Golden Nuggets from Career Conversations

Golden Nuggets from Career Conversations

Well. We've had quite a few conversations with quite a few people doing quite a few different things! It's been a blast. To round out our second season (!), we thought we'd do a bit of a summary of the key takeaways, or golden nuggets that came out of those conversations. Because despite all the differences, there were a lot of ideas and experiences that repeated over and over again. What did we find the most telling? The number of times these things came up: * The role networking played in so many careers * The non-linear pathways * Finding yourself doing something you hated in high school, and realizing it wasn't so bad * The impacts of AI on the changing career landscape * Being willing to change your mind and get off the train as soon as you know it's going the wrong direction * Evolving as a human and how it changes your work and how you work

Meet Rachel: Writer

In this episode, Devon and Sarah-Jane chatted with Rachel Brethauer, Copywriter, Magical Unicorn and aspiring TV writer. Besides giving us a peek behind the curtain of TV writing, Rachel also hit on some pretty important themes in our conversation with her. They included: * The bonuses of partnerships and connections * Seeing it as "making friends" and "finding your people" instead of "networking" * How success doesn't look at all what you think it will * Learning to accept what isn't in your control: often, the outcome of your work * Chasing your dreams from a early age so you can learn, and readjust as you go Resources Copywriting and Advertising [https://mediaarts.humber.ca/programs/advertising-copywriting.html] at Humber College Radio and Television Arts (RTA) [https://www.torontomu.ca/rta/] at Toronto Metropolitan University Searle Creative Group [https://searlecreative.com/]

Meet Vicki: A Little Neurospicy

In this episode, Devon and Sarah-Jane chatted with Vicki Noels-Cornish, who is a fellow career pro. Vicki's pathway has been a little different than Devon and Sarah-Jane's, mainly because she defines herself as "neurospicy." If you have ADHD, a learning disability or you feel like you fall into the category of neurodivergence, you definitely don't want to miss this episode! A few of our big takeaways: * What it means to be "neurospicy," and how that can impact your career and your work life * The impact of getting fired * Seeing your neurodivergence as a superpower * The societal and very gendered assumptions about ADHD * Ideas of the kinds of accommodations you could ask for in the workplace * An introduction to the Kolbe Assessment * Flipping the script to see the world as "innovation deficient" and figuring out how you can solve that Resources: The Company YOU [https://thecompanyyou.ca/] - Vicki's business The Kolbe Assessment [https://www.kolbe.com/kolbe-a-index/]

Meet Melissa: Brand Marketing Manager

On this episode, we'll meet Melissa Macfarlane Heidmiller, a Brand Marketing Manager. We thought she meant brand marketing as in, marketing shoes. She means brand marketing like marketing businesses. It's her job to make sure that organizations look attractive to potential employees. The industry has only been around since the 80s, and it's been in Canada for maybe 10 years. Here are a few things we chatted about: * The miraculous thing that is visiting career counsellors after high school * Building a career that is a combination of working for others and working for yourself * The ups and downs of working in a new-to-Canada industry * How there isn't one thing only that you can do in your career * Following a common thread in your career; in Melissa's case, her job combines communications, marketing, HR and career counselling to help her support talent management and skill development * How plenty of employers still don't understand the benefit of being intentional about attracting the right people to their roles and organizations

Meet Honey: Restauranteur

Did you ever have a time when you were working in fraud investigation, and then your family history, your creativity and your joy all converged in one place, and you quit your job and opened a restaurant? Yeah, we didn't either. But this episode's guest did! Meet Honey Abada, the current owner of La Isla Manila in Barrie, Ontario. Honey dropped some terrific insights on her own career journey, including: * Leading with curiosity * Getting out of your own head, and really hearing how others see your skills * Being open when opportunity arises * The ups and downs of entrepreneurship * Using your skills and talents to serve