The Real You
1:1 Long-Form Interviews with Interesting People Doing Amazing Things
In-depth discussion of people's journeys to tap into their full potential and find ways to be the truest version of themselves.
The Real You
EP 33: Authentic Networking: Ryan Snellings on Leveraging LinkedIn & Embracing Career Growth
- From corporate leader to career coach, Ryan Snellings shares how he overcame his fear of posting online and built a thriving LinkedIn presence through authenticity and connection.
- We explore the unexpected lessons from customer service, the work-life balance contrast between Europe and the U.S., and the hilarious reality of learning new cultures.
- With humor and honesty, Ryan reveals how mentoring, storytelling, and content creation can fuel both career growth and personal transformation.
Ryan's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryansnellings/
Ryan's Website:
David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-young-mba-indy/
David's Website: https://davidjyoung.me/
Welcome to the Real you Podcast. This is episode 33. I'm David Young, your host. I'm a LinkedIn content and business coach and I help coaches with less than 3,000 followers grow their businesses on LinkedIn through better storytelling and content creation. I launched this podcast in March of 2024 to spotlight interesting people doing amazing things, and today I'm joined by Ryan Snellings, a global service leader, career growth coach and an aspiring golfer. We will discuss his corporate journey, living and working overseas. We might even talk about john claude van dam for several years not john claude for several years the working overseas for several years and what it's like to start a new coaching business. So, ryan, my friend, thanks for making time for me today thanks for having me, david.
Speaker 2:I I appreciate it. I've been watching all your other podcasts and you got some pretty interesting people on there, so hopefully I can kind of live up to that, but I love all the stuff that you're doing.
Speaker 1:Oh no, I appreciate that and I think the John Claude Van Damme story itself will put you right close to the top because it's a good one. So, yeah, we'll get to that. Yeah, so appreciate it. We got to know each other a little bit in the last few months, kind of part of the same coaching program with with ali rizakos, and work together a little bit kind of over thanksgiving and first part of december. So, yeah, I love what you're doing and it always comes across really especially in this kind of ai. You know a lot of ai content like your content just always comes across as very ryan, like it, just very you and good sense of humor and honesty, and so it's refreshing to see on the platform.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's good to hear. Fortunately, maybe, unfortunately, I'm probably not smart enough to get into the AI stuff. But yeah, I mean, you know, I like to say what I think. I, you know it is LinkedIn, so I do limit it. You know, I don't want to stretch too far into you, don't want to get too edgy, even though sometimes there's more I want to say. But it's man, it's such a new experience. I'm pretty reserved, like I don't like to be public.
Speaker 2:I don't have any kind of social media outside of LinkedIn. Last week I week I'm trying to get started on Instagram. My buddy across the street, his high school daughter, is trying to show me how to use Instagram and kind of navigate through that. So the posting thing for me is completely new. And to be honest with you and I'm sure a lot of people face this I remember writing my first post and it took hours for me to actually hit the post button. I was scared to death. I'm like, oh my gosh, no one's going to care what I have to say. But man, once you do it and you see other people doing it, it's just I don't know. There's kind of a relief to it. And then, when you see other people doing it. You respect it right, because you know how hard it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure, and I think LinkedIn is a great place to start. I was the same way as you. I didn't have a social media prior. I mean, I had a LinkedIn account but I wasn't using it. But I didn't have Instagram, tiktok. I have a Twitter account cause I think the big thing is you think everyone in your network is going to see everything that you're putting out Right, so you're like you know I have, however many followers or connections like oh my God, they're all going to read this.
Speaker 1:So it's good to remember that only the less than 20% of of your connections will actually ever see any of your any one post, cause that's not the way the algorithm works. So most people have no idea that you're even posting. So that should give you everyone a little bit more confidence. It's a small number. Two, it's a pretty supportive. I've found LinkedIn to be very supportive. Yeah, I mean, there's always some naysayers here and there, kind of no matter what you do, but for the most part, people are pretty encouraging of your story and your background and if you're starting a business and I found people to be very forthcoming with help and advice and it's a really it's a good place from that standpoint.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100 I mean. I mean it's. It's kind of weird. You almost build this community of people that you know you've never met in person, but you, you know, you met them online and, yeah, very supportive. You know, every once in a while you get know you kind of get that hater out there. The funny thing is sometimes when you get like that hater in your comments and stuff, it actually just increases the algorithm because you get more comments and stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 2:You know, for me, because I was coming from a corporate world which you know, and I don't mean in a bad way, but it's a little more stifled, a little more buttoned up and you know, people tend to not want to really say what they really think, or for good or bad, or they don't want to get personal. Like I know, when I started posting at a really good friend of mine and he met well and he's like you know, you probably shouldn't get very personal online and I'm like you know what, even in corporate with my employees, I get personal with them. I mean, they're people I've never bought into that whole. Oh, you've got employees. You can't be friends with them. It doesn't make sense. We're human beings, we're around each other. You're around employees more than you're around your own family and if you can't enjoy it and appreciate what they're going through and really have that really kind of a deep relationship outside of the work part, then to me that's just silly.
Speaker 1:No, I totally agree, and I think it's on LinkedIn, talking about the personal stories. I think it's becoming more and more not only accepted but encouraged, because there is so much AI, there's so many ways to generate AI content or have AI create your content, which is fine, I mean, it's obviously great for efficiency. But then it all just starts to look and sound the same and most of it then becomes very surface level content, right, like if you can Google it or YouTube it or GPT create it, then it all will blend together, whereas those platforms at least not yet they can't tell like your personal journey and your personal story, right, because they have to be prompted, they don't just know things. So when you get on and share specifics of, like your background, your career, travel, hobbies, whatever, like people really like those posts because, a, like you said, it humanized you and we're all humans and B, you start to build just more of a trust and authenticity to your, to your content. And if you're doing business, then that's I mean people.
Speaker 2:We all do business with people, so you're trying to attract people and that's how you do it right with your yeah, yeah, and it's, it's so, and I I think that's why I kind of admire people that that post, especially when they post personal stuff, because I mean you just you're throwing your life out there into this, this void, right like you don't. You don't know who's seeing or whatnot. But the funny thing is what I realized quickly is even the people that read your content they're so tied up in their own stuff they don't remember it 30 minutes later, anyway for sure. So whatever you say, I mean unless it really sparks something or resonates with them and they carry it with it, ultimately they go on and you know go, you know go throughout their day as normal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that kind of helped too. It kind of, in a way, it humbles you because you realize, like you know you make a post and you're like, oh, this is going to be a good post, everyone's going to love it. And then you get you know 500 impressions and then you're like, oh okay, maybe it wasn't, maybe it wasn't as cool as I thought it was, but that you know, that's okay. Everyone's got their own voice, everyone's got stuff to say and I just I really enjoy when people kind of put themselves out there. I've got the utmost respect for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was for me. I did a post this last fall about I've had obsessive compulsive disorder for most of my adult life and I'd never really talked about it. Very few people even knew about it.
Speaker 1:I've been thinking about writing about it and then I eventually did, and that was not easy to write and put out there. But then once I did, it was like people were very supportive and nobody mocked it or made fun of it. And then, like you said, that was it. They read it, maybe it resonated, maybe it didn't, and then they moved on, and then we all moved on and then that was it. So it's not this lingering thing and people aren't thinking about it days later, but yeah, but it does feel good. And then other people opened up that they either had similar issues or they knew they had family members that had dealt with it. So then it kind of humanizes it for others, where you're like all right, like they're not not just this one-off right, um, so I think, when you can share, not necessarily that, but just anything that, whatever struggles uh, because we all have challenges and struggles, you know day in and day out through friends, family, work relationships, like you know, whatever it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so talk a little bit about your background. I know you spent a lot of time in the operations side of a medical device, if I understand correctly. So yeah, talk a little bit about like your career and kind of the trajectory and how that went.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it you know. It's interesting when we're younger. All the adults in the room kind of say what do you want to be when you grow up? The fact is, you don't know because you haven't even seen the world. So how do we expect teenagers to know what they want to be when they grow up? It seems backwards.
Speaker 2:I will say for me, what kind of opened things up is my stepfather? He's been a service engineer. That was his career and I remember at some point I want to say it was in high school I started realizing like around the holidays customers were sending him like gifts and cards and food and all this stuff. And I'm like man, that seems kind of cool, I kind of want to, I want to get into that. So ultimately I ended up going to the same company he worked in and I started, you know, customer service, answering phones on dispatch. You know we answer about 150 calls a day and, to be honest with you, to this day I hate talking on the phone because of how I started my career. People call me and I know it's terrible, I don't answer, I'd rather text. I just hate talking on the phone.
Speaker 2:I know my mother hates it because I never answer, but I'm trying to get better about actually calling people. So that kind of got me into the service industry. And especially being a medical device device when you really know you're impacting other human beings that are on with their health it just it teaches you compassion, it teaches you empathy, it really helps you understand what's important. So that's really how I kind of got into the service world. That's what I've done for 25 years. My roles have gotten bigger, whether it's global or whatnot, but yeah, that's what I love to do. I like being able to work on things that I know that are helping people, and it's for about two years.
Speaker 2:I remember years and years ago it was probably 15 years ago I had a non-compete and I had to go into a completely different industry before I wanted to go to the company I wanted to join. It was in the food world, which you know. That's great. But when you've gone from healthcare, medical device, things like that into a different industry, it's just hard every day to have that same passion. So, yeah, so I love it. I've just recently 2024, moved away from the corporate world, started my own coaching business. I always I love the people part of the corporate world. I always kind of wanted to do my own thing and it's just really. It's so weird how not weird, but how that gets you more excited than almost like your own stuff that you got going on for sure.
Speaker 2:Um. So it's just, it's really cool and that's why, like a lot of the stuff that you do, like when I see your post, your posts are so educational. Every time I read your post, I feel like you get a little bit smarter. Thanks, but you're impacting, whether it's 10 people, 50 people, 100 people, whatever.
Speaker 1:I mean, you're having a daily impact on other people and that's that's pretty awesome no, I appreciate you saying that and I love the the driving that point home about. I felt like this the older I got, the more you want to start feel like you're making a difference. And for a lot of my, for a lot of my work, I wasn't doing that and and so as I got older, I was like this doesn't feel right. This is not aligned. I'm just a cog in the machine and punching numbers in a spreadsheet that doesn't. I'm not really impacting anything. It's funny you mentioned customer service.
Speaker 1:So I started my career in sales. I was there for several years and then I was looking to get out and I'd never worked in an office. I always had a territory, so I was just driving around, and so I went to a temp agency and basically told her I was like I'm just looking for an office job, I want to try it. Like I have no idea what I want to do. And so they sent me to a manufacturer and they just said customer service. I didn't really know what that meant, and then I learned quickly that it was going to be answering the phones. So I was like all right, I'll give it a shot. I was so good at that job that I started as a temp and the full time employees not all of them, but some they would come up to me and be like you have to stop working so hard, like you're making us all look bad, like no one does this much work. But the funny part was I didn't feel like I was working that hard so I never really understood that until many, many years later.
Speaker 1:I was working with a career coach and they had me do this like diagnostic and then it all came together. So that job was so perfectly aligned to like my basically my work personality Cause it was repetitive. It was, uh, I felt productive and it was repeatable. So, like I was just doing like the same thing, right, I was answering the call the same way. You know, there was a variety, the calls could be a variety of ways, but I kind of learned all of those. I was an expert and then I could just bang it out. So, like some people were doing, like you know, 70, 75 calls a day, I was doing like 125, like 140. We used to do replacement orders for, like, defective products.
Speaker 2:They were doing like five to seven, I was doing like 15 to 18 and they were like you're gonna get us all fired. You gotta cut this out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I, I, I know, I definitely know the feeling, but it's, it's. It's so funny how it still impacts me 25 years later, like when my phone rings, I'm like I don't want to, I don't want to touch it. I don't.
Speaker 1:I'm the same way, especially now that texting is, everybody can do it. Um, I'm just like just text me. Why would you call me? And if anybody leaves a voicemail, I will never listen. I would. Somebody could leave me the winning lottery numbers on my voicemail. I'd never get it because I'll listen to it like nine months later.
Speaker 1:That kills me. So what? So, as you move through, uh, medical devices, was it? Was there? Did you stay like with the company, was a specific device, was it, um, like ortho, or was it like? Did you kind of move around like the different?
Speaker 2:obviously there's a lot of different devices yeah, so I, I started in in uh hemodialysisysis and then ultimately went into blood transfusion plasma and then, most recently, my career has been more in the clinical genomics space. So DNA sequencing.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So it's been kind of a little gamut of all of it and it's always interesting. You know, there's this weird twist when you're in med device. So, for example, previous company I was with, we ended up being very successful, but we were very successful because of COVID. So it's almost like you know. So it's this weird kind of some bad stuff happened which makes you successful, but at the same time stuff happen which makes you successful, but at the same time during that bad stuff you're helping the people that it's affecting. So that's always kind of a you know that tears at your heart a little bit, but it's your business and if you weren't there, no one's helping these people.
Speaker 2:So that is the positive side. It's just that's what's interesting about the medical device or even the healthcare field is you're making profit on unfortunately not good things, and that's why I'm a really big proponent of I would love for us to get to preemptive care, eating better foods, taking better care of ourselves, so we don't get to that other side. Pharmaceuticals have to be on different medical devices et cetera. But that's tough, but I do. I guess the positive is, though I do feel kind of generations after you know we're around the same age generations after us are looking at more healthy options, eating better, like. I just saw a survey where or a report out where I'm not sure what generation it is, but it's 20-year-olds limiting alcohol. They don't drink like other generations.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a big push. With the current group, mocktails are much more in vogue. I've heard of mocktailtail parties which obviously, when I was 20 years old that was you said mocktail. You probably get taught a nobody know what you're talking about and b get kicked out so that was not, that was not a thing. Yeah, yeah, so no, I agree with that. That's a whole nother.
Speaker 1:We could spend a whole topic a whole show on medical and pharma and trying to keep people basically addicted to pills and drugs. But that's too depressing. We're not going to go there. So at what point I know you moved around a lot At what point did they send you to Europe and how long were you over there?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I was in Brussels for about four years, four of the best years of my life.
Speaker 2:The team I had there, the people I met, shout out to Edwin DeLepper, a buddy of mine, who really kind of took me under his wing and took me all around Europe and really helped me experience everything that was going on over there. Because I remember when I was my first flight over to Brussels I told myself, when I leave this experience I want to make sure I've seen every country I could see, experienced everything I could see. So over four years I mean at this point I've probably been to 80, 90% of the countries in the world and it's just such a great experience and obviously the places are cool, but it's just it's the people. Like the people part is what really motivates you. I mean I made so many good friends over there and I miss them dearly to this day. You know it's hard to get back and forth and and see everyone, but, man, the stuff I learned from my team in Europe I just I hold close to my heart, I carry it with me to this day and, like I said, I miss those guys.
Speaker 1:No, I love to hear that I've never been to Europe. My wife studied abroad in Italy and then so she's seen a little bit of it but hasn't been back, so that's kind of one of our bucket list trips at some point. What was the biggest? You know, living in the states for so long and then spending four years there, what was? What do you think was the biggest, either like difference or what'd you notice about like living there, uh, compared to living in the states definitely.
Speaker 2:You know, for americans we're very focused on work first, life second, completely flipped on the other. When you're in Europe, it's life first. Work is just to pay the bills, it's just to get food on the table. But the ability for the Europeans, when they leave the office, to be completely disconnected from work, versus how we do in the US, where we make our commute home and then we get back on the computer and we're right back at it, that was the biggest part. I finally, before I went to Europe, I'll be honest I was like oh Europe, they have all these holidays off, they're lazy, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2:And then when you get there and you see how they live, you realize they're the ones doing it right not us we have it backwards.
Speaker 2:They're living their life, they're working to support their life where in the us we live, to work. And that doesn't mean, you know, some people will be like, well, you know, you gotta, you gotta put a, put your head down, you gotta focus and you gotta work hard. Yeah, you can still do that, but life is more important. Your family and your friends, that's what's more important. Because if you got that stuff right, you know your life, your family and friends. The rest of it kind of works itself out. So that was the biggest thing I learned. And just the way they socialize is different. And man to see, if I could go back in time, how well they are with languages.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, they all speak like three to five typically two or three different languages.
Speaker 2:I remember I was in a TGI Fridays in Prague. I was so excited because it was like a little bit of home right, here's your taste of home and I'm sitting at kind of a high top and you could see the bar. The bar was about like 15 feet away and I'm watching this bartender. He was probably 22 years old and you know, in Prague you're going to get a lot of different business people, different languages, and to watch him move between all the different languages so easily, and I was so impressed.
Speaker 2:I remember calling him over and I'm like, hey, are you looking for like some kind of career job? Because I would have hired him on the spot. Not only did he speak five different languages, he also spoke sign language, which just blew me away. He was 22 years old, working a bar at TGI Fridays, and we ultimately I got a call from him about a year later and he's like hey, you know I want to take you up on that offer. Unfortunately I'd already gotten back to the US, but it was so impressive to watch this young guy go through the different languages, as he's kind of working himself across the bar. So just stuff like that. This is really really impressive.
Speaker 1:Now that is super impressive and I mean the main reason is right. They started learning it at a very young age whereas here we don't. And then they eventually force you to take some type of language, typically in high school.
Speaker 1:Well, at that point it's mostly too late, and so we also don't teach. Because I took a lot of Spanish in high school and college, I know some words but I never learned how to speak it, because they only teach you how to write it. They teach you vocab, they teach you how to write a sentence, but that does not teach you and equip you to have like a conversation, and it's completely different. Whereas when you're younger, your just ability to learn, you can absorb so much more and B they teach them how to speak it, and so once you're young and you start speaking it, it just becomes second nature. And so, yeah, that it's not uncommon for them to know their native language, typically English, and then like a neighboring country or something, and so I think, yeah, like three is like minimum, I think.
Speaker 2:It's hard. I mean I took French classes for a year when I was over in Europe. I'm not afraid to say I came in like last in the class as far as learning the languages, and some of it's because I don't even speak English very well. So you know, I kind of chalk it up to that. But I mean it's hard. Especially young kids, I think, learn languages a lot quicker than you can as an adult. So that's a pretty humbling. That's also a humbling experience. Right, you're in a class of like five people and everyone's picking it up. And here I am, like I've got three words under my belt and, to be honest with you, the three words were like how to order a drink at the bar, how to say thank you for that drink like you know stuff that I really couldn't use in my professional life.
Speaker 2:So that was, that was quite the experience. But even you know, when you're trying to learn a different language, it definitely picks up a different part of your brain, for sure, um. So you start looking at things differently, you perceive things differently, even from, like a, an emotions standpoint. It kind of triggers a different yeah, a piece of your brain. So all that's way over my head. But again, four years that some of the best years of my life love it.
Speaker 1:Tell the uh, tell the van damme story real fast.
Speaker 2:Well, so you know, me and john clive were best budsude were best buds. He doesn't know it. He doesn't know who I am.
Speaker 1:One-way friendship, but it's all right, yeah.
Speaker 2:And he must have been visiting. I do think he's actually from Belgium. I think most people think he's from France, but I think he's actually from Belgium. But I've been a part of this gym for well over a year at this point, maybe two years Never saw him before. Really beautiful gym, nice swimming pools, tennis courts, the whole thing. I remember I was on the cable pools, the back workout, and there was two side by side. I just finished the set and I looked to my right and at first it didn't register and then in my head I'm like shit, that looks fun. I look back and John called me down Like a complete doofus. Anytime I see somebody famous, I look at him when he finishes his set and I'm like I don't even know why I?
Speaker 2:said it. I'm like you're. John called me down he kind of looked at me and he's like, yes, I am.
Speaker 2:And then he got. And what made it worse is he had just finished his first set. He actually got up and walked off. I know he needed to do two or three more sets. So I'm just sitting there like why did I just confirm to him that he's Jean-Claude Van Damme? And oh my god, I'm like why did I just confirm to him that he's sure he was? And oh my God, I'm like I hope he never comes back. Luckily, I never saw him there again, I think I think he was visiting, but I know he wasn't done working out on those sets. He's just, he's like I had to get away from this ball. Yeah so, but I consider you know, hey, we're best buds.
Speaker 1:And I was almost in one of his movies.
Speaker 2:Hey, hey, we're the best buds and.
Speaker 1:I was almost in one of his movies. Hey, you know, sometimes we have identity crisis and we need strangers to bring us back and be like yes, I am.
Speaker 2:He doesn't know what he's missing out on. I could have been his next best action star. He doesn't even know.
Speaker 1:Bloodsport 2 with Ryan Snelling. That is hilarious. I love that story. Bloodsport was one of my favorite movies as a kid I used to watch. I'd go to my grandparents house on an old vcr and my, my grandfather had several movies taped and it was like rambo, blues brothers, top gun and blood sport and he would like carefully write you know his old school right like the tape. Uh, there's. If young people are listening to this, they're gonna think I'm making this up, but you would put tape on the outside of the recorder and then he would write the. It'd be like zero to like 25, 99 like blues brothers.
Speaker 1:And then you know yeah 2600 to 5000 top gun right anyway. So blood sport was one of those movies and so I'd come home after school like 13 or 14, and I'd pop one of those tapes in and it was like one of those four movies like on rotation for like two years he's a tiny guy.
Speaker 2:Is he really he's tiny? Oh wow, sorry, sean, glad in case you, in case you watch this, but he's a tiny guy, is he really he's tiny? Oh wow, sorry, sean, in case you watch this, but he's a little guy. I mean, you watch those movies you're like, oh, he's this big, he's a little guy.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of actors are smaller because obviously Tom Cruise is small and Stallone is small, at least from a height standpoint. But yeah, obviously the screen makes him look a lot bigger.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that's really funny. Uh, I love that story. I I disgusted him, he walked off in a huff and puff.
Speaker 1:It's been great if he'd have been like I've who, who, who is that? I have no?
Speaker 2:idea, no idea what you're talking about yeah, never heard of that guy.
Speaker 1:What so, when you came back then, was that you were still the same company. Say you're over there and you were still in the same company when you came back. Is that when? You is that when you went to austin, or how did you end up? How'd you end up?
Speaker 2:in austin. I actually, when I came back, I took on a global vp role of customer support service operations. So I did that for a few years and then ultimately to be honest with you kind of got tired of winters in Chicago. I'm from Baton Rouge. I grew up in Florida.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So by this time I'd been in Chicago minus the European years for about 12 years and I really just wanted to get back down south. Opportunity came up with a company that was looking to eventually get purchased, so there was some really good equity opportunities. And my fiance's got family in Dallas, so Austin's not too far away, so it just made sense when the opportunity came out, I just I really wanted to get back into warmer weather. Love Chicago. A great city, beautiful during the summer, but cold, a lot of snow, it gets dark, a lot of traffic. It gets dark real early.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I lived there for two years and my wife grew up there, so I'm very familiar with it and I love visiting, but it wasn't my favorite place to live.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, oh. It's a great town. It's a great sports town. If you're into sports, it's a wonderful sports town. Like if you're in the sports, it's a wonderful sports town. And then, like I said, during the summer it's gorgeous. During the summer I remember we used to play, uh, beach volleyball, like right out there, like montrose harbor, it was this. It was so surreal. You're playing beach volleyball and you see all the skyscrapers and stuff yeah just, yeah, just a really beautiful place love it.
Speaker 1:I've never been. I've only been to Dallas once. I actually told this story recently. I won't retell it here because it's too long, but I was in Dallas once I was connecting from Anaheim. I was living in Columbus, Ohio at the time, so I spent about two hours in Dallas Airport. It was my only visit to Texas but I do want to get down there because I have a lot of connections in the kind of Dallas Austin general area so at some point I will make my way down. Yeah, so talk a little bit about the coaching because obviously you and I both are relatively new and recent to the coaching business. But I know you said you'd been thinking about another way to help people and obviously using all of your experience and like a mentor type role and like helping others. But yeah, talk a little bit about kind of what your coaching like is and like who you work with sure.
Speaker 2:Sure you know, when I was in corporate I always felt like I was kind of coaching I I never felt like a boss or manager. I always felt like I was coaching. And I don't know if that's from growing up in sports or however that translated, but I knew at some point I wanted that to be my main focus. I was very fortunate over the last 25 years to have a couple of very good mentors, people that really took a focus in me and helping me build my career, and I always just kind of wanted to return the favor to other people that were out there, a little bit like we talked about earlier. Like when you see, you know someone get a promotion or someone get a new job or make a complete career change and do something successful career change and do something successful the feeling you get from that it's almost indescribable because it's more exciting than when you have your own success. So to be able to do that now with my clients and help them advance their careers I've been fortunate, I've been blessed to see most of the world.
Speaker 2:I've seen a lot of good stuff. I've seen a lot of bad stuff. I've had great managers. I've had terrible managers. I've screwed up stuff myself that I've had to learn from. So to be able to kind of tell those stories to clients and guide them through things because I do feel like at this point that there's not much I haven't seen good or bad. So to be able to walk people through that.
Speaker 2:So, like part of my program people, they have access to me for eight weeks, 24-7. And the reason I do that? Because a lot of people are like, oh, you shouldn't do that, it's going to kill your time, but you can't plan life, and so when things are happening in people's career or work, I want them to be able to like, shoot me a text and say, hey, just had this meeting. It didn't go well. Can we chat for 30 minutes, you know, so I can kind of walk them through that, as opposed to waiting for our standard one-on-one that we have each week. Or hey, you know, I've got this big presentation coming up. Can we talk and you kind of guide me through it?
Speaker 2:It's just, it's hard to describe, it's almost like it's. It's almost like your kids, right, and you're trying to like help them develop and you want to see them succeed. So it's been great. I've been doing it for the last couple months. I love it. I do miss being part of teams. You know, in a business environment there's definitely something to be said about the loneliness of, you know, being a solopreneur, kind of going out on your own. So you know you take the good and your bad. I'll probably end up back in corporate at some point, but I'll still be doing this on the side and eventually, when I grow up and figure out you know, really what I want to do.
Speaker 2:It's probably what I'll end up doing, so it's been great. What I want to do, it's probably what I'll end up doing, so it's been great. You start it because you want to make the money, but then you realize, man, there's so much more. I just got a text this morning from one of my clients who just went through five rounds of interviews. She just got the call that she got the job, so you could read the excitement through the text. I mean, it made my day right, like rest of my day is going to be good. Just knowing that, you know, knowing I assisted in that that journey no, I love that.
Speaker 1:There's so much energy. It's so energizing when that happens I think the biggest lesson for me I learned it pretty early on is that you know money does not buy happiness and you know, at a certain point, like I don't know what the number is, but like once your basic needs are met and then a little bit beyond that, then anything above that does not add anything.
Speaker 1:Right, and so I think we were kind of programmed like you said we're similar in age Like we were programmed to like get the degree, get a job, work your way up the ladder, more promotions, titles, money, like all that kind of stuff. And then you get to a certain point and you're like okay, this is not great, this is not. This wasn't how I was, this wasn't. I was sold something different. Because, again, if you don't, if you're not doing work that like fulfills you and, like you said, you're not having an impact and all that kind of stuff, then they really the money at some point, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:add Remember when we were younger and you wanted the coolest car possible? Yeah, you didn't have the money to get it. Then it's funny once you have the money to buy whatever car you want. I don't even want a car. I drive a 2020 Chevy truck. That's what I got. I don't want anything fancy and I'd be fine not even having that. But first 20 years of my life I'm like oh, I got to make money. It's just that cool car.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was always looking at Trans Ams and I remember the Irox. I love the Irox at, yeah, trans ams and I remember the irox.
Speaker 1:I love the irox and my uncle uh had a 325 beamer, which he took care of in a way that I didn't even know you could take care of cars. And then he he eventually upgraded it to a 5 series and he actually got it. They flew to germany like he got it directly from like base operations and then, right right after he got it, we were driving home from a restaurant. It was him, I was in the front seat, uh, my aunt and their third child and he got it up to 125 on the highway and I thought it was like awesome, like I was like you know, early 20s, this is the coolest thing.
Speaker 1:My aunt was so pissed at him and she was like that's so reckless, like we could have crashed. I was like, nah, he did, he had, he had it. This was good. It was not we were. We were silent the whole time. Um, but yeah and then. Yeah, like you said, like I drive a 2016 crv, I think I'm like the youngest person who drives that car by like 20, like 20 years car by like 20, like 20 years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so it's true. I mean, I remember being, uh, you know, I spent a lot of time in germany and uh, I remember the first time going on the, the autobahn, and I made the mistake of doing a conference call while I was driving on the autobahn and in a way it was cool because I'm like, oh this, I'm probably doing a conference call at the fastest speed everyone's ever done, but man, when you see those cars come flying through at 100 something miles an hour, I gotta get your car shakes and at the time I was driving an audi, it was like an audi a4, which I don't fit in like.
Speaker 2:I probably looked like I was driving a golf cart well, not out there on the autobahn doing a conference call. These cars are flying through. I was like I guess this is cool, but these guys that are flying by me I'm just like this guy's got to get out of the way, yeah. But like I said, even now, if I didn't have a car I'd be perfectly happy.
Speaker 1:No, I hear you, my kids are the same way they're. No, I hear you, my kids are the same way. They they're obsessed with a very advanced you know maybox and bentonies and maserati. We see some maseratis around here from time to time and they're, just like you know, obsessed with it and million dollar houses when they get older and like all this super flashy stuff and I'm like I mean, if it ends up working out, great, but chances are you're not going to want hardly any of that stuff, yeah, down the road, but yeah, it is, yeah, I mean the.
Speaker 2:The bigger your house is, the more yard work you got, the more you know. We were talking a little bit before we started. Appliances start breaking, like all of a sudden you're repairing everything. It's like less as you get older maybe this is why they say you get wiser when you get older. Less really is more like I got my friends, I got I got my, got my family. That's all I need. The rest is just kind of it's just extra.
Speaker 1:Well, it's like the old quote right Youth is wasted on the young.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I did plenty of wasting and dumb stuff when I was young, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:So talk about the aspiring golfers. So I've played a lot of golf. I don't play much anymore, but at one time I played quite frequently. If you're still thinking about it, I would not recommend it because it'll drive you crazy. I think it's the hardest sport to learn of any of the sports. It's super difficult.
Speaker 2:It is Well, let's get one thing straight I'm a terrible golfer.
Speaker 1:Most people are yeah.
Speaker 2:Some of my buddies are actually really good golfers and it pisses me off, quite frankly. I grew up being able to pick up any sport except for golf. I'm actually amazed at how bad I can be sometimes, the amount of destruction I cause on a golf course, you know, when there's buildings around or homes around or stuff like that. But the problem with golf and this is, I think, what drives people nuts is you have that one little moment of brilliance that brings you back every time. You know you hit that one good shot or you have that one birdie and you're like, okay, I can do it. Here we are 25 years later. I still haven't figured it out. I still can't do it. I still do the same stuff I did, you know, two decades ago.
Speaker 2:But it gets you outside. You know, you know two decades ago, but get you outside. You know you're with friends, depending on where you're at, you get good weather. So I love it. I mean it's a, it's a passion of mine. It kind of helps me separate from the work stuff, business stuff, et cetera. And uh, it's just so funny because it can piss you off when you can love it at the same time. But I mean that's life right. Life pisses you off and you love it at the same time. It kind of works.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a very hard sport. I started playing when I was 13. And I knew through family a local pro who helped me out, and so I started out with lessons and clubs and so I was never that good. I didn't have a lot of natural golf talent. I was a athlete. So I was good at most of the traditional sports. Golf was a little bit different because I couldn't overpower it right, I couldn't. I couldn't out athlete golf because there's so much technique and, uh, it's very technical. It's a lot like swimming, um, so technique is so important, uh.
Speaker 2:But I got to the point where I could play, yeah, for a while but, the ball is just sitting there, right like you play baseball, the ball is moving rapidly and I can hit that, but you put that little ball on the ground and it's like I just it's like I lose all athletic ability once I step on a golf course yeah, it's well, it's so mental.
Speaker 1:I mean, golf is so mental. Um, you know it's I was thinking about this a couple months ago the analogy of, like, when you go to the driving range, right, it's so much easier. So, whether it's before your round or if you're just going to practice, right, and the reason is that you're completely relaxed because there's no downside to a bad shot, right, so like you can hit it straight, right or top it or chunk it or whatever, but it doesn't matter, because you're like I'm just going to hit another ball, but your body relaxes. But then when you get to the course, then you've got trees, you've got sand, you've got water, fairways are narrow, so now there's repercussions, but you have a hard time mentally relaxing. You tend to tense up.
Speaker 1:So it's interesting, and you could apply that to speaking or like whatever you're doing. But you have to figure out a way to kind of tap into, like the driving range mentality of just like relaxing and letting go of the outcome and you just like do the best you can and whatever happens happens. But when you get to the course right, and I struggled with that for a long time it's like I was hitting it so good on the range like 20 minutes ago, and now like where did all, where did that go? And it's like, well, it's, it's here and it's just. You know, your body is now in a different state well and you're spot on that.
Speaker 2:It's mental right. And we're talking about, like posting on linkedin earlier, like how many times do you read it? You write a post, so you're like man, I love this, but as soon as you want to hit that button to make it public, all all this crap starts to happen in your head. Or you know, before you do a presentation, you know you're a hundred percent prepared. Soon, as you walk on that stage, here comes all that crap and I that's why I admire people that work through that, that push themselves through that, that kind of work through it, because we all have that crap. There's all this stuff going on. The difference is who lets that take them over and who who pushes right through that.
Speaker 2:And that's probably why I like the coaching too, because I love to see where they start once you get to the end and I remember even you know, when I was getting coached. So you know, shout out to Allie, I had all this crap in my head of why I shouldn't do it. And then, as you kind of work through the process and you know, even like when you and I did some stuff together you work through the stuff and then you realize like I completely manifested all that stuff. There was no reason to worry about it and there's always going to be there's always going to be people that that have a negative aspect on.
Speaker 2:On what you like. I mentioned earlier I had a good buddy who said you know you shouldn't post personal stuff online. It's like, well, why, it's who I am, like I've got, I've got things I want to say. So it's yeah, the mental, mental part in sports, business, whatever relationships. It's such a big, a big piece that unfortunately, we kind of manifest you know something that's really not there, nothing's going to happen.
Speaker 1:What's the?
Speaker 2:worst going to happen if you put yourself out there. Nothing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's a great point. And you know, when I started this again almost 20 months ago, like we said earlier, with no real experience, like same, like I I was like, oh, I don't, you know, it's not something I've ever done. And now it's literally changed the rest of my life, like the just a, the work I'm doing, the people that I've met. You know, I've traveled out of the country to meet people, like, all these things have happened simply because I took a chance and started telling stories online, which sounds crazy, but you never know until you, until you give it a shot, right, and if it doesn't and that's what ultimately, my coach at the time told me he was like, if you do it and it goes nowhere, you aren't any worse off than if you hadn't. Like you'll just be right back where you started, but at least you'll know that you've tried, whereas if you don't try, you're still where you are, but then you're always wondering, well, like what would have happened? Right, so you might as well give it a spin and and see.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it's great, great insight for like just to take it, like take a chance. If there's something you want to do, like, take a chance, it's almost therapeutic.
Speaker 2:I mean I know we talked about a few weeks ago. You know I posted that about my incident in the Swiss Alps. All my friends and stuff they always want me to tell that story over and over. But it's difficult for me to tell because I experienced it and it wasn't a great situation and my brain's actually blocked out a lot of it. But I will say, when I actually posted it, when I got it down on paper, like physically, got it out there, it was almost therapeutic For sure, because it almost took all that built up emotion and negativity from it. And it's like I just put it out there and the amount of messages that I got from people after telling that story, like people were like hey, can you tell me more details? Can they? Like you know they wanted to kind of go through it.
Speaker 2:It ended up being therapeutic because I kind of shut down, I mean it, it when it happened. It's one of those things, like you, I would never take it away. I learned so much from it. Right, you get this like near-death experience and you kind of you learn a lot from it. You learn your limitations. Obviously I can't snowboard, but yeah, just getting it physically out there, online or writing it down on paper. It was. It was very therapeutic Credit to my fiance because I talked about writing that story forever and she pushed it and pushed it. She's like it's a great story and I'm like, yeah, for you it's a great story. For me it wasn't exactly a great story at the time. Now, looking back, yeah, right, things happen at the time. Now, looking back, yeah, yeah, right, it's it's things happen. But man, I tell, I tell my clients all the time, write stuff down right now, get it out there yeah, there's.
Speaker 1:There's something about that process and I even think what you're talking about like actually writing it. It's even better than typing it. Typing is better than doing nothing at all. But there is something about the, the brain, the process of the brain, to, you know, getting it out on paper, you process it differently, you think about it differently. Like you said, it allows it's kind of a, it's an exodus, you know, out of the body, you know, as you're still with you, but it's just different. So a hundred percent agree on really anything. And I'm not a journaler. I've tried to journal a billion times.
Speaker 1:I can't stick with it, but the principle of just writing just has incredible, incredible benefits.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and to be honest with you, and I don't know if it's right or wrong and I'm probably kind of going against what most people do, like most of my posts, I literally I get up in the morning and what you see is what I just wrote out. It's not, it's typically, it's not pre-planned, I don't have a thought behind it. A lot of what I write gets away, gets away from my, my niche, my niche. But I'm just kind of saying my perspective and, you know, resonates for some people, other people it doesn't, and that's okay. You know some people talk about you. Eventually get your own tribe and it's that. We've all built a community out there. I just love it. I love to see what people put out there.
Speaker 1:I agree, I have ideas. I can batch ideas, but I can't batch content. So I typically write the day before, sometimes the night before. I don't usually write the day of, but I write a lot based on feel. So I'll have an idea and if that feels right then I'll go with it. But if it doesn't, then I'll go through my, like other ideas and find one that resonates, and then eventually I will and then I'll write about that. So I think there's a big. I think that really helps when you're writing, uh, to have some emotion and some feel behind. I think it. Just it helps, right, you're not forcing it or you're not like all right, I'm going to write this today Because I've written posts like that where it's just on my calendar but I don't really want to write it and I never like enjoy that nearly as much.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, I like like with you. You're very good at focused content. My content is not focused, it's kind of all over the place and really my content probably isn't for LinkedIn, it's probably some other social media platform.
Speaker 2:But again, I'm not all those, and that's what I really admire about what you do, because I know when I go to see your posts, I know what I'm going to get, I know it's going to teach me something, and that's what I really love. I love when people can they know what their audience is, they know what their ideal client is and they focus on that. And ultimately, because you do that, that's why you're successful. I'm still trying to figure out how to define success. Is it clients? Is it saying what? Getting what I want to say out there? You know a lot of people talk about online too. I'm traditionally introverted, I'm not a big talker or whatnot. So this kind of gives me a outlet and I'm okay with that being my success. If it leads to more money, great. But I've met a lot of great people through this. You know, through this transition, I've got to have a lot of great conversations, like with you and with other people, and to me that feels like success. The rest doesn't matter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, there's obviously different, different definitions of success for everyone. I appreciate what you said about you know, my content content. I will say, though, that took me a long time to get to that point. You know, when I first started writing, it was all over the place. I talked a lot about, you know, motivational stuff, quotes, stories from my sports and racing background books I'd read, you know it was. It was because I didn't. I really didn't know what I was doing, and so I was just kind of taking my experience. Now, over time, it eventually got a little more, a little narrower, and now it's somewhat defined, but that is difficult. I found that very difficult to do at first and I think a lot of people struggled so, but I think that's fine. I think that's part of the process, and so if you are new to creating, like, write about different stuff like it doesn't have to be about to your ideal client or it doesn't have to be about your business, like you know that's, I think that's totally fine I got a message.
Speaker 2:Uh, it was last week late last week, thursday or friday. It blew my mind because someone said hey, I would like to hear more about what you do. I really like you know, seeing you as a content creator nice and I was like you just called me a content creator. What does that even mean?
Speaker 1:welcome to the club.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like, did he just say content creator? It blew my mind. I remember he even got up and ran in the other room and I'm like hey, hey, cat, some guy just called me a content creator, so he kind of looked at me like no, but you're no, you were like and I'm gonna start my youtube channel and my instagram reels and all I'm gonna it's an empire.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be a content creation empire coming I'm the next joe rogan here.
Speaker 2:We go there, you go there you go, mr mr b snelling's yeah, so it blew. It blew my mind and I responded back and actually they ended up being a client. Nice. It was just funny though, the terminology, the wording, because even now I don't even consider that. I literally am just kind of speaking what's on my mind and you know, unfortunately it doesn't always have to do with my niche and I'm okay with that now, at first I wasn't.
Speaker 2:I was like man, I got to get focused. I got to do with my niche and I'm okay with that now, at first I wasn't. I was like man, I gotta get focused, I gotta do this. But I'm like, I'm just gonna be me and some people are gonna like it and some aren't and you know, eventually, like I said, I hope to get back in the corporate.
Speaker 2:There's gonna be some corporate people that go and look at my post and be like I don't know about this guy, and then there's gonna be the ones that do like it, and that's who I want to be around. Those are my people.
Speaker 1:No, totally get it. Well, this has been a great hour of conversation that's flown by. I really appreciate you coming on, sharing your insight and part of your backstory, any parting thoughts, any final words you can leave the audience with, and then people that are interested in learning more. What's the best way to reach out and how to find you?
Speaker 2:best way to find me is on linkedin. I'm working on the instagram piece, still learning that, still building out a website, trying to uh get that kind of finished and that way everything just kind of connects together. But yeah, going going to my profile on linkedin, even if you just got a random question about something. I love helping people, especially if they're trying to build their career, especially young people trying to get started in their career. It's tough out there, it's a tough market.
Speaker 1:On top of that.
Speaker 2:I'd just say David, love what you're doing, love your content, appreciate you letting me on here, love your content, uh, appreciate you letting me on here and uh, keep educating people because it it it really makes a bigger impact than you you probably realize. So I appreciate you and I I appreciate other content creators that are doing their thing and uh, it takes takes a lot of balls.
Speaker 1:It's not easy no, I appreciate that. No, thank you, I appreciate that a lot of balls. It's not easy. No.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:No, thank you. I appreciate that a lot. I appreciate you coming on and we'll do it again sometime.
Speaker 2:Thanks, ryan. All right, david, thank you.