The Grist Mill

In this podcast, Ken recaps the issues for college graduate hiring highlighted in a recent CNBC article from October 3, 2025.   He then provides four calls to action for young professionals in that demographic.  These are:

1) Try to double major.  Those are ways to show motivation and that you are a people capable of applying multiple levels of knowledge and skills to business problems.

2) Upskill.  Take online classes, get badges, share them with others, learn, learn, learn.  Obviously Ken is all about technology but learning about anything is good.

3) Network.   Meet as many people as possible.  Go to events, use social media, contact business associates of your friends and family.   Have a good elevator speech about your career for the times you can deliver it.

4) Internships / Volunteer.   Take advantage of as many opportunities as possible to work with people, acquire skills, work on teams, help people, solve problems in a collaborative manner.  The more of this you do, the better!

Wrapup:  The more of these things you can do, the more employable you'll be!  

In this episode, Ken discussed the importance of making a strong first impression in business and in life.  Two examples are cited -- one which is an opportunity for improvement based on a recent hospital visit and a second which was a surprisingly exceptional first impression made at a recent church event.   The episode closes with a reminder to always focus on putting your best self forward during instances you are meeting individuals for the time.

In today's episode, Ken reviews some strategies for getting to know a new group of professionals in meetings.   Tactics like how to learn names quickly, referring to individuals by name, being excited to be where you are, opening yourself up a bit personally and being an active listener to create connections and bonds, and being willing to take the time to work with and help others when asked is all part of the equation to develop awesome working relationships with those around you.   

Episode 7 speaks to the challenges a class faced in installing Windsurf and related software for a vibe coding project.   Some were successful -- others less so -- but what was amazing was all the effort students put into the project.   They used YouTube, LinkedIn Learning, AI, Windsurf documentation and were really resourceful in trying to learning the software. 

This followed exercises on MURF.AI and Power BI and lots of other technologies are soon to come -- it's great to see everyone learning so many hands-on skills.

The lead-in music for this podcast is "The Adventure" by Angels & Airwaves -- perfect track given the adventure the students are on in the class!  

Episode 6 provides a quick recap of a lecture Ken recently offered on gig economy / side hustle opportunities for students and professionals - and how to use specific tech to enable one's goals in this area.  The main elements of the podcast are:

CONCEPT

1. Be Inspired and Act with Urgency

TECHNOLOGIES

2. Wyzant – Tutoring Platform

3. Upwork – Freelance Marketplace

4. Substack – Writing and Brand-Building

5. WordPress – Website and Blog Platform

There's also an awesome musical introduction by Angels and Airwaves!  Enjoy the episode.  

In this episode, Ken shares the experience of finding a 19 year-old iPod, then finding the power chord for it (which was amazing), and what he discovered when scanning the music on the device -- a rediscovery of one of his favorite bands, Angels & Airwaves,  from long, long ago.   

One of the songs, "The Adventure” is widely considered one of Angels & Airwaves’ most popular and iconic songs.  It was the lead single from their debut album We Don’t Need to Whisper (2006).  The song reached the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Top 5 and got significant airplay on alternative rock radio.

Its uplifting, spacey sound and hopeful lyrics made it a signature track for the band.  Check it out -- it's an awesome track -- hope you like it as much as we do.    

Episode 4 - Grist Mill Podcast is a short podcast sharing a few tips on various tech tools and approaches for doing podcasts, this one was recording on Podbean with my cell phone.

The foundation of today’s episode is a brief take on some key issues in business ethics — the kinds of principles that can make or break careers, companies, and other business associations.