The Graduate at Work

“What are the odds you’d open your refrigerator door and find a Zombie in there, knitting socks? The odds are about the same that a touchy-feely, language-orientated person like me would end up as a professor of engineering.” Prof. Barbara Oakley

In this episode Jai explores the story of Prof. Barbara Oakley who went from hating math and science to forging a career in it. Jay talks about what a new graduate can learn from Prof. Oakley's story.

Link to book, A Mind for Numbers: https://tinyurl.com/y3lg3qte

Website: www.thegraduateatwork.com

Today I have the privilege of talking to Moussa Mikhail

Moussa joined the military straight after high school where he joined the Submarine force. Of the 4 years in the force, he spent 2 years underwater.

What can a recent college graduate learn from Moussa’s experience?

To spend months underwater, confined in a small space, is incredibly difficult. I consider it the ultimate form of grunt work. To succeed in such an environment requires grit, mental toughness, and the correct mindset.

Office workers can learn so much from military experience.

Moussa’s mission now is to dedicate the rest of his life to is to spread the principles of self-mastery, helping others improve their quality of life, achieve their highest potential, and let their gifts be received by the world. Helping people on their journey to master the mind, body, spirit, and finances.

Moussa has his own podcast called The Conqueror Approach. Definitely check it out.

Moussa's podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conqueror-approach/id1536292249

Jai's LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolandi-gevers/

Website:

www.thegraduateatwork.com

Jai shares two different mindsets related to ownership and the way that those with a passive mindset interact with their careers versus those with an active mindset.

The Passive Mindset:

• Thinking the world happens to you.

The Active Mindset:

• Plays with the hand your dealt.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “It's not about the hand your dealt, it's what you do with them."

Recommended Resource:

https://amzn.to/3hXnnGG

Want more information from The Graduate at Work?

thegraduateatwork.com

Today I have the privilege of talking to Nishita Sinha.

Nishita is a software development manager at Amazon Alexa. She started her career at Microsoft in India and eventually found her way to Amazon Alexa in Massachusetts.

She tells us about her journey, what her first job was like and what she has learnt along the way. She explains how the working world felt different to school to her. Nishita discusses why she decided to do a master’s degree and how it helped her. She also works closely with recent college graduates and shares her advice to them.

Hearing other people’s stories is so useful to help you know what to expect. It is interesting to see the challenges people face and how they figure out during their career what they enjoy, what they are good at, what they are not so good at, and how they address those.

Nishita LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishitas/

Jai's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolandi-gevers/

Website: www.thegraduateatwork.com

“Wealth is not about having a lot of money; it's about having a lot of options.”

― Chris Rock

Jai reflects on a past interview with Nico Gevers and talks about the importance of preserving optionality.

Too few graduates make the decisions and investments necessary to be able to pivot properly and take advantage of incredible opportunities when they arise.

Key Takeaways:

1. Stay on top of your skills and at the cutting edge of your industry so that you can easily pivot in your career.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "Nothing is ever set in stone in our careers."

Want more information from The Graduate at Work?

thegraduateatwork.com

Each of us has a story to share, a mixture of lived experiences that give our existence shape and identity.

But in a world where we rely on screens and images for communication and self-expression, do we truly know how to tell our personal stories for actual connection and impact?

Dr. Dennis Rebelo is a professor at Roger Williams University and creator of the Peak Storytelling model, a research-based method for crafting the narrative of who you are, what drives you, and why.

The US Navy, CVS Health, and even NFL alumni have used Dr. Rebelo’s model for key communication events, career development, and more. Now he’s sharing those secrets to communicating effectively in his new book, Story Like You Mean It.

At the intersection of academic theory and practical experience, Dr. Rebelo shares insights on how to build and share life-work narratives with intention and purpose.

In this show, Jai speaks to Travis Chappell.

Travis is the podcast host of Build Your Network. If you have ever wondered how to meet the influential people in your industry, if you have ever been frustrated because you just aren't moving forward in your career as quickly as you thought you would, if you don't lack ambition or a thirst for learning, but just can't seem to get ahead, then look no further than the Build Your Network podcast.

Travis believes that who you know is more important than what you know and that purposeful and persistent networking is crucial to accomplishing your goals in any area of life. He has had the opportunity to interview moguls like Grant Cardone, Kevin Harrington, Molly Bloom, Jack Canfield, and many more.

In this episode, Travis speaks about his own life story and what podcasting has done for him.

Travis website: https://travischappell.com/

Jai's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolandi-gevers/

Website: www.thegraduateatwork.com

Today's episode is a repeat of a previous solo episode.

I believe that it is possible to change your mind about something you do not enjoy or even hate.

In today's episode, I share a story that shows it is possible.

Brandon’s sales career started at a young age, selling sugar mixed with Kool-aid packets to my neighborhood friends & classmates… He spent his high school years cleaning golf clubs, listening to business owners talk about their work. Deep down, he always knew that school wasn’t for him but, his mom pushed him to have a piece of paper to fall back on. He worked three jobs, pushed through college, and graduated with a degree in Finance.

He continued learning sales directly through Norwest Financial. There, he learned two major lessons: 1.) Accountability and direct sales were something that came naturally. 2.) problem solving was better than offering a customer what he thought they needed. After years of telling my wife what would be possible if he went out on his own, she told him to act on it or stop talking about it… He built his first company in 2011, partnered with a mortgage bank where he was one of 12 owners.

Over the following years, he learned about podcasting and masterminds. He knew that there were so many GURUS out there & he didn’t want the marketers to have an unfair advantage over the results leaders. He didn’t want someone with their last $500 to invest in the wrong coach, mastermind, event……so he created The Mastermind Effect podcast and The Success Finder. What is The Success Finder is a community for those looking to “Level Up” by gaining education, insight, and skills to better prepare you for professional and personal success.

I loved talking to Brandon, because, like me, he is a big believer in getting a coach from a young age.

Find Brandon at:

www.linkedin.com/in/brandonstraza/

Jai's LinkedIn Profile:

www.linkedin.com/in/jolandi-gevers/

Website:

www.thegraduateatwork.com

How do you go from failing your first year at college to landing a job at a prestigious consulting firm like the Boston Consulting Group?

Sunayna Bholah tells us her remarkable story of how she did exactly that.

Sunayna is a recent university graduate from the University of Cape Town who is now working at the Boston Consulting Group.

Having recently graduated the transition from college to the workplace is fresh in her mind. She also speaks to the challenges she has faced starting her first job remotely.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunayna-bholah-258108162/

Website: www.thegraduateatwork.com