ExOilfield Resource

The Bearded Baker, Allan Hursig, joined the podcast in February of 2021 to discuss his transition out of oil and gas and into entrepreneurship.  Check out Allan’s products: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeardedbakertx/ Website: https://thebeardedbakertx.com/ After his layoff from the oil business, Allan picked up baking as a hobby by watching YouTube & Food Network shows. He started off baking and selling his (now famous) custom sugar cookies to friends and family. Over the course of a few years, he outgrew the kitchen in his house and recently opened his own store in the Heights neighborhood of Houston, TX. He’s expanded his offering into other types of cookies and cakes. But his #1 seller is still the one-of-a-kind, delicious sugar cookies.  

This week, we’re blasting off! Jonathan Kemp joins us to share his childhood dream of working in Mission Control at NASA in Houston, TX. His journey started as a Process Engineer in oil and gas before pivoting to the Space Industry in the Space City.  With famous tech billionaires personally funding their own companies and SpaceX’s recent ISS shuttle mission, the space industry is booming. And it’s exciting to hear about Jonathan’s journey into the industry and his current responsibilities on the International Space Station (ISS). Jonathan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-kemp-a9094518/ Recommended Resources:Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns GoodwinFlight by Chris Craft (Flight Director for Mercury missions)Trust the team Pale Blue Pot by Carl Sagan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO5FwsblpT8)President JFK's Rice Speech (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZyRbnpGyzQ) “... But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard...“ - John F. Kennedy

Ryan Torregrossa joins us to explain his journey transitioning from oil and gas landman to renewables landman.Ryan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-torregrossa/Ryan’s Music & Finance blog: https://www.covercalled.com/Need private piano or guitar lessons (video or in-person)? ryan.torregrossa@gmail.com Ryan shares his career journey from Jazz & Music major to Landman in oil and gas, to getting his professional MBA degree, his exit of the industry, and on through his successful transition into the land and legal team at RWE Renewables. Ryan’s passion for music continues to this day and I was impressed by the abundance of personal stories and professional lessons to learn from his journey.We discussed:Energy Management (Petroleum Land Management & Energy Commerce) degreesGetting his Masters of Business Administration at University of Houston (Professional program)Comparing Land jobs in Oil & Gas and RenewablesHow oil and gas is viewed from by renewable professions from different regionsUnderstanding what land / legal departments are like at Renewable companiesReflections on “soul searching” and finding your path after layoffsImportance of hobbies and not letting your career define youHow to find renewables jobsDo you know  someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email Reed@ExOilfield.com-------------Was the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review.

Ana Peternell joins the podcast to discuss her transition from a 17-year career as a Petrophysicist expert to full-time real estate investor and agent as the leader of Peternell Property Group in the Houston, TX metro. “Regardless of how awesome my oil and gas career was... I never received a thank you. And now (in Real Estate) I receive ‘Thank You’s every day.”If you have any questions regarding Houston area real estate - investments, residential, or commercial. Ana is happy to discuss on these platforms.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-peternell-903a8656/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeternellProperties/Email: Ana.Peternell@Kw.comMobile: 832-913-9624Ana began her professional career at Schlumberger after graduating with her B.S. and M.S. in Control Engineering in Mexico. Working at Schlumberger as a Petrophysicist Champion and Formation Evaluation tool specialist was rewarding and lucrative. It allowed Ana to do what she loved, being a specialist and having a deep understanding of controls and tools to help clients gather data and make the best decisions.Ana came to the United States in 2006. She bought her first 2 U.S. properties in ‘06 & ‘07 but was not satisfied with service she received when buying these. She became curious about real estate and the transactions and liked that REAL ESTATE IS A GAME. It's a negotiation game. It's a transaction game. Ana Got hooked on the process of buying, renting, building equity, and selling. She describes her strategy as “buy & hold” investments with her business partner.In 2015, Ana prepared to go full time into real estate as the oil and gas commodity prices tumbled. This would be her “plan A” if she was impacted by layoffs, and sure enough it happened in 2016 and her new career going all in on real estate began.It's easy to think that oil and gas is so different from real estate or building construction... but Ana reminded me that it really isn't. Both industries involve multi-disciplinary teams managing large capital projects and seeking returns for investors. As the U.S. leader of LWD tools & Petrophysics, she was always on a team: research, technicians, engineering, field workers, clients, data services. Many of these skills carry over into real estate.Learnings from Ana's first (residential) real estate deal... When you find a "good deal". You must first question... why is this such a "good deal" Real estate can be an emotional transaction. Don't be emotional in your decision - VERY IMPORTANT. Use the data from due diligence to make your decisions. Why is this a “good deal”? do your due diligence. Examples: Are there problems with the location? Floodplain? Numbers can be misleading (vacancy rate, rents, repairs, improvements needed, etc)Mistake Ana learned from her experienceUsing leverage (the money of others) to buy real estate (versus all cash) Paid all cash on her first US real estate deal. This is a common Mexican cultural trait because there’s a lot of pride in paying in cash. In the US, most home buyers use credit score and debt for houses to leverage a small amount of "down payment" and debt to buy your house. It was important to use other people’s money to fund her projects moving forwardWhen investors or homebuyers reach out to Ana: She says... let's sit down and talk about what you're goals are Let's use the example that someone has saved $80,000 and wants to aggressively find a house to rent for $1,000/month Just because you can afford the house doesn't mean that you should buy it. Really consider the types of tenants you would have and the amount of work it takes to make the money There might be other investments and properties where you could leverage the $80k, and find a $200k property with potentially better tenants and less headache for a similar return. Are you aggressive, are you conservative, what are your goals? Do you want to spend a LOT of time on tenants, do you want to use a management company.What are some interesting real estate investments that someone might look to make their first deal?Look at something like Warehouse or Storage, where there aren't a lot of specifications on materials used on the build and the renters have a lot of flexibility in the useRenters can use it to for shipping, freight, store front with storage, construction, etcSome thoughts on being a Real Estate agent High turnover in the profession: About 80% atrition rate in the first year of a real estate careerYou must differentiate yourself. There are over 35,000 real agents in HoustonIt’s a relationship business.  It's really easy to be "just a person" in the real estate agent world. So competitive and many others do the same thing that you doThe work schedule is NOT FLEXIBLE. You must have discipline to be successfulIt’s the kind of job where you have to get out of your comfort zone EVERY DAY As a technical advisor at Schlumberger... she was very focused on customers... but this is a different storyCold calling and starting conversations with people that you don't know is very different from her past customer experiencesBe ready to call people you've never met Be ready to go knock on stranger's doorsBe ready to be humbleReal Estate can have pay NO CEILING…if you hustle, work hard, do the right things, and build the right relationships - you can reach very high incomes!Your image is very importantTime Management with AnaOn Sunday she writes down what are my objectives for the weekIdentifies what are the smaller activities that I need to do to achieve these objectivesprioritize family and "block" off time for familyOn life & businessBeing an entrepreneur DOESN'T have to be your whole lifeYour job is a way to design your life. But it doesn't have to be your whole life.You can design your job around your life.If you're laid off. Call people and ask if they will have a zoom call, a quick chat or coffee. 1 zoom or coffee each day. Look for opportunities from people that know you and trust you. Maybe consider your previous job.LOOK FOR APPOINTMENTS EVERY DAY.Start with your inner circle (people you know) and then move to the outer circle (FB / LInkedIN groups /. cold calls)It's AMAZING how much information we give away for free in the social media groups (specifically)What's something that people in oil and gas may not understand about Real Estate? It's a numbers game… you must be patient and find the best deals possible. Don’t be emotional.Accountability is very important. Look into a coach or mentor. Shadow folks that have been doing the work for a long time and work with them until you feel confident doing it on your ownTracking numbers is very important. When people are wealthy... they might get lazy and NOT track your numbers.  "track your personal numbers" - look at your expenses weekly and monthly (mortgage, payments,  insurance, utilies, gas, gym, kids expenses). "track your business numbers"I've been saying "Gain" a lot. But how much "pain" are you willing to go through to fix your situation.Do you know  someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email Reed@ExOilfield.comWas the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review.

Reed Stiles explains his transition from Senior Reservoir Engineer at ConocoPhillips to first engineer and partner at a financial technology startup in Houston.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reedstilesYou should walk away from this podcast with:1. A clear understanding between my personal and unique experiences at large corporate jobs and a technology startup business2. Some pros and cons that you might not think about when considering jobs at both a large corporation and a small startup3. A few key points that not enough people discuss - complexities and vulnerabilities of employment contracts, confidentiality / non-compete NDAs, and Equity award agreements - Founder specializations and overlapping skills- The fantasizing of startup “grind” lifestyleEpisode BreakdownIt should motivate people to consider that there's no perfect career solution and the grass ISN'T always greener on the other side (thought it can be).Reed compares the compelling pros and cons surrounding his personal experience in both a large Exploration & Production (E&P) company in Houston and a financial technology (FinTech) startup in Houston.ConocoPhillips (Large corporate firm) Notes- Clear job growth opportunities present in many different groups, locations, and assets- HR & systems for onboarding processes take care of benefits, setup, and behind the scenes processes and programs(that I took for granted until the startup)- Mentorship - formal mentors provided and thousands of employees available to meet and with which to work directly- Early career development / foundational development - online training, mentorship, curriculum for specific professions, subject matter experts on staff, and many other formal ways to develop- Stable business environment - not a ton of pivoting at your individual job - your individual contributions and expectations are often stable. This often to leads to a stable work schedule and manageable work-life balance- Health benefits, Retirement, Pensions, stock bonuses - defined pay, benefits, and “extras” that are often not available in the early stage startups- International and relocation assignment potential - many offices, many jobs, and many assets allow for relocation and job growth around the nation or world- Big capital projects - large corporations are often the ones most capable to execute and manage the largest projects in the world. It’s a great experience to work on these massive projects.- Pedigree and prestige - many large firms carry “brand name recognition” and “experience recognition” when seeking new jobs or opportunities- Amazing networking - so many young engineers I worked with have moved on to other things and are some of my best friends today- Managers & supervisors / goal-setting / micro-managing - can be good and bad. It’s easy to think of management as an unnecessary money pit. I personally didn’t have that experience with frontline supervisors - they were many of the most influential people in my career and education.EnergyFunders (Early stage firm) Notes- IMPORTANT: It’s okay to fail. It’s okay to win big. It’s okay to try something new. Your mileage may vary. If there’s one thing I’ve learned so far, it's that most things in life aren’t as bad or as good as they appear. It’s most likely in between the worst and best cases.- Work Life flexibility - many technology firms are web-based and allow for flexibility in your work schedule and working location- You work 24/7 often (gross versus net hours) - you MUST do whatever it takes to win.. If you don’t complete something, then it won’t be finished. This leads to being “plugged in” to your job at all times and having the ability to work remotely at all times- Blank slate / sandbox - you can do anything or nothing. It can be both liberating and daunting to prioritize work on a project that is brand new without examples or templates. It’s hard to “factory farm” creativity and innovation.- Small teams - not much job redundancy. You must get scrappy and innovative to find mentorship, resources, answers to impossible questions, and software tools. - Small network - not as much mentorship. Requires self-motivation, self-discovery, and networking to find help outside of your small team. - Employment contracts and stock award offers ... this part blows. These contracts include many important clauses and intricate details that can screw you over. SPEND AN ANNOYING AMOUNT OF TIME REVIEWING THESE DOCUMENTS. Make sure a startup attorney or employment attorney reviews this. Email me (Reed@ExOilfield.com for my referral in Houston).- In the beginning - Limited benefits. Low salary. No guarantee of employment.- You can become “Unemployable” - if you want to move into a more “rigid” / “corporate” job after startup life, it can be challenging to sell yourself and brand your experience versus standard / cookie-cutter jobs. - You can learn so many new skills and wear many hats. It's super cool to work on and be involved with many aspects of a company.- Founder skill diversification - you need to cover major basis (operations, technology, product, finance, and accounting), be cautious of overlapping skillsets. Your founders are critical labor in the beginningDo you know someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email Reed@ExOilfield.comWas the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review.

Anne Brennan shares her story of starting her career in Business Development and System Trainer after graduating with her Masters in Geoscience. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-brennan-364a64b1/Be on the lookout for Enverus’ Seekers Program coming this summer.Know of someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email Reed@ExOilfield.comWas the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review. I know this is called "ExOilfield"... but it’s not because everyone in these interviews is no longer in the industry. ExOilfield alludes to many of the listeners, too. The idea is to expand your horizons and look outside of the traditional oil and gas roles. This conversation could not come at a better time. If you’re in college, a new graduate, or just looking for some inspiration, you will gain a lot from our discussion. When I graduated in 2011 and started my traditional career path at ConocoPhillips, the thought of going into Sales or Business Development in the Tech space out of school didn’t even show up on my radar… and now I’m in Business Development outside of Exploration and Production companies (E&Ps). I wish I had heard this story 9 years ago. I learned so many things from Annie during our conversation. Anne's original career projection upon graduating with her Masters in Geoscience was to become an exploration geologist and help find the next great oilfields. As we all know, not everything always works out as you initially plan. And as you’ll hear, that can be a great thing! . Anne had several oil and gas internships learning the conventional oil and gas fields in Louisiana. She wanted to carve her own path and live in a city that fit her personality and lifestyle, ultimately targetting Austin, TX. So, she started looking for "Geologist-esque jobs” of all kinds. She never went into a traditional petrotechnical role and is extremely happy in her position as an internal trainer on the sales success team.-----As Anne started her career in her business development / sales role, Enverus was growing rapidly. She was involved with hiring lots of new team members.  What makes the best employees that you hired? A balanced mix of:HungryHumbleSmart (IQ & EQ)CommunicationA lot of people possess a percentage of all these things but it’s tough to find professionals with necessary levels in all of them And don’t forget that in sales, you must be:Money-motivatedCompetitiveWilling to learn and collaborate---When Anne was searching for her full-time career, she reached out to many people through her personal network. Whether it was through LinkedIn, Email, or Calls, she noticed an important and consistent trend:"[Reaching out to people in my network while job searching] gave me the confidence that nearly everybody I talked to genuinely wanted to help. They may not have been able to help, but this gave me confidence to ask"It’s important to see that catching up and networking with colleagues and classmates can be a small amount of work and effort for huge potential value.  ---Additionally, we discussed some amazing tips for interviewing for a sales position... at the end of the interview be sure to ask for feedback and if this interview was good enough to get the job. The idea is that if you’re feeling confident and have made that connection with the interviewer, then you’re trying to “close the deal”. Sometimes, the interviewers will review candidates and the question is asked: “Well, did he or she close? Did they ask for the job? Did they ask if they got it?”---Anne gave an incredibly useful list of resources:Sandler Sales Training (www.sandler.com)“Don't paint seagulls in other people's pictures”General knowledge of the industry and what people are going through - upper hand if you're trying to sell a solution to peopleThe Advantage by Patrick LencioniThe Challenger Sales by Brent Adamson and Matthew DixonGood to Great by Jim CollinsStart with Why by Simon Sinek---Know of someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email Reed@ExOilfield.comWas the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review.

Tyler Treser shares his exciting career transition from offshore mudlogger in the Gulf of Mexico to a software sales engineer in San Francisco.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylertreser/Email: tylertreser@gmail.comKnow someone that should be interviewed next? E: Reed@Exoilfield.comThere are so many important details to his story and I hope you are positively impacted the way I was when I first heard them. Tyler worked for Schlumberger less than a year before being laid off in 2016. His Geoscience background seemed like it had come to an end right as it had started. One key characteristic to Tyler’s personality is that he doesn’t give up. And he’s clearly really good at goal-setting and posses a high level of perseverance. He set his sights on software engineering and started from the bottom of the totem pole, cold calling for an oil and gas startup (Oseberg). His story really highlighted the importance of humbleness, willingness to learn, and the power of incremental improvements over time helping you to achieve your goals.If you’re interested in a sales engineering role, he recommends becoming proficient in SQL (databases), Python (computer programming), and possess 3-5 years of sales experience. There are many first level options to get some working experience - look for roles like technical support engineer or analyst / consulting jobs.Resources Tyler recommends:www.reddit.com/r/oilandgasworkerswww.reddit.com/geologycareersSoftware - CodeAcademy (basic coding)The Odin project (Web Development)LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com) - Interviewing for those skillsYouTube / GoogleKhan AcademyTyler's Tips for Job PostingsBe tenacious - FOLLOW UP days later. First listings, messages, or introductions rarely become a close. Look at many job boards and network with many people (cast a wide net)Look at the skillset required in the job. You might be more qualified than you think… if you can put together a story to tell the hiring managers.Tyler's Tips for Cold CallingAlmost no one ENJOYS cold callingIt's a difficult job but valuable to the firmPush yourself to keep doing it and you will improveHave resilience and tenacity to keep calling even though you don't want toYou must gain comfort in making the calls because you have to do it to reach your goals or for your job

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewfrancsis/Matt Francsis is a former Geologist turned Data Scientist at Tessella. I was introduced to Matt after he published a LinkedIn post outlining his 7-12 months of intense effort that it took to transition to a Data Scientist role. This post went viral (over a million views) and really puts into perspective how rare it is to see detailed reports of how petrotechnical specialists transition to other industries. I really appreciate how candid Matt is with his story and I'm very grateful that he spent some time sharing his journey for the podcast. Have questions? Want his take on things? Looking for a Data Science job? Reach out to Matt on LinkedIn.Overall, you should walk away from this podcast with a broad understanding of the Data Science career. - What does a Data Scientist do? - What software tools do they heavily use? - How easily petrotechnical experts can transition to data scientists- How to become qualified to be a Data Scientist - What to expect during the Data Science interview process - We get a little technical... in the middle when we talk about data science work examplesMake sure to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes & Spotify. - If you or someone you know would be a great guest for the show, please email me - Reed@ExOilfield.com - If you have a question for Matt, his information is in the description for the show

Hudson Chen has a BS, in Chemical Engineering, and a MS, in Petroleum Engineering. He has worked for DuPont, as well as Schlumberger, before entering the world of Recruiting. Through his career, Hudson has placed hundreds of Mid to Senior professionals, in companies ranging from small, privately-held organizations, to Fortune 100 companies.In his spare time, Hudson has helped job seekers with resume edits, interview preparations, and overall career advice.He is currently the Director of Recruiting Operations and Business Development, at Stark Recruiting Partners - www.starkrp.comConnect with Hudson on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hudsonchen/.Email: info@starkrp.comKnow of someone that would be a great interview for the podcast? Email Reed@ExOilfield.comWas the podcast valuable to you? There are 2 free ways to support the show.Subscribe to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider rating the podcast 5 stars and writing a quick review. Episode BreakdownWhat you should walk away learning: In the beginning we talk about Hudson's career as a chemical engineer and cementing engineer for a service company. Next we talk about his experience as a Petroleum Engineering masters student from 2014 - 2016 ... When I listened back through the recording to edit it, I was shocked at home similar the feelings were then as they are now. Even though I worked in the industry at the time and experienced 2016 layoffs, his feelings as a student brought me right back to that time We then talked about Hudson taking a shot on recruiting and how he's thriving on LinkedInWe finished up the interview talking about 2 thingsIf you're interested in being a recruiter - Hudson has a very actionable way that you could get in with a firmAdvice for people that are laid off today.How can you leverage a recruiter today and start building a relationship if/when you need one

This is the introduction episode explaining the purpose of this podcast.Welcome to the ExOilfield Resource (EOR) podcast.If you Google "How to Transition out of oil and gas" you might be shocked to find... no one is investing heavily in this space.And what's even more interesting is that most search results are Canadian - not from USA souces.There are Reddit threads, one off blogs, and a few free resources. But no one has made it their passion to figure this out.So I'm going to solve this problem - if you wish to (or are forced) to leave the oilfield... what do you? Where do you look?Hi I'm Reed Stiles and I'm creating this podcast for 1 main reason - in 2016, I wanted it to exist. Almost 4 years later, here I am still shocked it doesn't currently exist. As a Petroleum Engineer by trade, I've relied on the Oil and Gas Industry to exist and thrive to pay my salary.As I look at the economy, the technological advancements, and negative sentiment toward the industry - it makes me wonder what opportunties exist in other industry and how other folks found them. So here's the goal of the podcast: Interview folks that successfully transitioned away from traditional oil and gas industry jobs (engineers, landmen, geoscientists, finance, etc.) Pick their brains for useful tidbits that send you down a positive path of career discovery.We're not here to talk much about the oil and gas industry, there are other podcasts for that. You should walk away with career inspiration, actionable ideas, and specific resources So, if you're in the industry - give a few of these podcasts a listen! If you know someone that needs this podcast - share it with them! And if you or someone close to you should share their story.Email me at ExOilfieldResource@gmail.com Thanks and now let's get to the first interviews.