The Dream Vocation Podcast with Tony Bellagamba

In this episode we speak with Mitchell Wolfe, a video game designer out of San Diego, California. While I was growing up playing video games, and even now watching my kids play them, I always wondered, “Who are the people that have the cool job of actually creating these games?” 

Well, Mitchell is one of those cool people! He is a video game designer, specifically an encounter designer which means he designs the way the game feels and what you do with the character within an encounter, such as combat or a social or environmental encounters. Mitchell has worked on some amazing games, including Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.

During the discussion, he not only talks about the incredibly fascinating process of designing video games but also about his career path. Mitchell knew from an early age that he wanted to design video games but as he was entering college, he believed (incorrectly as he himself says) that if he had the words “video game” in his degree, he wouldn’t be taken seriously. So, during undergrad, he focused on a degree in cognitive science. For the next several years after college Mitchell took a variety of small jobs, from working on a movie set to writing for a video game magazine. He then realized that if he wanted to go after his dream, he needed to take a more direct path. With that, he went to graduate school for games and playable media and began to leverage his experience and his newly found network to find opportunities within the world of video game design. Mitchell worked hard, performed at every opportunity that presented itself, and eventually landed at Respawn Entertainment where he is living out his dream of designing video games. 

This is a fascinating interview, even if you aren’t a gamer, as we get to take a sneak peak into the fascinating world of video game design. Check out Mitchell and his Dream Vocation story. 

In this episode we speak with Howard White, Inventor and Entrepreneur. Howard is the founder of Constant Mountain, an outdoor jacket company centered around the infinity pocket, which Howard invented and patented. 

Howard’s story shows us that everyday problems can be turned into career opportunities and that it’s never too late to pursue your passions. 

About 7 years ago, Howard was enjoying his career as a Product Manager and going to his kids’ sporting events on nights and weekends. On one particularly chilly morning, he was at his daughter’s soccer game and tried to warm his hands by putting them in the pockets of his jacket. However, his hands were still chilly because all that was keeping them warm was the fabric of the inside pocket. Howard told his wife that he wished he had a hoodie on so that he could put his hands together and generate more warmth from the body heat. It was at that moment that the concept of the infinity pocket was born. Howard began to think, “Why can’t I have a jacket that easily zips up and down but also provides a front pocket that allows me to put my hands together?”

With that, Howard did what so many entrepreneurs do and just got started. He bought a sewing machine and developed his first iteration of a jacket containing the infinity pocket. It wasn’t great but it showed him that the concept worked. Over the next several years Howard went through the painstaking process of getting his design patented. He then built a business around his design, naming it Constant Mountain. Howard is now fully out in the market, aiming to provide everyone who has ever experienced a chilly day and cold hands with a Constant Mountain jacket and infinity pocket. 

Listen in as Howard tells his story about how he went from Product Manager to Inventor and Business Owner.  

In this episode we speak with Josh Elliot and Aaron White, founders of Climate Karen, a climate tech brand committed to making the planet less hot in an innovative way that allows the everyday person to get involved. 

Josh and Aaron are two badasses who have had experiences and careers that took them all over the world. From drilling water wells in the Amazon to living in African villages where lions were known to prowl, these two have lived adventurous and fulfilling lives. We even talk about these wild experiences in the episode. Now they are teaming up to help put a dagger in the heart of climate change by forming a brand, which in their words, is “so ridiculous that it will get people to start talking about climate change” and do something about it.

Combining Aaron’s entrepreneurial background and Josh’s “get it done, execution” mindset, they have come up with an innovative way to get the everyday person involved in fighting this massive problem. Today, there is a technology which allows us to suck carbon dioxide out of the air, turn it into liquid, and inject it into the ground to form rock and capture the carbon dioxide forever. The challenge however, is that this method costs significant money, with only the largest of organizations such as Microsoft, Google, and the Government taking part. But, Josh and Aaron believe that if we can scale this technology we can ultimately reduce the cost and thus make a much larger impact. Enter Climate Karen which provides a subscription service, allowing the average person to subscribe for as low as $15 per month and get an investment return of removing over 500 pounds of carbon dioxide permanently on an annual basis, which is equivalent to approximately 1,000 miles of driving. 

Josh and Aaron are beginning this venture with excitement, a big purpose, and a whole lot of energy. Listen in to hear two entrepreneurs discuss chasing their Dream Vocation and changing the world at the same time!

In this episode we speak with Tom Vrem, a music producer, guitar player, and cook book author out of Nashville, Tennessee. Tom is a renaissance man to say the least, and may I say across a variety of avenues that are all pretty awesome. Anyone that can produce a killer album, rip a guitar riff and cook up a gourmet breakfast is a cool person to hang out with in my book. 

I’m a huge music fan so this episode was super fun for me to record. As a music fan, I’ve always wondered how songs were made. Well, that’s exactly Tom’s career. In the episode he tells us how he plays a multi-faceted role in taking a song from conception to final version. From helping the artist fine tune their song, to finding the right musicians to play instruments, and even managing personalities, Tom does it all in his role as a music producer. He even steps in as the guitar player on some of the songs!

And the most inspiring part? Tom didn’t move to Nashville and begin pursuing his calling as a music producer until he was 38 years old! He began as an intern at the famous Blackbird music studio and through hard work and a commitment to his craft, he was able to forge important relationships and built a reputation as one of the best producers across the Nashville music scene, from Americana all the way to Heavy metal. 

But you can’t paint Tom with a narrow brush, as his talents and interests run wide. In addition to his career in music, he is also a great cook and has even published several cook books, including one with Tiffany from 80’s pop fame. 

Listen in as Tom tells us about his exciting career journey and tells some fascinating stories from the Nashville music scene! 

In this episode we speak with Rachel Kroll, a fashion designer out of New York City. This episode is special to me because one of my daughters loves fashion and says she wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up. So, what better gift could I give her than to interview someone living the Dream Vocation she aspires to? Plus, I’m sure there are a lot of other people out there interested in hearing about the world of fashion, so it’s a win-win for everyone. 

Rachel’s story is one of following your passion and not falling back on the quote unquote more traditional, reasonable career path. Like a lot of young girls, Rachel was interested in fashion from a young age. But unlike most of her counterparts, Rachel took action and pursued her passion from the get-go. She started by learning how to sew from her mother and aunt. From there, she took fashion classes in high school and even took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago on the weekends. I don’t know what you were doing on the weekends in high school, but I certainly wasn’t going to more school. 

Anyways, upon graduating from High School Rachel wanted to attend an art school. But, her parents required her to go to a more traditional university in case her interest in fashion fell off. So, Rachel enrolled in the fashion program at Kent State. Even then, her father encouraged her to go into Finance, which was a safer, more stable career. But once again, Rachel chose her passion and pursued passion with all of her energy. 

Rachel kept pursuing her dreams and eventually landed a role as a design assistant at a leading fashion brand, working specifically on footwear. Fast forward to today and Rachel is a full-fledged fashion designer, developing some of the trendiest and most popular women’s footwear that you likely see when you walk out your door. She even tells us about the design process, which is incredibly interesting. To take an idea and turn it into an actual product that people wear is a fascinating journey. 

Listen in as Rachel tells us her story and inspires us to follow our passions. 

In this episode we speak with Joe Shannon, a lawyer and entrepreneur. Joe is a Personal Injury attorney who runs his own practice in the Chicago area. 

Truthfully, I always wondered if there were lawyers who loved their careers because outside of television courtroom scenes, it always appeared mundane to me. But, as Joe tells us, while the work does have a tedious side to it, it can be an incredibly interesting and challenging profession with a lot of imagination required to think outside of the box to produce the best outcomes for clients. In addition, as a former athlete, Joe loves the competitive side of the business as he gets to represent individuals who have been injured and have to fight against large insurance companies. These large insurance companies have teams of lawyers and vast resources. So, Joe basically represents the underdog and gets to kick some ass for the everyday person. 

In addition to his legal practice, Joe expanded his entrepreneurial footprint about 12 years ago by creating a maintenance company that serves large properties across the country. The most incredible part is how Joe came up with this idea. As an avid reader of the Wall Street Journal, he learned that good property maintenance was a challenge for businesses. Seeing a market need, Joe teamed up with a few other people, developed a business plan and took his shot. It took a while to build momentum, but they now operate across 30+ states and work with over 3,000 subcontractors.  

Joe is an incredible individual. In addition to building a very successful career in law and building his own business in property maintenance, he is also a man of great faith. He puts that faith at the center of his life, which gives him balance across all of his roles, from businessman to father, friend, athlete and everywhere else.

Listen in to hear Joe tell his Dream Vocation story.  

In this episode we speak with Matt Parsons, founder and Managing Partner of an investment firm named Camp Lake Capital, which invests in businesses that have between $2 and $5 million of EBITDA, which is a fancy word for cashflow.

I’ve known Matt for almost 20 years, as he and I started out as young Investment Bankers together in the early 2000’s, sitting next to each other for 90 hours a week in cubicles while we hammered away at spreadsheets. While I bailed out of the finance game after just a few years, Matt stayed the course due to the intellectual stimulation and challenge that finance presented.  

Matt spent the first 5 years of his career working both sides of mergers and acquisitions, first working as an Analyst in Investment Banking helping to sell companies for 9 figure deals, and then pivoting to Private Equity, where he was part of a team that acquired companies. 

During the financial crisis of 2008, Matt was accepted into business school at the University of Chicago. At the same time, he received a phone call from an old Investment Banking colleague asking him to return to the world of sell-side mergers and acquisitions. Matt accepted and for the next 11 years moved up the ranks of Investment Banking, working on mergers and acquisitions across the globe within the Industrials industry. 

Throughout that time, Matt invested his money wisely and was successful enough to break off on his own in 2021 to form Camp Lake Capital. Matt now oversees a small but growing portfolio of investments, including a supplier of personalized souvenirs and a distributor of specialty wire and cable.

Listen in as Matt tells us about his life in high finance, and how he climbed up the ladder to run his own investment firm and live out his dreams.     

In this episode we speak with Yvette Saba, President of Edward Hospital in Naperville. 

Yvette’s career story is one of pursuing what interests you and advocating for yourself. Her story shows that if you follow what interests you, what you have a passion for, you’ll be invested enough to put the time in to become great at it, and if you become great at it, things like promotions and money will begin to be attracted to you, as opposed to the other way around. But, that alone won’tr get you to where you want to be, as Yvette tells us that you also need to advocate for yourself and loudly tell people what you want. It’s these principles that have shaped Yvette’s career and helped her to become a powerhouse in the healthcare field. 

Yvette started her career as a Cardiology nurse. After several years, she went back to get her Masters in nursing and was eventually asked to move into an administrator or management role. As she says, this was the fork in the road of her career, as that decision determined whether she would stay on the clinical side for the rest of her career or move into management. She chose management and quickly fell in love with it. She continued to move through the ranks, until she was eventually asked to help build a heart hospital. She took on the project with excitement but it was unfortunately put on hold. While she was disappointed, Yvette took it in stride and went back to work. 

A little while later, however, she received a phone call from the President of Edward hospital saying she had been recommended as someone who could help them build their own Heart Hospital. The catch, however, was that it was a major risk because Edward didn’t even have the proper paperwork in place yet. But, Yvette once again let her interests and passion lead the way and made the leap. It worked out, as she eventually helped build that Heart Hospital and navigated across the organization, taking on various roles over the years. She was so successful, that she was tapped on the shoulder to be groomed to eventually take over as President of the entire hospital. 

A few years back, Yvette officially landed that position and is now living out her Dream Vocation on a daily basis. As she herself says, she loves coming to work everyday. 

Listen in to hear this empowering story of a strong career woman pursuing her passions over a successful and fulfilling career. 

Quick note, I’m working through some audio issues as I try to optimize the tools and recording platform I use, so the audio is certainly not “pro level” right now. I know about careers 

but podcast production is a whole other world so while the content is strong, please bare with me as I continue to try to get the audio right. 

In this episode we speak with Jenna Carosio, ultramarathon and triathlon coach. I met Jenna when I was entering the ultramarathon world a few months back and looking for a coach. She did an awesome job and guided me through my first 50 mile race. But much more interesting than anything I did, was the fact that Jenna was in the middle of taking the leap from the world of construction management to living out her dream of coaching athletes full time. 

Like many of us, Jenna originally took the traditional route of going to college and taking a safe job in an industry that seemed to offer good pay, benefits and growth. But, also like many of us, Jenna quickly realized that her career didn’t fulfill her. She was simply going through the motions and dreading the daily monotony of her job. 

As a college soccer player and overall great athlete, Jenna was always drawn to fitness. Partially to scratch that athletic itch and partially to escape her unfulfilling job, Jenna began competing in endurance races and quickly fell in love with the sport. Over the years she coached people as a hobby of sorts but it was a conversation with her fiancee that made her realize she could turn her hobby into a career. With that, Jenna worked diligently to build her business, to the point that she was able to eventually leave her job in construction management and fulfill her dream of coaching athletes full time. 

Jenna is a perfect example of turning your passion into a career and not letting society place limits on you. And of course in addition to being an entrepreneur, she’s a badass athlete, having completed such famous races as the 100 mile Leadville run and Iron Man in Kona. 

Check out the interview and enjoy Jenna’s story. Perhaps it will spark you to think how you may be able to turn your passion into a career. 

In this episode we speak with Ryan Gareis, professional women’s soccer player with the Houston Dash. This was an exciting episode for me because 3 of my 4 kids play soccer, so this was like interviewing one of their heroes!

Ryan’s path from club soccer to college and eventually to the pros shows what hard work can lead to. While she was blessed with natural athleticism, Ryan discovered at a young age that it’s the extra work you put in that separates the good from the great. This hard work earned her a college scholarship when she was just 15 years old to eventually play at South Carolina, one of the top women’s programs in college soccer. But Ryan didn’t rest on her laurels once she received the scholarship. In fact, as you’ll hear from her in the interview, it only made her work harder because she wanted to be a top player at the next level. And that she did, as Ryan started her freshmen year and went on to have an amazing college career, including an SEC championship. Upon graduation, Ryan fulfilled her dream of becoming a professional soccer player when she was drafted by the Houston Dash of the NWSL. 

In the three years since being drafted, Ryan has appeared in over 25 matches for the Dash and signed a 3 year contract extension prior to the 2023 season. And, proving what a badass woman she is, she had a baby just a few days after our interview in early May and said how excited she is to get back to live games by September! That’s toughness right there!

I hope you enjoy the episode and Ryan’s story!