cons surrounding his personal experience in both a large Exploration & Production (E&P) company in Houston and a financial technology (FinTech) startup in Houston.

ConocoPhillips (Large corporate firm) Notes

EnergyFunders (Early stage firm) Notes

Do you know someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Anne Brennan shares her story of starting her career in Business Development and System Trainer after graduating with her Masters in Geoscience. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-brennan-364a64b1/

Be on the lookout for Enverus’ Seekers Program coming this summer.

Know of someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Was the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review. 

I know this is called "ExOilfield"... but it’s not because everyone in these interviews is no longer in the industry. ExOilfield alludes to many of the listeners, too. The idea is to expand your horizons and look outside of the traditional oil and gas roles. This conversation could not come at a better time. If you’re in college, a new graduate, or just looking for some inspiration, you will gain a lot from our discussion. When I graduated in 2011 and started my traditional career path at ConocoPhillips, the thought of going into Sales or Business Development in the Tech space out of school didn’t even show up on my radar… and now I’m in Business Development outside of Exploration and Production companies (E&Ps). I wish I had heard this story 9 years ago.

I learned so many things from Annie during our conversation. Anne's original career projection upon graduating with her Masters in Geoscience was to become an exploration geologist and help find the next great oilfields. As we all know, not everything always works out as you initially plan. And as you’ll hear, that can be a great thing! 

. Anne had several oil and gas internships learning the conventional oil and gas fields in Louisiana. She wanted to carve her own path and live in a city that fit her personality and lifestyle, ultimately targetting Austin, TX. So, she started looking for "Geologist-esque jobs” of all kinds. She never went into a traditional petrotechnical role and is extremely happy in her position as an internal trainer on the sales success team.

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As Anne started her career in her business development / sales role, Enverus was growing rapidly. She was involved with hiring lots of new team members. 

What makes the best employees that you hired? 

A balanced mix of:

• Hungry

A lot of people possess a percentage of all these things but it’s tough to find professionals with necessary levels in all of them

And don’t forget that in sales, you must be:

• Money-motivated

• Competitive

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When Anne was searching for her full-time career, she reached out to many people through her personal network. Whether it was through LinkedIn, Email, or Calls, she noticed an important and consistent trend:

"[Reaching out to people in my network while job searching] gave me the confidence that nearly everybody I talked to genuinely wanted to help. They may not have been able to help, but this gave me confidence to ask"

It’s important to see that catching up and networking with colleagues and classmates can be a small amount of work and effort for huge potential value.  

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Additionally, we discussed some amazing tips for interviewing for a sales position... at the end of the interview be sure to ask for feedback and if this interview was good enough to get the job. The idea is that if you’re feeling confident and have made that connection with the interviewer, then you’re trying to “close the deal”. Sometimes, the interviewers will review candidates and the question is asked: “Well, did he or she close? Did they ask for the job? Did they ask if they got it?”

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Anne gave an incredibly useful list of resources:

• Sandler Sales Training (www.sandler.com)

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Know of someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Was the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review.

Tyler Treser shares his exciting career transition from offshore mudlogger in the Gulf of Mexico to a software sales engineer in San Francisco.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylertreser/

Know someone that should be interviewed next? E: [email protected]

There are so many important details to his story and I hope you are positively impacted the way I was when I first heard them. Tyler worked for Schlumberger less than a year before being laid off in 2016. His Geoscience background seemed like it had come to an end right as it had started. One key characteristic to Tyler’s personality is that he doesn’t give up. And he’s clearly really good at goal-setting and posses a high level of perseverance. He set his sights on software engineering and started from the bottom of the totem pole, cold calling for an oil and gas startup (Oseberg). His story really highlighted the importance of humbleness, willingness to learn, and the power of incremental improvements over time helping you to achieve your goals.

If you’re interested in a sales engineering role, he recommends becoming proficient in SQL (databases), Python (computer programming), and possess 3-5 years of sales experience. There are many first level options to get some working experience - look for roles like technical support engineer or analyst / consulting jobs.

Resources Tyler recommends:

Tyler's Tips for Job Postings

Tyler's Tips for Cold Calling

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewfrancsis/

Matt Francsis is a former Geologist turned Data Scientist at Tessella. I was introduced to Matt after he published a LinkedIn post outlining his 7-12 months of intense effort that it took to transition to a Data Scientist role. This post went viral (over a million views) and really puts into perspective how rare it is to see detailed reports of how petrotechnical specialists transition to other industries. I really appreciate how candid Matt is with his story and I'm very grateful that he spent some time sharing his journey for the podcast. Have questions? Want his take on things? Looking for a Data Science job? Reach out to Matt on LinkedIn.

Overall, you should walk away from this podcast with a broad understanding of the Data Science career.

Make sure to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes & Spotify.

Hudson Chen has a BS, in Chemical Engineering, and a MS, in Petroleum Engineering. He has worked for DuPont, as well as Schlumberger, before entering the world of Recruiting. Through his career, Hudson has placed hundreds of Mid to Senior professionals, in companies ranging from small, privately-held organizations, to Fortune 100 companies.

In his spare time, Hudson has helped job seekers with resume edits, interview preparations, and overall career advice.

He is currently the Director of Recruiting Operations and Business Development, at Stark Recruiting Partners - www.starkrp.com

Connect with Hudson on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hudsonchen/.

Email: [email protected]

Know of someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Was the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show.

Subscribe to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review. 

Episode Breakdown

What you should walk away learning:

1. In the beginning we talk about Hudson's career as a chemical engineer and cementing engineer for a service company.

1. We then talked about Hudson taking a shot on recruiting and how he's thriving on LinkedIn