The Career Guy

Megan Burns has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Calgary. She is currently employed at the Claresholm Center for Mental Health and Addiction in Claresholm, Alberta.

In this interview, Megan talks about what motivated her to pursue Social Work specializing in mental health and drug addiction. She paints a picture of what her average day looks like, dealing with frustrations and the rewards as well.

She talks about the Social Work program and the Psychology program as well; which, was her initial interest. She provides insight into both programs highlighting the differences and why she decided to pursue Social Work.

She provides an overview of other positions she has had as a Social Worker in different cities and countries. This interview will benefit anyone that is interested in pursuing Social Work, Psychology or just interested in the topic of mental health and drug addiction. This is an eye opening, informative, inspiring and thought-provoking interview.

Leo King has a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Calgary. He is the owner of Kings Fitness in Calgary Alberta. He is also President of the International Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (INBF). He is a qualified judge in bodybuilding and fitness competitions, a professional natural bodybuilder, and a certified strength trainer and coach.

Kings Fitness is a unique gym located in S.E Calgary. It has a fun, friendly, positive atmosphere with a community feel to it. The facility caters to bodybuilders, powerlifters, athletes, fitness enthusiasts, cross-fit athletes, and everyday gym users.

The INBF is recognized for putting on fitness competitions that are positive, encouraging, fair, non-political, and drug-free. It is an organization that recognizes athletes and their commitment by promoting individual bests.

In this interview, Leo explains how he combined his passion for fitness, helping others, and traveling with his entrepreneurial spirit by establishing himself in a variety of facets within the fitness industry, making him a leader in this field. He explains how he has built his facility “Kings Fitness” from the ground up. He also provides insight on bodybuilding, fitness competitions, how the shows are promoted/organized and how the athletes are judged.

This interview will benefit anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship, especially in the fitness industry, and anyone who is interested in event planning. It would also appeal to fitness enthusiasts and anyone interested in leadership and how a community is built. Truly very inspiring and motivational.

http://kingsfitness.ca/

https://wnbfcanada.ca/about/

Lou went to Penn State and Oregon state where he completed his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also has a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Calgary where his research was based on foot orthotics. Lou is the owner and operator of Lou’s Performance Center in Calgary. He specializes in adapting ski equipment to fit individual needs for skiers. This is through his technical knowledge of biomechanics and engineering. He also has published in numerous journals, magazines, and has presented to leaders in this industry. The company’s website hosts an array of articles and videos pertaining to this topic as well.

In this interview, Lou indicates that he had a passion for skiing. He takes us through the experience he had in the U.S. Navy where he discovered he was very technically proficient. Upon completing his services, he discusses the experience he acquired working at a ski shop where he witnessed the modernization of ski boots going from leather to plastics which, then initiated a better understanding of the foot leading to work with orthotics. Though this was seasonal work, he wanted something more substantial, he talks about how he made the decision to do a degree in Mechanical Engineering and the experience with this. Upon completing this endeavor, this opened various employment opportunities that he discusses. In essence, he did do many things, gaining knowledge in many areas, meandering for a while.

However, he ultimately realized his passion was skiing and opening a ski shop, and working with the foot. He goes through his journey from moving from the United States to Canada to further his education. And through some trial, tribulation, and goodwill how he opened his store, Lou’s Performance Center. He describes over a twenty-year period how he has grown his business into a very reputable store with many resources that can enhance the skier’s performance.

This is an interview for anybody that is interested in entrepreneurship, especially retail, as he does describe how this sector functions. Also, highlighting how research is conducted at least from his experience for those that may consider such an avenue. He illustrates that education; sound knowledge and mentorship are what assisted him in his success and he passes the same advice on to others as well. Above all this is a very informative and inspirational interview complemented with a very good story.

https://lous.ca/

Tyler Williams is a musician and composer, who resides in Las Vegas Nevada. He has an undergraduate degree in Music from the University of Idaho and a Master’s degree in Music Composition from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His music interests are playing both electric bass guitar and stand-up bass in a variety of genres including classical, jazz, pop, and rock. He has trained musicians and taught classes such as the history of rock and roll. His collaboration with other artists includes Dirk K, Peter Erskine, Andrea Bocelli, Clint Black, Kenichi Fujiwara, Richard Oberacker, and Karina Gauvin. In addition, he has performed in Broadway-like productions such as Fiddler on the Roof, Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q, and Monty Python’s Spamalot.

In this interview, he discusses how he made the decision to follow his passion - music. He provides insight on what it is like to study and pursue music in an academic environment and how it can be intimidating and rewarding as well. He illustrates the daily life of a musician; a freelancer sort of speak. He elaborates how it all works from collaborating, rehearsing, touring, and playing gigs. He talks about how technology has changed the industry and from his perspective what it will hold for future musicians. He talks about the creative process and what works for him. He gives insight to his podcast and blog “Hear Me Pod” and “Hear Me Blog” and how breaking away from the norm and experimenting and playing around with these other endeavors have helped him now re-ignite his creative spirit. In essence, he talks about having fun which affects his music in a positive way. This podcast is worth a listen if a person is interested in a career in music but also can help others with their creative process as well, very encouraging and eye-opening.

https://tylerwilliamsmusic.com/

Alistair currently works at Car Max. He completed his undergraduate degree in Math minoring in Economics from the University of Calgary. Because of his strong math background, he completed a Master’s Degree in Economics at the University of Toronto. This then lead him to the Toronto Dominion Bank where he was employed as an Economist. He then completed another Master’s and Doctorate in Applied Mathematics from Clemson University where he was also involved with the U.S. Corp of Military Engineers. He now is a Data Scientist at Car Max where he combines all of his math, finance, and business skills.

Alistair explains in his interview that he had a wide range of interests from political sciences, economics, finance, and mathematics. He provides insight on how he discovered and narrowed down and pursued his interest in math. He also provides an understanding of the obstacles that one may face in pursuing hardcore sciences such as math but at the same time how it is rewarding and can give a person a bit of an edge in our competitive world. In addition, in this interview, he unravels a lot of myths regarding math and people that pursue it or have a career in it. He provides examples from his career of how someone interested in math may have many more options available to them than they may realize. Math is the core of science, engineering, and business; and, he has been involved in all three. Above all, by listening to this interview a person will develop a better understanding of how math is intertwined into all fabrics of our society. He also points out that attributes such as hard work, flexibility, and patience are so vital for career development and he gives examples of this in his career.

This is the second half of the interview with Chandler Cook “Working and Living in Silicon Valley”. In this segment, Chandler discusses his role at Apple, what is it like, his lifestyle, and more importantly the hiring process. In addition, he explains and gives a millennial perspective of the mentality and lifestyle working in these high-tech firms situated in the Bay area. He also talks about the podcast that he hosts and produces "This is Real Life".

https://this-is-real-life-0a958b65.simplecast.com/

Chandler Cook is an engineer that is currently working at Apple. He has worked at Tesla as an intern and as a staff employee as well. This is a two-part interview, in this first half, the focus is on his education endeavor as a Mechanical Engineer student and pursuing his Masters in Automotive Engineering which lead him to start his career at Tesla. In the second half, he explains his role at Apple, while highlighting the lifestyle, working and living in a high-tech industry located in the Bay Area geographically known as San Francisco which has been branded as Silicon Valley. He also talks about his podcast "This Is Real Life " that he hosts, the link is below.

https://this-is-real-life-0a958b65.simplecast.com/

Susan Fraser is an independent salesperson. She works for Global Industrial - the Amazon for industrial supplies. She works from home and she started this position pre-Covid. One aspect of her job is to make cold calls and she does lots of them! In this interview, she has suggestions and strategies for working from home, working in sales, and above all making cold calls.

Jared works in the film industry in the province of Alberta Canada. In this interview, he describes how this industry works, what he does, and what skills are required for his position. He also talks about how others can get into this business and the type of education and skills needed to fill all the various facets and roles. He also talks about how producing films is a growing industry in Canada.

Directors Guild of Canada www.dgc.ca

http://www.iatse212.com/

https://icg669.com/

Dexter Martin of Dexter Martin Photography is a photographer, web, designer and, social media guru. With the advances in technology, there is a common thread that encompasses photography, web design, and utilizing social media. Listen to Dexter’s story on how he carved out his own niche by combining his technical skills with his artistic ability and his passion to help people.

https://dmphotodesign.ca/