JobSpeakers

In 2008, our guest Denise lost everything. The housing crisis left her and her husband out of work with barely enough money to do the one thing they could think of to pay the bills:  start a food truck business based on pasta recipes their friends loved. It was hard work, but they survived - one of the many stories Denise describes as part of her "interesting ride" that started as a Greyhound Bus travel agent and now in the later stages of her career finds her doing something she has always loved: writing, decorating, and 'meeting' people from all over the world as a home decor blogger. Says Denise, "your style can be beautiful." Find out how exactly and be inspired by someone who has lived the adage that it is never too late to try something new, and is now living her dream as a result.

Having a zombie wedding? Then you are in luck! Our guest this week doesn't take normal wedding jobs - but he certainly takes zombie (and Viking) assignments because they are "so much more interesting to shoot!" In this episode, learn about the interesting working life of someone who received his first camera at 15 years old and hasn't looked back. From studying photography in college to teaching it today, Donovan Evans has a lot to share: learn about the types of jobs available in this field, what it takes to be a serious photographer, and benefit from tips you can use to start taking great photos. See the world of being a photographer through the lens of someone who really knows and has the stories to prove it!

"My crazy work ethic was a big reason why my first marriage failed." In this episode, hear from someone who has known major setbacks but has never given up on his entrepreneurial ambitions - or himself. Now the owner of a successful family-run gravestone business, Graeme Everson tells us how he came to be wired for overachievement as a young boy, explains the toll of being a workaholic,  and shares his keys to growing and running a successful business. Like all of our episodes, this one is packed with career advice - but what makes this one special is the hard-earned life advice Graeme shares as he opens up about his difficult journey and how he has managed to use those lessons to prosper personally and professionally.

Sometimes you meet people who really ARE changing the world. Our guest this week, Ron Tyson, spends his days ensuring our healthcare records get to the right place and recounts a twisting journey that involved quitting college, joining the Air Force, going back to school, and using a drug prescription data entry job and work ethic advice from his grandmother as a springboard for an extremely successful career. Yet while he was moving up the ranks, he was also asking himself, "What is my purpose here on earth?" About five years ago, at the age of 52, Ron found that purpose when he visited his grandmother in a nursing home and saw just how many seniors lay on their beds without a single card or keepsake decorating their beds or window sills. Thinking, "there's something we can do here," Ron did just that - he started a nonprofit called Bring Smiles to Seniors that connects kind-hearted card writers to lonely seniors in nursing homes across the country. In its first year, Bring Smiles to Seniors delivered 7,719 cards of joy and human connection. This year that number has already grown to 157,000 and Ron expects after the holidays to have distributed almost 200,000 cards to seniors in all 50 states! As Ron put it, "I have a day job to feed my stomach, but I have my nonprofit to feed my soul." Don't miss this life-affirming episode!

This episode is a JobSpeakers first. Our first guest from Scotland? Yes. Our first guest to have worked at the world-famous Harrods in London? Yes again (and you MUST hear what that was like!). But the real first is hearing from a guest who is recently retired. So not only do we get treated to Les's rich career journey in the hospitality field - mainly as a food and beverage controller, an emerging profession when he started - but we learn what it's like to live after our working life is mostly behind us. Are you ready for colorful stories and priceless life lessons? Then spin up our latest episode and enjoy our guest this week, Les Creswell! 

It was March 2020. The pandemic was just taking hold. And our guest Michael saw the writing on the wall - if more orders didn't come in, his job was on the line. Sadly, that's just what happened, and Michael over the summer was let go from the business development and sales role he loved. In this episode, we explore what many people throughout our pandemic-stricken world are going through: being out of work, but finding a way to push forward. And, as a bonus, we also get to learn from Michael's many years in various sales roles and hear about his journey to earn a college degree - starting in the 90s and finishing next semester - after 30 years! Get ready for heart-felt honesty and a message of hope based on "professional persistence"!

He was going to be a priest, but there was just one problem ... he didn't have the grades for it.  So what did our guest Ian Hassell do with the rest of his working life after leaving the seminary? He stayed true to his intentions to help lift up the downtrodden - working in social services, counseling men suffering through the horror of the HIV AIDS epidemic, and entertaining and consoling elderly hospice patients. Today Ian's job has him coming full circle; as a registrar in the UK, he has one of the coolest jobs ever: he marries couples in love. In today's world, it's so easy to focus on ourselves, but Ian shows us that serving others is the surest path to happiness and a life well-lived.

That was it!!!! Lance couldn't take it anymore. When that Easter brunch customer who asked Lance for pickles but complained they were cut the wrong way when he received them, Lance made a decision at that moment to return to college. In this episode, hear how that early pivot point kicked off a journey that, funnily enough, ends (so far) with Lance becoming the Assistant Director of Pickleball at a brand new indoor-only pickleball facility in Chantilly, Virginia, called Pickleballerz. From working with at-risk youth in a group home to teaching in elementary school to making tennis and pickleball fun for active adults, Lance in this episode opens up about his career journey and shares how he learned to protect his professional happiness while growing on a personal level along the way. 

"I want to see all hairdos, styles, and colors and a client-driven education for our students," says Bisi Lipede, who coordinates a work-study program for 270 Cristo Rey Boston High School students who work part-time corporate jobs throughout their four years of normal schooling. Not only do these students have some of their tuition reimbursed for their efforts, but they learn, at a very young age, what it means to hold down a job in a professional environment. Using her own corporate techniques honed at a large consultancy, Accenture, Bisi engages parents, students, and over 100 business partners to help these students begin charting a successful course toward college and beyond. Having started her journey studying biology at MIT, Bisi has meandered toward this job her whole life (whether she knew it at the time or not!), and credits this one thing to her success: "the capacity to be persistent."

In this double-header episode, Tammi Wirth tells us how a part-time truck loading job at UPS became a full-time position quality checking and fixing shipping addresses. Why did Tammi get promoted? "Because I pay attention to details," she says, "and it makes it all worthwhile when Grandma gets her present!" Someone who uses her downtime at work to help others, Tammi has applied her caring approach and hard work ethic to her second job - being a pet sitter for dogs, cats, turtles, and, as you will soon find out in this episode, chickens (you HAVE to hear the story of the 10 chickens!). "My job is to make sure the dogs and animals I watch are happy," says Tammi - and she'll make you feel the same way after listening to this episode.