The Graduate at Work

Luki is the author of Stuff I Wish I Knew Earlier – How to Unlock your career potential, podcast host of the companion podcast Stuff I Wish I Knew Earlier, and the founder of Focus.Inspired. At Focus.Inspired Luki teaches students and young professionals how career skills.

He launched the Youth Success Academy. An online learning course and community to share what you didn’t know you needed to know about jobs, careers, and life.

Luki's LinkedIn Profile:

www.linkedin.com/in/lukidanu/

Focus.Inspired Linktree:

https://linktr.ee/focusinspired

Jai's LinkedIn profile:

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

Jill Johnson is president and founder of Johnson Consulting Services – a management consulting firm specializing in strategy development. Her specialty is researching critical market forces and developing strategies to impact revenues.

She has personally impacted more than $4 billion dollars’ worth of decisions for clients located across the USA, as well as in Europe & Asia. Jill’s clients include a wide range of businesses and enterprises such as the renowned Mayo Clinic and the Salvation Army.

Jill has won numerous honors for her business acumen, leadership savvy, mentorship skills, and entrepreneurial successes. She has been inducted into two business halls of fame.

Jill is the author of the international award-winning books, Compounding Your Confidence and Market Forces. Her articles on business strategy have appeared in over 140 publications. She has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Money Magazine, Inc., Forbes, and Success. She is also a professional speaker.

I so enjoyed my conversation with Jill. She is clearly a very dynamic and successful lady. To me, her story shows the importance of excellence and paying attention to detail. Jill frequently mentors young professionals. Jill says it like it is which is a huge gift to the younger generation.

Jill's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jilljohnsonusa/

Link to book:

https://www.amazon.com/Compounding-Your-Confidence-Strategies-Opportunities/dp/0998423645

Jai's LinkedIn profile:

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

Website:

www.TheGraduateAtWork.com

I have the privilege of speaking to Denis Gianoutsos.

Denis is the CEO and Founder of Leading Change Partners. An organization that transforms business and leaders to lead a bigger game in a disruptive world. A highly respected International Facilitator and Executive Coach. He is the host of the Podcast, Leadership Is Changing.

Denis is a professional, with 30 years’ experience successfully working in the Business and Human Resource space. A strong leader and communicator that has the ability to articulate, connect and work with all levels of an organization.

He was the Global Delivery Lead, Executive Development and Top Talent programs for Hewlett Packard, a Fortune 20 company.

He is also the co-author of a book called ‘Secrets of Inspiring Leaders Exposed’ and currently writing another book on Leadership.

Denis LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisgianoutsos/

Leadership is Changing podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-is-changing/id1517844848

TGAW website:

www.thegraduateatwork.com

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

Today I am talking to Kris Holmes.

Kris Holmes a Best-Selling Author of Ignite Your Career! Strategies and Tactics to Unleash Your Potential. She is also an executive recruiter and partner at O’Connell Group, a leading executive search firm in consumer marketing and market research. With more than twenty-five years of experience, she is also a member of the Pinnacle Society, the premier consortium of industry-leading recruiters in North America.

Kris has counseled tens of thousands of candidates in setting goals and leveraging their strengths. Before shifting to recruiting, Kris worked for a decade in consumer marketing with major corporations like Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods, and Ralston Purina. She’s a graduate of Tufts University and has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern.

Having helped thousands of candidates find jobs, Kris has some extremely valuable insights to share with you and I am excited to share this conversation soon.

A reminder to share this show far and wide if you are enjoying it and benefiting from it.

Kris LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kris-holmes-966548/

Ignite your career: https://www.igniteyourcareerbook.com/

The Graduate at Work website: www.thegraduateatwork.com

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

Christine is the founder of Career Revolution and author of “Get There Faster: The no-nonsense, no-fluff guide to the career you want”. She is an innovator in the space of emerging leader development. As a former Talent Management Executive at Sony, Christine continues to focus her passion and research on empowering a new generation of employees to become the next generation of leaders.

Through learning programs implemented in clients like PlayStation, Hulu, and Dollar Shave Club, Christine continues to address the career development needs of today’s workforce. She is recognized as a leading expert in her field.

Listen to hear how a free internship really set her up for a successful career, what are some of the generational stereotypes in the workplace and how to navigate them. Christine talks about what she learned in closed-door meetings where performance and promotion discussions took place and why it is important for graduates to take ownership of their career development.

The conversation is packed with good advice and insight and I am excited to share it with you.

LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinedidonato/

CareerRev website: https://careerrev.com/

Link to Christine's book: https://www.amazon.com/Get-There-Faster-no-nonsense-no-fluff-ebook/dp/B08CP8XFH3

Wedsite: www.thegraduateatwork.com

Today I am sitting down to talk with Bobby Wayne.

For more than a decade, Bobby has been a hands-on software engineer and senior software manager for several top Boston companies including Localytics, Amazon Alexa, and PillPack, where his teams have delivered solutions to some of the most challenging technical problems. As an industry veteran, Bobby has developed expertise in distributed systems, data analysis and retrieval at scale, and data security. Bobby is passionate about developing leaders and building strong teams, all while delivering extraordinary results to customers.

Currently, Bobby is leading teams at PillPack (by Amazon Pharmacy) where his organization is responsible for all software that powers the fulfillment and delivery of medication to PillPack customers across the country.

Bobby has a lot of experience working directly with recent graduates. We talk about his journey from studying psychology to becoming a software engineer and how his degree helped him in the workplace. We also talk about the dangers of being a lone wolf and having the self-awareness to identify what is slowing you down in your career. It’s a conversation packed with good advice and I am excited to share it with you.

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

Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Justin has been working in the tech industry in Boston since 2013. He has a background in Data Engineering and Saas Business Applications, and is currently Vice President of Process Innovation and Analytics at CarGurus - a leading online car marketplace headquartered in Cambridge MA.

According to a colleague that used to work with Justin he is among the best and brightest IT professionals she has worked with. She goes on to say that Justin is strategic, intelligent, an extremely driven leader and that he is a true team player.

His energy and positive mindset come across clearly in the interview. Among the many things we talk about Justin introduces us to the concept of having margin within your job and how he used this concept to make the most of a potential terrible first job. He also shares the two things graduates can do to make the most of the first job.

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

Website: www.thegraduateatwork.com

Today is a rerun of my conversation with Brandon Birkmeyer.

Brandon is a personal branding coach who helps industry experts become content creators. He is a seasoned marketing strategist, an up-and-coming writer, author, speaker, podcaster, and business coach. For over 17 years, Brandon advised and directed brand strategy for top FORTUNE 100 companies including Apple, Coca-Cola, Walmart, and Wells Fargo. In 2018, he launched Brands On Brands, a marketing consulting firm based in Los Angeles, California. He also produces and hosts a top 100 marketing podcast called "Brands On Brands On Brands".

This is a must-listen conversation for people just starting their careers and who want to find out more about building a personal brand. We talk about how you can also start creating content.

Brandon's website: https://www.brandsonbrands.com/

Brandon's LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbirkmeyer/

Jai's website:

www.thegraduateatwork.com

Jai's LinkedIn profile:

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

Today I have the privilege of talking to Nathan George.

Just a reminder that I am currently doing a series of interview with graduates that started their own business soon after graduating. We started last week with Aman’s story.

While many of you are employed, you might have thought about starting your own business one day. I also want to highlight the skills you learn when starting a business and how you can find a way to learn those skills even if you are employed.

Nathan is the Founder of Void Robotics.

After working at two different start-ups, Nathan decided to start his own company.

Void Robotics transforms robotics ideas into a revenue-generating machine through custom solutions and a robot-generic plug-and-play navigation product. The company has done many projects, from fetching tennis balls to autonomously trimming plants to automating navigation for large vehicles.

Nathan and I talked about the difference between school and the working world and what he did to help him prepare for his career, what advice he has for students in looking for internships, and the types of interns he has worked with. Nathan is also passionate about motivating people to start a side project to gain the skills they need.

Nathan's LinkedIn Profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-george-914b1360/

Jai's LinkedIn Profile

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

Website:

www.thegraduateatwork.com

In this episode, Jai shares everything she learned from her latest side project and why you should consider doing your own side project.

Website link to side project:

https://twentytwentycancelled.squarespace.com/

Jay's email address:

[email protected]

Jai's LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/notifications/