Wait, You Get Paid For That?

Zach Beck spent 12 years in retail management before taking his career into an entirely different world of multimillion dollar sales, corporate strategy, and operations.

In this episode, Zach shares what customers never see behind the scenes of a major retail store, including wild shoplifting stories, loss prevention, managing an entire store, and watching theft evolve from an occasional problem into something happening several times a day.

Then we follow his jump into the mattress industry, where Zach managed major accounts, worked on deals worth millions of dollars, navigated COVID supply chain problems, and eventually moved into a corporate strategy role during a period of repeated layoffs.

We also talk about what getting laid off actually feels like, corporate spending, servant leadership, career pivots, AI and the future of college, skilled trades, communication, faith, and why Zach believes people put far too much importance on job titles.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Zach’s career today
05:00 Graduating high school early
09:00 His original career plan
13:00 Starting a career during the 2008 crash
18:00 Beginning 12 years in retail
27:00 Shoplifting and loss prevention
32:00 A manager gets hit by a shoplifter’s car
33:00 The thief who shattered his ankle
38:00 What shoppers never see
42:00 Leaving retail
43:00 Entering the mattress industry
46:00 How multimillion dollar deals work
48:00 COVID and supply chain problems
49:00 Moving into corporate strategy
51:00 Experiencing corporate layoffs
53:00 Layoffs and $150K expense accounts
55:00 The next career pivot
58:00 Servant leadership
1:00:00 AI, college and the future of work
1:04:00 The skills young professionals really need
1:07:00 Faith and career decisions
1:09:00 Why titles don’t matter

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What actually happens behind the scenes every time you fly?

In this episode of Wait, You Get Paid For That?, I sit down with Taika Langi, a Southwest Airlines ramp agent with more than a decade of experience in the airline industry.

Taika’s path into aviation was not planned.

He grew up in Hawaii, later moved to Utah, studied civil engineering at the University of Utah and got within about 30 credits of finishing his degree before deciding he wanted something different. That decision eventually led him into the airline industry.

Since then, he has worked on the ramp for SkyWest, United and Southwest.

At one point, he even worked for United and Southwest at the same time for almost a year.

In this conversation, Taika takes us behind the scenes of the airport and explains what ramp agents actually do.

We talk about how planes are turned between flights, how luggage moves from the ticket counter to the aircraft, how ramp workers guide planes into the gate, what happens during pushback and what passengers rarely get to see.

Taika says some aircraft can be turned in roughly 35 to 45 minutes.

We also talk about seniority, union life, overtime, working outside in extreme weather and some of the injuries that can happen on the ramp.

Taika shares that he once worked about 56 hours straight and typically averages around 80 hours a week because he chooses to pick up significant overtime.

Then we get into some of the benefits of working for an airline.

Taika explains how standby travel works for him and his family, how Southwest travel benefits work from his experience and why seniority can make such a big difference in your schedule and vacation choices.

We also talk about broken luggage, airport injuries, management challenges, the people who make the job enjoyable and whether robotics could eventually change what ramp agents do.

If you have ever looked out the window of an airplane and wondered what is happening on the ground below you, this conversation gives you a look into that world.

🎙️ Wait, You Get Paid For That?

Real people. Real careers. Real journeys.

00:00 Coming Up

01:20 Meet Taika Langi

03:00 Growing Up in Hawaii

07:00 Studying Civil Engineering

08:00 Leaving College Before Graduation

12:00 Starting at United Airlines

13:00 Working for Two Airlines at Once

20:00 What a Ramp Agent Actually Does

24:00 What Happens to Your Checked Bag

31:00 Union Life and Seniority

34:00 Working a 56 Hour Shift

36:00 Guiding an Airplane Into the Gate

40:00 Talking to Pilots

43:00 Broken Luggage and Lost Clothes

44:00 Ramp Injuries

47:00 The Toughest Part of the Job

49:00 Airline Travel Benefits

50:00 Retirement Benefits

55:00 Attendance and Job Security

57:00 What He Wishes He Did Differently

58:00 Why the People Matter

59:00 The Future of Ramp Work

01:01:00 A Travel Tip for Parents

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How does someone go from nearly failing high school to working in nuclear engineering?

In this episode of Wait, You Get Paid For That?, I sit down with Rob Rowan, a nuclear criticality safety analyst and former nuclear fuels engineer, to talk about the path that took him from struggling in school to one of the most specialized areas of engineering.

Rob shares how he turned things around academically, joined the military, started at community college, discovered engineering, and eventually found his way into nuclear science.

We also break down what nuclear power actually is, how nuclear fission creates electricity, what “critical” means in nuclear engineering, what comes out of nuclear cooling towers, and what Rob actually does for a living.

At one point, he describes his job like this:

“High level, I help build subcritical nuclear reactors.”

We also get into corporate culture, career pivots, advice for future engineers, AI-driven electricity demand, and Rob’s thoughts on where nuclear energy could go next.

If you’ve ever wondered what a nuclear engineer actually does, or how someone ends up in a career like this, this episode is for you.

🎙️ Wait, You Get Paid For That?
Real people. Real careers. Real journeys.

Stay curious, because you never know what you might get paid for.

WATCH & FOLLOW

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CONNECT WITH ROB

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-r-5908a563

Johnny Rodriguez thought he was going to become a neuroscientist.

Then he failed chemistry three times.

Meanwhile, the thing he was doing on the side for fun was quietly becoming his actual career.

Johnny taught himself technology, built websites, started businesses and eventually went from charging $100 for a website to working on projects worth hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars.

Today, Johnny is the Chief Innovation Officer at Fresh Consulting, where he works across artificial intelligence, extended reality, design, development and emerging technology.

In this episode, we talk about the failures and unexpected turns that shaped his career, what it takes to teach yourself new skills, imposter syndrome, becoming an expert without feeling like one, AI and the future of work, how he reached a chief level position and why he believes curiosity has been one of the biggest advantages of his career.

We also get into money.

Johnny explains how executive compensation can evolve beyond salary into bonuses and equity, and why ownership became increasingly important to him as his impact on the business grew.

Later, Johnny takes us inside some of the AI technology he is experimenting with today, including an AI system he is building into what he describes as a kind of personal “mini Jarvis” that can research, create, manage tasks, and take action on his behalf.

And toward the end, the conversation becomes more personal.

Johnny talks about faith, stepping into the unknown and reminding himself not to rely only on his own ability when success starts to make it easy to believe you are the smartest person in the room.

His advice is simple:

Stay curious.

Experiment with new technology. Play with things you do not fully understand yet. The things you explore today may become the skills that shape your career tomorrow.

🎙️ Wait, You Get Paid For That?

Real people. Real careers. Real journeys.

LinkedIn

TikTok @johnnyrodriguezxr

YouTube: @waityougetpaidforthat
Instagram: @waityougetpaidforthat
TikTok: @waityougetpaidforthat
All platforms: linktr.ee/waityougetpaidforthat

00:00 Meet Johnny Rodriguez
01:00 What a Chief Innovation Officer does
07:00 Discovering technology
18:00 Failing chemistry three times
19:00 Starting a business in college
23:00 Innovate or die
32:00 Selling $100 websites
36:00 Joining Fresh Consulting
38:00 Million dollar projects and imposter syndrome
45:00 AI changes everything
46:00 Extended reality
54:00 Discovering ChatGPT
59:00 Understanding generative AI
01:07:00 The future of AI
01:10:00 Becoming Chief Innovation Officer
01:13:00 Salary, bonuses and equity
01:15:00 Building a personal AI assistant
01:20:00 What excites Johnny today
01:22:00 Faith and the unknown
01:25:00 Stay curious