Quit Your Crappy Job

In this episode, Scott and Jeff review and discuss the lessons learned from our many guests who joined us for our inaugural season.  We were joined by an eclectic and inspiring bunch of people, from Cathy, who bounced back from being laid off and giving birth on the same day, to Danielle, who left the corporate world to start a limited-seating restaurant in a cave. We've had entrepreneurs and great-resignators an ex-spy, and a psychologist.  We hope you join us to reminisce and remember how strong the human spirit is. Visit us at: https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/ (https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/) https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/episode-013 (https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/episode-013) https://www.linkedin.com/company/quityourcrappyjob/ (LinkedIn) https://www.facebook.com/quityourcrappyjob (Facebook) https://youtu.be/v9Nl1Jb0g5Q (YouTube)

Ex-KGB agent, retired CIO, author, and speaker https://jackbarsky.com/ (Jack Barsky) joins us this week to share his extraordinary high-stakes resignation from the KGB.  Jack was an active undercover KGB agent who worked in and spied on the United States from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Barsky (1978 to 1988).  While in the United States, he grew to love this country and his American family, especially his daughter.  When told that his cover might be blown and that he needed to return, Jack decided to resign.  Since leaving the KGB, Jack has worked with U.S. counterintelligence agencies and was ultimately granted U.S. citizenship.  In 2017 Jack published an autobiography, https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Undercover-Tangled-Allegiances-America/dp/1496416821 (Deep Undercover), and is an active speaker.  Jack provides our listeners employment advice from both an employee and executive perspective.  If Jack can make such a high-stakes career change, perhaps the rest of us can find the courage to make more minor changes to improve our lives and happiness. References: https://jackbarsky.com/ (jackbarsky.com) https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Undercover-Tangled-Allegiances-America/dp/1496416821 (Amazon: Deep Undercover) https://open.spotify.com/episode/5K8yMOhFyCHFu19XpraPsn?si=aQs59hLxQPeS6eJJ-LucZA (Spotify: Lex Fridman Podcast, Episode 301 - Jack Barsky) https://youtu.be/dSVLjAdo8UA (YouTube: Lex Fridman Podcast, Episode 301 - Jack Barsky) https://youtu.be/YpW8MzbDdAA (60 Minutes: The Perfect Spy) #QuitYourCrappyJob #podcast #selfimprovement #quityourjob #jackbarsky #spying #CIA #FBI #intelligencecommunity #KGB #DeepUndercover Visit us at: https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/ (https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/) https://www.linkedin.com/company/quityourcrappyjob/ (LinkedIn) https://www.facebook.com/quityourcrappyjob (Facebook) https://youtu.be/9gvrbjBiFuM (YouTube)

Dr. Bryce Willson, a licensed psychologist, joins our podcast to share his own entrepreneurial journey and provide psychological insight into changing our negative internal narratives.  Dr. Willson received his undergraduate degree from https://www.colostate.edu/ (Colorado State University), his master's degree in Agency Counseling, and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from the https://www.unco.edu/ (University of Northern Colorado). Dr. Willson worked in hospitals and state correctional facilities for many years and then heard https://steveharvey.com/ (Steve Harvey's) words to the audience of Family Feud - his famous https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-952IaLtKM ("Jump" motivational speech).  Dr. Willson decided to take that jump and leave the comfort of his current employment situation, move his family and begin a private practice. Dr. Willson shares his "leap of faith" and the work involved in opening "the parachute" to paraphrase Harvey.  He also provides insight and advice on changing the negative narratives we tell ourselves that hold us back from reaching our full potential.  Everyone loves an underdog story.  What is yours?  How you frame your experience (being a felon, too short, not smart enough, etc.) can be either stifling or inspiring.  Don't be discouraged when things get hard after you jump - the hard part starts when you are doing things the right way. References: https://www.unco.edu/ (University of Norther Colorado) https://www.colostate.edu/ (Colorado State University) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-952IaLtKM (Steve Harvey "Jump" Speech) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spud_Webb (Spud Webb)

Danielle Terrelonge did strategic planning for a financial arbitration company out of Long Island. She was making great money living in Manhattan, just a block away from Time Square. Yet despite all her success, she wasn't happy. After a few visits home to Jamaica, Danielle decided that she was an island girl at heart and traded her New York job for a corporate job on the island. But she soon realized her happiness was feeling connected to the land and the sea, not working in a cubicle or board room. Danielle then embarks on opening an extremely exclusive restaurant in a cave - her first entrepreneurial attempt and is very successful. This success propels her to start other exclusive business ventures that allow her to maintain the work-life balance she desires. References: • https://www.instagram.com/the.plantry/?hl=en • https://m.facebook.com/The-Plantry-496590544081328/ • https://travelnoire.com/why-i-left-corporate-america-and-opened-my-dream-restaurant-in-a-cave-in-jamaica • https://www.facebook.com/HmGrwnandCo/ #QuitYourCrappyJob #podcast #selfimprovement #quityourjob #business #jamaica #entrepreneurlife Watch this episode on: • YouTube: https://youtu.be/BhvdvpQlZBU Visit us at: • https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/quityourcrappyjob/ • https://www.facebook.com/quityourcrappyjob

Business owner Ryan Lucia joins our podcast to discuss his transition from the corporate white-collar world to the blue-collar entrepreneurial realm.  After building a highly successful software sales organization, the company Ryan works for is acquired.  The acquiring company decides to let him go because he doesn't match the academic profile they like their executives to have - Ryan is a self-made high school dropout.  Ryan decides to do something entirely out of the box - start a https://aaronoverheaddoors.com/ (garage door business).  Installing garage doors requires you to be good with tools and mechanics, a skill set Ryan does not have.  Throughout Ryan's story, he dispels invaluable business and leadership advice. References: https://aaronoverheaddoors.com/ (Aaron Overhead Doors) https://www.familyeducation.com/life/gender-differences/why-boys-struggle-school#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20United%20States,the%20eighth%20grade%20than%20girls. (Why Boys Struggle With School) https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Crisis-Boys-Struggling-About/dp/1942952716/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1658355889&sr=8-1 (The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It) https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/invisiblehand.asp (Adam Smith Bio - From Investopedia) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26&version=NIV (Leadership Lesson - Start With Me (Matthew 26:21-22)) #QuitYourCrappyJob #podcast #selfimprovement #quityourjob #business #downsizing #downsize #entrepreneurlife Visit us at: https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/ (https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/) https://www.linkedin.com/company/quityourcrappyjob/ (LinkedIn) https://www.facebook.com/quityourcrappyjob (Facebook) https://youtu.be/vNW1LZZzUiY (YouTube) https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/episode-009 (https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/episode-009)

Tim Mueting is a technology and marketing professional, and his wife, Christine Pettit, is a strategic event manager.  In 2018, Tim and Christine made a huge lifestyle change - they downsize their life into a 37-foot https://www.lifeofsailing.com/post/can-you-live-on-a-sailboat-year-round (sailboat) and embark on a nautical life that embraces https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/859087-its-the-not-the-destination-it-s-the-journey (Ralph) https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/859087-its-the-not-the-destination-it-s-the-journey (Waldo Emerson's maxim, "It's the not the Destination, It's the journey.")  Tim and Christine both leave their jobs and the corporate world to begin a new chapter of their lives. Sailing throughout the Caribbean and voyaging up and down the eastern seaboard provides Christine and Tim with breathtaking views, a harrowing hurricane escape, and new friends on picturesque shores.  Their lives are filled with adventures, misadventures, and peaceful solitude that clarify what matters and is truly important in life.  https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/episode-008 (https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/episode-008) Visit us at: https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/ (https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/) https://www.linkedin.com/company/quityourcrappyjob/ (LinkedIn) https://www.facebook.com/quityourcrappyjob (Facebook) References: https://www.lifeofsailing.com/ (Site dedicated to the life of sailing) https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/10-things-you-need-discard-downsize-your-life-space.html (10 Things You Need To Discard) https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/10-things-you-need-discard-downsize-your-life-space.html ( To Downsize Your Life Space) https://www.robgreenfield.org/downsize/ (The Beginner's Guide to Downsize Your Life (From) https://www.robgreenfield.org/downsize/ ( a Minimalist)) https://www.wikihow.com/Sail-a-Boat (How to Sail a Boat) #QuitYourCrappyJob #podcast #selfimprovement #quityourjob #business #downsizing #downsize https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=sailinglife&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6948270435071406080 (#sailinglife) https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=sailing&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6948270435071406080 (#sailing) https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=sailboat&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6948270435071406080 (#sailboat) https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=caribbean&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6948270435071406080 (#caribbean)

Tony Johnson is a seasoned sales professional who is reorganized out of a job, but before he leaves is asked to train the younger and cheaper talent newly hired to replace him.  What Tony experienced is all too common in the corporate world, where management thinks they can replace experience with cheaper labor.  This line of thinking may work for repetitive jobs but not for skilled professions that are heavily nuanced and can leverage a mature network that took years to cultivate. Ultimately the company hires Tony back only to reorganize a couple of years later and offer him an undesirable position or the option to leave the company.  Tony decides to join millions of others in the Great Resignation and starts an https://www.airbnb.com/ (Airbnb) business making use of https://www.incredibletinyhomes.com/ (Tiny Homes).  He shares specifics about the Tiny Home industry and how they provide a great business opportunity and a high-quality, low-cost housing option for people and may help municipalities address homelessness. Visit us at https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/ (https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/) References: https://www.homecrux.com/incredibox-affordable-tiny-house-by-incredible-tiny-homes/169281/ (Article about Incredible Tiny Homes) https://www.investopedia.com/the-great-resignation-5199074 (Investopedia - The Great Resignation) https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/09/majority-of-workers-who-quit-a-job-in-2021-cite-low-pay-no-opportunities-for-advancement-feeling-disrespected/ (Pew Research Center - The Great Resignation) https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Career/Technical-Presales-Engineer/What-Is-How-to-Become (Pre-Sales Engineer) #QuitYourCrappyJob #quityourjob #business #softwaresales #tinyhouse #tinyhome #arbnb

Cathy Weldon, a marketing professional, is pregnant and working for a large tech company when her company is acquired. At the time of the acquisition, the acquiring company lays off 40% of the company, including Cathy. Cathy also learns that the acquiring company will not honor the maternity benefit that was promised to her. Within two hours of hearing this news, Cathy's water breaks, and she goes into labor. Labor was not easy, and Cathy subsequently found herself fighting for her life while her newborn did the same in the NICU. Cathy shares her bounce-back story and how she and her family are better off now than ever. Watch On https://youtu.be/9XgmB12zvlY (YouTube) Visit us at https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/ (https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/) https://www.linkedin.com/company/quityourcrappyjob/ (LinkedIn) https://www.facebook.com/quityourcrappyjob (Facebook)

Jeff and Scott talk with stand-up comedian John Ziegler. John's career begins as an employee of several tech companies but finds he isn't happy. Figuring that being an entrepreneur is the answer, he creates a successful fitness business but again finds himself unfulfilled despite his success. John makes the radical cold-turkey decision to quit his business and become a full-time comedian. Johns provides some behind-the-scenes insight into being a stand-up comedian and shares some profound life advice as a pancreatic cancer survivor. #QuitYourCrappyJob

Jeff and Scott talk with Jose Portilla, former #NFL Offensive Tackle, professional artist, and championship-winning high school head football coach. Jose shares his story of overcoming setbacks, perseverance, and career transition. Jose was a first-round draft prospect when a teammate tripped and rolled up on Jose's knee during pregame warmups for the Hula Bowl. In the NFL draft, the knee injury left Jose undrafted, a substantial financial and emotional loss. Jose rehabs and rebounds to make an NFL team and becomes the first Mexican-born player to play in a Super Bowl. After leaving the NFL, Jose becomes a professional artist, another challenging and hard to crack profession. Along the way, Jose becomes an art teacher and head football coach for a charter school and transforms a bunch of academic overachievers into multiple state championship-winning athletes. #QuitYourCrappyJob https://www.quityourcrappyjob.com/

Jeff and Scott talk with https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliseoras/ (Elise Oras), who is the co-founder and Head of Strategy for https://www.wheelsupcollective.com/ (Wheels Up Collective). Elise shares her journey as a career marketing professional and part-time https://www.youtube.com/c/SolesTraveling (YouTuber) to entrepreneur. After getting laid off during COVID, Elise and her husband embark on a three-month cross-country road trip that lasts almost a year. Experiencing a locked-down America from a 160-square-foot trailer gave Elise perspective and inspired her to start Wheels Up Collective with her friend. While many companies have started in garages, Elise began her company from her trailer. She had to schedule meetings that allowed her to juggle intermittent cell service, retail wifi, and "moving days."

Jeff and Scott talk with Scott Wood, a former attorney turned CEO, about his career and the decisions that led him from the courtroom to the boardroom. Scott Wood shares his career story and why he made his decisions, even though many of those decisions were stressful. He talks about knowing when it is time for a change. Scott shares how his job changes affected his family and provide advice to others on valuing yourself and knowing what you will and will not accept.

This podcast episode is the inaugural episode of the Quit Your Crappy Job podcast. In this episode, Jeff and Scott discuss their backgrounds, how they met, and how this podcast came to be. They discuss some of the initial guests that will join the podcast, including a former NFL player and a former lawyer turned former CEO. Additionally, they are joined by a former software sales executive who started an overhead door business and a marketing professional who left her job, packed all her possessions into a trailer, and traveled across the U.S. before starting a marketing company.