Today, we are joined by Connor Lewis, who quickly realized during an internship that his career path to be an accountant was not for him. He fell in love with film making while producing content on social issues with Northeastern University Television. He was able to secure his first job with this skill set getting hired by the Predictive Index to make marketing videos. He proved the value of content to his company and was able to work his way up to lead the department.

During COVID, his role changed. They were no longer going into the office and he spent his days working from home and editing zoom videos. He no longer felt passionate about his work and was looking for a change. He began considering different options of quitting, going into social work, or going back to grad school. Connor worked up the courage to speak honestly with his manager about how he was feeling and his manager listened. They offered him the opportunity to shift his role into making documentaries. He started with a 3 minute documentary on “being understood at work” and hit the ground running from there.

Fast forward to present day and Connor became fascinated hearing about more and more colleagues trying quitting their jobs. He began reading articles about the data behind more people transitioning jobs than ever before. He pitched his company on getting on the forefront of this issue. Over the course of a month, Connor traveled to 10 different states and interviewed industry experts, people changing careers, and companies changing their company culture in the current environment. 

These conversations led to the documentary “Work on Trial” where Connor focuses on rethinking not only where, but also why and how people work. With the relationship changing between work and life, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate the two. Connor is on a mission to give people a language to talk about what they want from work. It truly is an amazing documentary and everything should check it out here!

Check out the conversation as we dive into the following:

• How his search for purpose in the workplace led him to film making
• How his friends and colleagues quitting their jobs inspired him to make a documentary
• How jobs are like a relationship with a friend, it is not going to work if it is not beneficial for both sides
• How during his interviews the concept of “being listened to” was the number one factor that would lead to a person staying at their job
• Why it is up to both the individual and the corporation to build community in the workplace

Listen to Connor share his story and get inspired with his amazing advice to people thinking about following a similar path.