On today’s Edge of Excellence show, we have Payson Maydew who shares with us his thoughts on time management and positive mindset. 

We start this show with Payson sharing what excellence means to him. You will learn that the path to success is laden with adversity, and the right mindset can help you overcome your biggest challenges.

Even in high school, Payson liked to keep busy as he pursued a versatile range of interests like sports, theatre, and music. And he continued to pursue his different passions even after starting his CollegeWorks internship. 

Payson shares his effective time-blocking technique where he breaks down his schedule into small 10-minute chunks. Using his technique, Payson is able to do justice to all his commitments while keeping his stress in check. 

In the last segment of the show, Payson gives us a peek into his life as an accountant at Deloitte. Apart from honing his number-crunching skills, Payson shares how he strives to understand the big picture. We also talk a bit about how covid has impacted him and his organization as a whole.

Enjoy! 

What You Will Learn In This Show

• Effective time management strategies

Resources

CollegeWorks Website

Edge Of Excellence Bundle

Edge Of Excellence Is Brought To You By College Works Painting Internship

To learn more: https://www.collegeworks.com/students-home-page/

Today’s show is about the importance of building relationships.

You will get a short reminder as to WHY relationships are foundational to a successful life. Additionally, you will also learn the HOW as Mike shares three critical steps to help you build great relationships.

If you are keen on leaving behind a powerful legacy, tuning in to today’s show will give you some much-needed inspiration.

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn In This Show

• The three critical steps for building great relationships

Resources

CollegeWorks Website

Edge Of Excellence Bundle

Edge Of Excellence Is Brought To You By College Works Painting Internship

To learn more: https://www.collegeworks.com/students-home-page/

On today’s show of the Edge of Excellence podcast, we interview second lieutenant, Marine Corps, Kyle Emerick who shares with us thoughts on excellence, time management, and focus. 

For Kyle, achieving excellence is about doing well in all facets of his life. He shares with us the 5F’s which are helping him lead a well-balanced life.

Back in high school, Kyle was drinking and partying way too much. However, in college, he came in touch with his mentor who helped him sober up and set his life in order. 

Kyle was keen to separate himself from the crowd with a meaningful internship. And impressed by his incredible peers and the rigorous hiring process, Kyle chose College Works. In this segment, he shares how the internship and real-world experience that came along with it catapulted him ahead of the competition.

Currently, Kyle is a second lieutenant with the Marine Corps. He is also working on getting his engineering degree alongside. You will learn how time management and prioritization can fast-track your success in this segment of the show.

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn In This Show

• How an internship with real-world experience can be your differentiating factor

Resources

CollegeWorks Website

Edge Of Excellence Bundle

Edge Of Excellence Is Brought To You By College Works Painting Internship

To learn more: https://www.collegeworks.com/students-home-page/

On today’s show, you will learn some actionable, common-sense stress management tips so that you can push through unhindered on the path of excellence. 

While stress is a constant fixture in our lives, a perspective shift can help us hone in on the real stresses that truly merit our attention. Doing so will allow us to focus, build systems, and find solutions that alleviate our anxiety.

We share some easy-to-implement exercises to help you out in today’s show.

Enjoy! 

What You Will Learn In This Show

• Why stress is inevitable when you are pursuing excellence

Resources

The Fall of the Human Intellect

Art of Happiness

CollegeWorks Website

Edge Of Excellence Bundle

Edge Of Excellence Is Brought To You By College Works Painting Internship

To learn more: https://www.collegeworks.com/students-home-page/

Ever wondered how the right internship can steer you towards success?

In today’s show, Matt interviews Marissa Wiegand, Budget Accountant, Caterpillar Inc. who shares with us her thoughts on excellence, relationships, and the importance of making sacrifices.

Back in high-school, Marissa was the typical overachiever with a 4.0 GPA. However, once she started college, she was no longer a “big fish in a small pond”, and found herself out of sorts for the first semester. Admittedly, Marissa was not living up to the high standards of excellence that she had set for herself.

This is when she found CollegeWorks. 

Marissa went all out to ensure that her CollegeWorks internship was a success. She talks about sacrificing her social life and spending hours knocking on stranger’s doors. Her then-boyfriend and now husband even drove Marissa around to help her out.

Listeners will learn how this experience taught twenty-year-old Marissa to say yes to more things. And how she got the confidence and the push to join other student organizations.

What’s more, her internship helped her secure a job at Caterpillar upon graduation. Marissa’s experience helped her stand out among a sea of candidates, and she shares how the interviewer was left dumbfounded once they heard what all she had done at CollegeWorks. 

Today, Marissa manages a $200 million budget at Caterpillar. Other than her accounting and analytical skills, she reveals how building great relationships have helped her quickly rise through the corporate ranks.  

Tune in to get inspired!

What You Will Learn In This Show

Resources

CollegeWorks

Edge Of Excellence Is Brought To You By College Works Painting Internship

To learn more: https://www.collegeworks.com/students-home-page/

On today’s show, we interview Darin Anderson, Chairman, and CEO, Salas O’Brien who shares with us his distilled wisdom on excellence, perseverance, and self-belief.  You will also get some practical financial tips as Darin espouses the benefits of putting up with short-term pains for long-term gains.

Growing up, admittedly, Darin wasn’t exceptional in academics or sports. And he only discovered himself in college. 

When Darin entered college, he was intensely aware that his parents had limited means. And he did not want them to take on extra debt. So, he had to make his own share of sacrifices as he took the harder right and set out to make the life of dreams for himself.

Darin first took up the engineering route but then decided to pivot and get his CPA. While working at PWC, Darin got an opportunity to learn about industry best practices that set the tone for an immensely successful career.

At the age of 25, Darin was appointed the CFO of an architectural engineering firm. He went on to have some immensely successful stints at the Kleinfelder and ABM industries.

Today, as a business leader at the helm of a large consulting firm, Darin talks about the importance of constantly benchmarking yourself against your peers. We also discuss some critical traits that enable great leaders to build trust and find buy-in.

Enjoy! 

What You Will Learn In this Show

• Understanding excellence and how to level up by benchmarking yourself against your peers

Resources

Darin’s LinkedIn

CollegeWorks Website

Edge Of Excellence Bundle

CollegeWorks

Edge Of Excellence Is Brought To You By College Works Painting Internship

To learn more: https://www.collegeworks.com/students-home-page/

In today’s show, we interview 22-year-old Jack Kratcha who reveals how he has managed to earn $220K in his three years at College Works.

Jack shares his distilled wisdom on excellence, taking the path less trodden, and the perks of being your own boss.

Back in high school, Jack was great at sports and academics. But, college at Madison proved to be a different ball game, as being in the midst of all 4.0 GPA students overwhelmed him. Being introverted in nature did not help at all, and Jack withdrew into a shell.

This is when he discovered CollegeWorks. 

Initially, his peers ridiculed him for his unconventional choice. But this did not shake Jack's conviction. And he chucked his $9/hour job to work as a student painter and manager. 

Today, Jack’s persistence has paid off big time.

While his classmates are finding the going difficult in the wake of covid, Jack has earned $220K over the past three years. 

Learn how not making the “normal choices” paid off big time for Jack. Enjoy!

What You Will Learn In This Show

• Finding the courage to take the path less trodden

Resources

CollegeWorks Website

Edge Of Excellence Bundle

Edge Of Excellence Is Brought To You By College Works Painting Internship

To learn more: https://www.collegeworks.com/students-home-page/

What do successful business leaders do differently? What is the “secret sauce” that enables them to outperform the competition again and again?

In today’s show of The Excel Today podcast, we interview Rob Sprong, President, KeenView, and CollegeWorks who shares what excellence means to him. He reveals his four main excellence drivers and shares why it is important to constantly benchmark yourself against your high-performing peers.  

Early on in his story, Rob realized the importance of putting his absolute best self forward. Playing baseball and football in high school and college helped Rob develop his incredible work engine. 

Additionally, at UC, San Diego, Rob set up a thriving tutoring business before he discovered College Works. College Works played a huge role in helping Rob discover his path to being an accomplished businessman as he successfully managed painting projects worth thousands of dollars.

As the President of Keenview, Rob and his team help businesses assess and address internal vulnerabilities. Particularly, he talks a great deal about what it takes to develop and nurture dream vendors who move the needle forward.

Other topics discussed in today’s show include how to manage the challenges of working from home, and tips for getting into the right headspace. 

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn In This Show

• The four factors of excellence

Resources

KeenView

CollegeWorks Website

Edge Of Excellence Bundle

Edge Of Excellence Is Brought To You By College Works Painting Internship

To learn more: https://www.collegeworks.com/students-home-page/

Today’s show is about time management. If you are shooting for excellence in your personal and professional life, you won’t get to your end goal without prioritization and time management.

On today’s show, you will learn why you need to work on the tasks that are “important but not yet urgent”.  Doing so will bring down your stress levels while boosting your output levels.

Planning for fun and pre-work are two other important concepts that we discuss on today’s show. 

If you are regularly putting in 100-hour weeks, are jumping from one deadline to the next, and taking no time out for yourself, you WILL get burnt out sooner or later. 

Likewise, if you are not factoring in the time and effort required for pre-work, you will miss your targets again and again.  

Matthew also shares some excellent practical tips to help you out including weekly reviews, quarterly plans, and time-blocking techniques.

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn In This Show

• Why you should take up tasks that are important but not yet urgent

Resources

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

College Works YouTube Channel

CollegeWorks Website

Edge Of Excellence Bundle

Edge Of Excellence Is Brought To You By College Works Painting Internship

To learn more: https://www.collegeworks.com/students-home-page/

Ever wondered how the Kobe Bryant’s, Tom Brady’s, and Michael Jordan’s of the world stay on the top of their game? 

On today’s show, we interview the incredible Omar Zarabi, Founder and CEO, Port53 who shares with us his wisdom on excellence, passion, and goal-setting. 

As a 4-year-old kid from Afghanistan who did not know a word of English, Omar was constantly bullied by his classmates. 

And when you are picked on for being different, one of the two things can happen - either you withdraw into a shell. Or, like, Omar, you grow up with a chip on your shoulder.

Determined to prove everyone wrong, Omar was driven to excel from a very young age. So, needless to say, he was great in sports and academics in high school. He graduated with a degree in Economics from UC Davis and took up the CollegeWorks internship at this juncture.

Upon graduation, he got a sales position at OpenDNS (which was later acquired by Cisco). Alongside, he also started his first entrepreneurial venture, BlueBoard. Currently, Omar is the Founder and CEO of the cyber-security firm, Port53.

A hugely successful entrepreneur, Omar is driven by his passion and his thirst for excellence.  Learn how a firm commitment to above-average goals can motivate you to put your best self forward. And how you can stoke your passion in constant pursuit of excellence.

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn In This Show

• How to constantly reset the bar higher and higher

Resources

College Works

Edge Of Excellence Is Brought To You By College Works Painting Internship

To learn more: https://www.collegeworks.com/students-home-page/