In celebration of Black History Month, we chat with Bosun Adebaki, Business Operations at Plaid. He is an action-oriented and analytical problem solver passionate about using FinTech to make financial systems more accessible to everyone. His extensive background in strategy, finance, and operations has helped businesses across Europe, North America, and LatAm scale and succeed.

Bosun was born and raised in a part of London called Hackney, which is known for vibrancy and diversity. He got a Business Management degree at the University of Nottingham and went to the US to get this MBA.

His interest and passion for FinTech stemmed from a personal family experience. He aims to use tools like alternative data, web 3.0 technologies, and mobile experiences to make financial tasks simpler and more accessible for end-users.

In this episode, Bosun shares his career experiences and the responsibilities of someone working in Business Operations (BizOps). Having lived and worked in different countries, he also tells us his I-don't-know-how-to-but-I-will-find-the-solution experiences and how his plans of setting up his own startup that would help women of color in the world led him to one of the most exciting FinTech startups in the US.

Episode Quotes:

On his decision to get an MBA

“I had worked for a while at PwC. I was pretty fortunate in that I had started in London, I spent some time in Switzerland, and I spent the last few years in Mexico. I was building a team. I loved it. I really enjoyed it. It was an excellent experience. I think you also get to a point where you think, “Okay, if I look forward five or ten years, is this what I want to continue doing? Or if I were the 18-year-old version of me today with what I know now about the world, would I choose to do something different? How would I think about the world? So, that was kind of the catalyst. Let's refresh and let's start off with the version of me today, not the version of me who made the first decision [about my career] when I was 17.”

On choosing Haas

“I came, walked around the campus, and I was like, I could see myself here. And it's one of these things where there was no sophistication about the decision. [It was simply], I feel like this is where I could be for a few years. And I feel like I would be happy here versus the other places where I could have gone. And I was right. It was a really fun experience. I met, as you will know, awesome people. The fact that we're speaking is sentiment to what Haas has to offer.”

On his experience at Berkeley 

“The whole way society exists around identity, around race, around all of these topics, these are very present on campus, which was good because it made you have conversations about it. But if you are one of the affected groups who are being asked to provide way more than the experience of just the student, it changes somewhat the experience. It was slightly different at Berkeley, particularly for students of color. For example, There was a lot more of a focus from classmates on, “Bos, what do you think?” Or, “What's your view?” Which is good. I like to share my views about perspectives. Sometimes it’s also nice for a topic to be so adjacent to me that no one even wonders what my opinion is. It was an interesting introduction to US society but it was also very Berkeley, right?”

The job of someone working in BizOps

“Find problems that are preventing the company from self-actualizing and fix them by whatever means necessary. Use your toolkits, use your relationship, use your creativity, use all of the things that you have at your disposal to find the best way to solve a problem and to make everybody else better equipped to be successful in their roles.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Measure What Matters: OKRs: The Simple Idea that Drives 10x Growth
• Americanah
• The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

In celebration of Black History Month, our guest for today is Eric T. McKissack. Eric is a graduate of the Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA program. Currently, he is an Investment Executive and Independent Board Director at different companies and nonprofits, including FlexShares Funds and Morgan Stanley Pathway Funds. He is also a Board Member of McKissack & McKissack, a privately-held, family business that is a national architectural, engineering, and program and construction management firm.

Even though he is an only child, Eric grew up in a large extended family of business leaders and entrepreneurs who had a strong family identity. In fact, his grandfather and great uncle were the first Black registered architects in the US. 

Because of the influence of the family business, Eric went to MIT for architecture but ended up in Sloan to pursue his own interests in business. He started in banking but then worked many years in investment management before starting Channing with his partners. He shares his journey from that pivotal moment, getting his executive MBA while founding an investment firm, how they overcame the challenges along the way, and how one can succeed in this space. 

This episode is valuable for people who aspire to start their own investment firms or join the board of directors as Eric shares his wealth of experiences and motivations to be in the boardroom of successful organizations.

Episode Quotes:

On starting his own investment firm

“Another pivotal moment in my career, I got to a point where I felt that either I would stay where I was indefinitely, and that would be the duration of my career and be my experiences, or I could have the experience of starting a firm of my own. While I had joined Ariel early on, I was not a founder. And so, it was like a fork in the road kind of opportunity in my mind, and I took it.”

On Channing, his investment firm, surviving the great recession

“Certainly, starting a firm is challenging at any time and place. But also, the industry had changed a lot from early in my career. It wasn't long before the Great Recession hit, so there were a lot of challenges. Nevertheless, we were able to survive those. I always say that we got through that period, and Lehman and Bear Stearns didn't. So, we felt we had something to be proud of, to get through the great recession. And the firm continues on with my partners.”

On investment markets being all about human nature

“Sometimes, periods of overvaluation and undervaluation can last very long, longer than the patience of your clients. Clients may not be patient enough to recognize that there's a bubble brewing and want to go where they think the grass is greener, to another manager, or do a reallocation. Ultimately, markets are still about human nature no matter how much technology is introduced into the process. And human nature can sometimes lead to business outcomes that are not favorable even for the most talented investment managers.”

On raising capital for their first fund as a minority-owned firm

“There are always challenges raising money in any business or any investment entity. And I can't say that the challenges were strictly based on pure discrimination. But I think what often happens is that certain types of resumes get more of a path or more of a benefit of the doubt than others. That's not to say that doesn't happen for some diverse candidates, that they have the same kind of resumes, but that wasn't the background that I had.

I came out of a minority-owned firm to launch another minority firm. And while that firm had a great track or reputation, I don't think we necessarily got the same benefit of the doubt. It was more like, "Okay, well, let's see what you can do in this new environment. And then we'll give you money if we like what we see."

Who succeeds in founding their own investment firm and why

“The people who are most successful at it are those that have been able to develop track records through prior experience and have the kind of blue-chip backgrounds. But very often too, it takes a certain person to decide they want to do that because if you're at a successful firm and you have a great track record, then a lot of people are very comfortable staying there because they are very often making very high compensation. There may be golden handcuffs. There are all kinds of reasons why starting a business is something you have to be highly motivated about.”

Show Links:

• Eric on LinkedIn
• Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead 
• Isabel Wilkerson

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Alex Abelin had an early exposure to sports, theater, arts, and traveling, yet his hidden passion is in business. At 30, the entrepreneurship calling grew louder that he decided to transition away from his comfortable job in Google to be a trailblazer in tech. Alex launched two tech startups: LiquidTalent and LQD Wifi. The acquisition of LQD Wifi by telco giant Verizon in 2016 marked his successful exit from the company. As part of the deal, he had to reintegrate back to the corporate office and manage the Urban Affairs for Verizon.

A few months after his son Alakai was born, Alex discovered a major gap in the infant formula market: no plant-based, soy-free, and dairy-free options are available. This led him to build a business around solving his own pain point. His guiding principle is to create something that brings people life, positivity, happiness, joy, and vitality.

Alex is BA 2005 alum at Berkeley Haas. In this episode, he takes us back to his favorite college memories, his experience working at two Fortune 50 companies, launching three startups, and now working towards a sustainable future through plant-based foods and beverages.

Episode Quotes:

On having his parents as role models

[02:49.23] I had two role models and parents who really kind of shone the light on what the working world was like. I learned a lot from them about the value of hard work and commitment. What I think my parents did is they brought a lot of heart to their organizations. My parents brought their full selves to their work, always led with their hearts, and were always very compassionate and spirited. So, I get a lot of that from them.

On his experience moving from San Diego to Berkeley for college

[00:15:05] For me, this was the first time living alone. It felt empowering. It felt great just the simple stuff of making sure I had three meals a day, knowing how to do my laundry, and making sure I show up to class on time. You know, these kinds of social life skills came into play. I think half the fun and half the reason to do a four-year institution is to acquire those resilience skills and the autonomy and the sovereignty. It's a huge rite of passage. It was so nourishing, so fun, so expansive. Looking at photos of me going into Cal and looking at photos of me going out to Cal, you could see a real, much more mature, and different human. Those four years really did a lot for me, a lot of good.

On transitioning from corporate career to entrepreneurship

[00:13:52] I was about to turn 30, and I used that as my fire under my butt to become the entrepreneur I always knew I was. The first thing I did was travel to Asia solo. I gave myself a couple of months to exhale and transition from my Google career to my future entrepreneur career. I know I'm blessed and very humbled to be able to do that. It's not the same for everybody, but I took those months, and I recalibrated. I spent that time traveling alone, thinking about what I wanted to build and what the world needed. 

On his motivation for his third startup, PlantBaby

[00:22:49] PlantBaby, for me, is the first time I'm building a business around solving my own pain point, which I always wanted to do. PlantBaby is coming from the gut. It's coming from the heart. And that gives you so much more passion, motivation, and enthusiasm to see this succeed because you want to solve your own problem. It's great, and I also knew that sage advice always was out there is to solve your own problem.

Advice for people who might be interested in going to school or straight into entrepreneurship for food or sustainability 

Build it if you want to be the consumer of it. Don't build anything that's a fun or smart, profitable business. Build it up as you want to buy it. That's a good piece of advice that I think will drive you when the nights are long and cold, and you need something to drive you. Solve your own need, buy your own product. Think about the environment. Think about different stakeholders than just yourself. Don't be intimidated by the entrenched, established players. They were small at one time too. There's enough success to go around. Change the way you look at competition. We all can win. It is not a zero-sum game. 

Show Links:

 

• Alex Abelin on LinkedIn
• Alex Abelin on Twitter
• Alex Abelin Official Website
• PlantBaby Official Website
• Kiki Milk Official Website
• Kiki Milk IG

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

His openness to the possibility that life may not always happen the way he planned enabled Oshri Kaplan to become a successful student and venture capitalist. While he was still undecided on which career path to pursue, Oshri seized the opportunity to grow in various fields, including the military, law, and business, where he gained a network of corporate leaders and entered the venture capital industry.

Oshri started his career as an analyst in his homeland, Israel, before moving to Silicon Valley— the Mecca of VCs and startups, to continue providing value as a venture capitalist. He is MBA 2013 at Berkeley Haas and a seasoned investor who later joined Munich Re Ventures as an Investment Director. 

Learn about the challenges of finding investment opportunities, the day-to-day activities of a venture capitalist, and which class at Haas helped Oshri advance in his entrepreneurial career.

Episode Quotes:

Which class at Haas influenced you the most?

[00:08:36] The most influential course I took at Haas was negotiations with Holly Schroth. I'm negotiating now every day. My job is essentially to negotiate. So with that, I don't think about any other course that I would rather take a test than the negotiation. That was eye-opening because, as an Israeli, they're teaching you tactics around negotiation, which I found very different from the tactics taught in US-based schools and definitely at Haas. That was super refreshing, and it was hard. It was hard, and it was challenging at the beginning to find myself in situations where I needed to adapt. I need to figure out a different way to approach things if I want to be successful. That's one of the classes that I've been using since then.

What does a venture capitalist’s day-to-day operation look like?

[00:16:56] In general, an investor needs to divide his time between looking and listening for new opportunities; depending on what exactly is your role, whether you are in one of those funds or principal and later, director or general partner, you need to manage your time. 

His advice to fellow Haasies or other students who want to have a successful career.

[00:24:39] I think people need to be vulnerable. They need to open themselves to the ideas of what they are going to see and learn and be open-minded about networking and the people that they're going to meet during those couple of years or three or four years at school, as those are the years that you don't really know who you're going to meet. You don't know where the next opportunity will come and how you're going to meet your next employer or a reference to a new employer. I always had a plan in my mind, and I needed to follow it, but the reality is that nothing really went according to the plan, but it was parallel, and I was open enough to expose myself to other options.  

Show Links:

• Oshri Kaplan on LinkedIn
• Oshri Kaplan on Twitter

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Digital business leader Jamie Lee shares her rich experience of traveling and knowing people with different backgrounds and cultures. She took classes in countries that gave her a global perspective as a learner and eCommerce professional. 

She is passionate about driving change for industry leaders and impacting customers globally. Jamie brings her learnings from working with iconic brands Sony Electronics, Electronic Arts, Walmart, and Nike to her current role at a sustainable fashion brand, Everlane, as Head of Digital Experience.

We also delve into why Jamie decided to take her MBA when she's already being offered leadership roles in huge companies. Listen to her story to know how she managed to finish her MBA while still fulfilling her duties at work.

Episode Quotes:

On why she went to business school even when she was already working with big brands

[00:13:48] I wanted to learn from a broader set of people from very diverse backgrounds. Haas was that ideal destination for me. You have a lot of top-tier tech talent, but at the same time, you have people from all walks of life, such different people and different backgrounds. And I felt that the learning environment could challenge me as a business leader and shape the way I think differently that might not be homogenous to other very similar people in the retail e-commerce space. So that was the big draw, that diversity of thinking that could be achieved in a Haas experience and MBA.

On transitioning from Nike to Everlane

[00:31:00] I realized I've been doing the big company thing for a long time, essentially my whole career. Why not take a shot and a chance now to be a part of a high-growth organization that can still drive impact as an industry leader? Thinking about sustainable fashion, I believe Everlane has a unique position in that space, changes the conversation around radical transparency and sustainability, and starts fighting climate change. Being a part of a purpose-driven organization and a smaller business unit with really fast growth and growth potential was compelling.

Advice for students who want to build a career in consumer goods, apparel, or digital space

[00:33:37] There really isn't one true path that could lead you to success. Have a clear understanding of what you foresee your career to look like. That could be at a digital consulting agency, late-stage startup, or large enterprise. Each one is going to teach you something different. Don't be afraid to explore different routes that could teach you or give you the experiences to lead you to where you want to be in the next 5 to 10 years. Have a clear goal of what that end-game or outline looks like, and always be flexible along the way.

Show Links:

• Jamie Lee on LinkedIn
• Global Network of Advanced Management
• UC Berkeley Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC)

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

People working in a culture with a balance of boundaries and empathy are more motivated to perform well. That's what Laila Tarraf realized in her decades of experience as a recruitment and business leader. She carried this realization and successfully developed a work culture that effectively combines high-performance growth and caring culture.

Laila is the Chief People Officer at Allbirds, where she is responsible for guiding and strengthening the company's unique, mission-based culture. She wrote Strong Like Water: How I Found the Courage to Lead with Love in Business and in Life at a time when she experienced the grief of losing loved ones yet gained powerful realizations as a mother and business leader. In her view, connecting to our common humanity and bringing hearts to the workplace is the key to creating exceptional organizations.

Listen to this episode as Sean and Laila exchange inspiring thoughts on recruitment and its changes from the industrial to the information age, holistic leadership, and emotional resilience.

Episode quotes

On creating the post-pandemic hybrid workplace

[00:15:05] I think a post-pandemic hybrid workplace and meeting greater flexibility in work is all about a very integrated holistic leadership style that can balance being empathetic and caring— compassionate while at the same time focusing on growing the business and holding people accountable. And while the two might seem like they're on opposite ends of the spectrum, they're really not. They're more like the DNA strands of a helix that are intertwined. I'm always drawing these two intersecting circles where I have business on one side and people on the other, and so there's an overlap, and that's the sweet spot. And for all of us, it's finding that mix, that alchemy that works for us, given our personal style, we all have it. It's just figuring out how to play in the middle. 

On treating employees as a team, rather than as a family

[00:18:24] While you may have made great friends that you think of as family, we're not a family because you can't quit your family. You can't leave your family. We're really a team, and not to denigrate the connections and relationships because being a high-performing team, when you ask people, what are the most inspirational times in their life where they have the greatest connections, it's usually when they're part of a team where they're trying to tackle a really tough challenge, whether it's in sports or business, and they came together and were able to overcome whatever this thing was. And that's beautiful.

On creating a balance between caring for people and communicating their areas for improvement

[00:19:46] The challenge is the counterbalance to being empathetic and being able to hold your boundaries. Because if you don't, then you're merging. I think there is a way that you can care for the person and keep your connection to the person while at the same time delivering a message that they're not meeting expectations or that something needs to improve. It really is as much an art as it is a science to drop into connection and show that you care.

On how she picked the title for her book

[00:24:43] I chose the title Strong Like Water after Lao Tzu's The Tao Te Ching it's verse 78, right? Be like water. Be like water is really about how water is actually very powerful, but in a gentle way. And in it, he says water is fluid, soft, and yielding, but water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, water is fluid, soft, and yielding, which will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. And he said that this is a paradox that what is soft is strong. And when I read that, I thought that's it. And I realized that really life, in general, is all about reconciling these dualities, where we fall into these false paradoxes where we think I'm either weak or I'm strong. But the reality is like the yin yang symbol; there is no hard, there is no soft. It just depends on your viewpoint. We are all both. 

Show Links:

• Laila Tarraf on LinkedIn
• Laila Tarraf Official Website
• Strong Like Water™ How I Found the Courage to Lead with Love in Business and in Life

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Diversity in a learning institution challenges racial assumptions, promotes critical thinking, and allows students to interact effectively with people from varying backgrounds. Representation of minority groups in key leadership roles, including faculty positions, inspires young people to break stereotypes and reach their full potential. Élida Bautista is a brilliant woman of color who had to constantly deal with stereotypes, expectations, and lack of opportunities despite her academic strengths as a student. Élida regarded education as a protest against people who tried to discourage and suppress her due to her race and skin color. She earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology by not letting others dictate her path in life while competing with other well-resourced students.

Élida Bautista is the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Berkeley Haas. She leads strategic initiatives for students, faculty, and staff to create an inclusive climate and equip students to lead in a diverse world.

This episode highlights the importance of diversity among the faculty and student body in a learning institution that produces global business leaders.

Episode quotes:

On why college is a big risk for students who come from low-income families

00:16:10] The expectation was to financially contribute to the family. Because I was making a choice to go to college and not be in a position to contribute financially, I also was not in a position to ask for anything. It felt like a risk because there was no choice but to succeed. Failure was not an option.

On creating programs that produce Ph.D. students and attract faculty who are rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion

[00:34:02] Ph.D. program takes at least five years, depending on the student. So by the time somebody joins the faculty ranks and is teaching in that core course, it might take a few years to see the effects of what we put down now. But we have to start at least, you know, obviously, this is overdue, but at the very least we need to start to invest in that now, so that we see the fruits of those labors down the road, while we simultaneously make Haas a place that's appealing for faculty who want to do research that is rooted in DEI, who want to mentor students across a variety of identities that have continued to be under-represented. 

On mentoring as a way for alumni and current students to get more involved and promote DEI

[37:12:92] Mentoring is always another way that people can give back. If you don't identify as somebody from an underrepresented group and you are in a position of privilege and power in your respective organization and the leadership position - that's the opportunity to find somebody in your organization or at Haas. To mentor them and help them have access to those pathways that they wouldn't otherwise have access to.

Show Links:

• Élida Bautista on LinkedIn
• Élida Bautista on Berkeley Haas

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Business Administration alumnus Neeraj Gunsagar knows that straight, even teeth aren't just for looks. Getting access to oral healthcare can greatly improve one's chances of finding a job, starting a relationship, and even preventing diabetes. And at one point, it even saved a life of a bullied teenager. He talks about his initial meeting with Scott Cohen, and before he realizes it, he is looking into an opportunity that allows him to help more people.

Neeraj also shares some of his experiences growing up in the Bay Area with his immigrant parents, working at DLJ (Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette), and then at TrueCar. He emphasizes how his background in investment banking and focus on tracking and measuring KPIs helped him transition from CRO to CMO and finally as CEO. Make sure to tune in until the end to find out about his 15 minutes of fame with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant!

Episode Quotes:

How Haas Evened Out the Playing Field for Career Opportunities at Investment Banking

[00:03:26] Investment banking was like Google or Facebook, or wherever it was, five, 10 years ago from an undergraduate perspective. And to compete against the East Coast Ivy League Schools from a west coast perspective, Haas really helped level the playing field there.

On How Race Affects Access to Healthcare

[00:25:28] So, the U.S. population is about 65% white, 14% Latino, 12% black, and maybe five, or six percent Asian, something like that. But orthodontia work is like 80 to 90% white, the people who are getting it done in the communities that we all know are privileged, the higher income, and all these things. And when I realized that byte®, one of the first things I did was try to analyze. It’s literally 64% to 63% white, 15% Latino, 13% black, 5% to 6% Asians. Literally, that's our customer base. And you start to realize like, “Wow”. We as a country, we as a company, and we, as individuals, need to figure out a way more and more to break down some of these historic barriers that were created decades ago. And figure out a way to make oral healthcare more accessible and affordable to folks. 

Practical Areas in Life Where Oral Healthcare Matters

[00:29:19] I spoke to Bumble and some dating sites as well, they've done a lot of analysis on this. Women, I think it's through a survey that Bumble or Matched did, won't go on a second date with a guy if they have bad teeth. 72% of women said they wouldn't do that. Job interviewers, you probably don't want to say it out loud, but subconsciously, or consciously it makes an impression, right? If that person doesn't take care of their teeth, how are they going to take care of this job? Right?

When the Dentists Fear Became Their Pivot

[00:30:47] Before the pandemic started, I talked to a bunch of these big DSO, dental service organizations. They hated what we were doing. They said, you can't do this over, telemedicine or at home. And, and then as soon as the pandemic happened, they realized nobody could come into their offices. What were they doing? They were doing Google hangout, consults, Invisalign over zoom, all these different things because it was interfering with their monthly income.

Making Oral Healthcare More Accessible: byte®'s Moving Forward Goal

[00:35:04] We want to make oral care more accessible to consumers. At scale, we want to build technology and systems to allow that to happen. And we want to bring dentists, GPs, and orthodontist into that platform in the long run.

Show Links:

• Neeraj Gunsagar on LinkedIn
• Neeraj Gunsagar on Twitter
• byte® Official Website

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Doug Galen is the Co-Founder and CEO of RippleWorks. Founded in 2015, RippleWorks connects leading expertise from Silicon Valley and the larger US tech sector with rapidly scaling ventures for short-term, high-impact projects that unlock the ventures' capacity for growth. To help social enterprises scale faster, Doug Galen works with CEOs to figure out their toughest challenges and connect them to leading Silicon Valley experts to gain startup and leadership skills.

In this episode, our guest discusses how entrepreneurs can make a difference in people's lives and the world as a whole.

Episode quotes:

On what prompted him to start RippleWorks

00:00:42] RippleWorks started seven years ago. I had one of those moments in life. I was having a conversation with my daughter, who was turning 13, and we talked about how to make the world a better place. And I was building a mobile shopping app, which didn't feel consistent with my purpose in life. So I made a big career change and started to explore how I might better use my time. And that's how I founded RippleWorks.

How do you help social entrepreneurs scale their companies?

[00:2:42] How we do it is that we at RippleWorks, vet for the best ventures in the world. We work with the CEO to figure out their top three challenges so we know whatever we do will have an impact on them. We staff all the project managers called Venture Growth Managers who will sweat all the details. Then we bring in a Silicon Valley expert who has solved that problem before that the CEO is facing, with scrappy resources in their career, who will volunteer two to five hours a week for the next month to four months, working on this problem. You, as the expert, get that amazing feeling of leveraging your skillset to give back. You, as a venture, have that problem solved and you probably formed a new friendship and advisor for life.

On why he decided to get an MBA

[00:08:07] I had a moment in the mirror when I was staring at myself and talking with my daughter. I did not like the path I was on. I didn't want to be a real estate broker. I didn't feel like I was adding value. So business school was a chance for me to reevaluate if I am on the right path? And that's a hundred percent why I went back. Didn't matter that I was building a career. I was heading down a path that was not gonna make me feel good. And either I subconsciously, or maybe a little consciously, knew that. And I don't believe in pursuing paths that aren't consistent with what gets you excited.

On how RippleWorks select social ventures to work with

[00:24:01] We look at the impact of a venture and there's three elements to the impact of a venture to pick who we're gonna work with. The first is the depth of impact on a human being. If we're helping a farmer in Northern Nigeria, how much are we increasing their income so they can move out of extreme poverty to poverty or poverty to lower middle class? So first is the depth of impact. The second is the breadth of impact. How many people are we impacting with that depth? And then the third is the target population. We are interested in helping people who are struggling with life. 

Show Links:

• Doug Galen on LinkedIn
• RippleWorks Official Website
• CNN Climate Change Quiz

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

One of the key issues that employers and job seekers face today is the overcompetitiveness of the job market. Many industries are affected by the pandemic, and companies are finding ways to efficiently spend budget by hiring the right person fit for the job. At the same time, the sheer number of displaced workforce contributed more to the already cutthroat employment marketplace. Our guest in this episode, Brett Waikart, leads a company that aims to reshape how corporate recruiters hire valuable team members, making the hiring process more effective, efficient, and equitable.

Brett is MBA 2020 and Co-Founder and CEO of Skilful.ly, an employment platform that focuses on demonstrated in-demand job skills, science-backed cognitive strengths, and drive to hustle. Through this platform, skilled job seekers can access opportunities that are otherwise only accessible to university graduates.

Listen to this podcast to discover how Brett and his team started creating an equitable and efficient hiring process for recruiters and job-seeking candidates.

Episode quotes:

What is Skilful.ly and how does it provide an equitable opportunity to job seekers?

[00:00:33] Skillful.ly at its core is building a more equitable alternative to allow the employment platforms that are out there today. And we reached that equity by focusing on the demonstration of relevant job skills first and foremost.

[00:01:31] It is built around the premise that what really matters and what's really most representative of someone's potential in a particular job is not the match in some of those factors that have become the heuristics, that have become the metrics that those systems really based themselves off of, but rather the affirmative confirmation that you actually have the skills that are required for a particular job. 

What do you consider the most important aspect of becoming a startup founder?

[00:35:10] I think what gets lost is just how meaningful it is and how important it is to find the team that you want to work with to build those relationships, to invest in them. I think that is maybe the hardest challenge, but the most rewarding pursuit in terms of the benefits that have accrued from that is to spend a lot of time and a lot of thought on how to build that team. That is the secret to your long-term success, as opposed to any idea that's locked up between your ears.

Show Links:

• Brett Waikart on LinkedIn
• Skillful.ly Official Website

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations