WEBVTT - How To Deal With Being Laid Off 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:09.840 Hey, Hey, Hey, we're back. We're black, We're Brown, and 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:14.880 I am writing solo. It's your Girl, Mandy aka Mandy Money, 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.440 and I am not going to be alone for much longer, y'all. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:22.439 For eight years, my little brother, Alex Woodruff has been 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:26.920 petitioning to be a guest on Brown Ambition, and finally 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:29.760 he asked at the right time. I have never been 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:33.880 more impressed with him as not just a career professional, 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:37.440 but also from a financial perspective. What he's managed to 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:41.000 do just by the tender age of thirty one. I 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:44.000 can't believe he's old, but also that makes me so 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:47.839 much older. But anyway, he has paid off a condo, 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:50.760 paid off fifty K of student loan debt, built his 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:55.880 own beautiful, gigantic home in the heart of our hometown 0:00:55.960 --> 0:01:00.200 of Atlanta. He has an Airbnb property, and on top 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:04.679 of that, he is a badass tech sales rep for 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:09.000 multiple companies like IBM and Salesforce. And did I even 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:13.960 mention that he has this new, thriving creative endeavor as 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.880 a filmmaker. So I am inviting my little brother, my 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:21.440 little brother Alex, on the show today and I hope 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:26.200 that you all enjoy this conversation. All right, so you know, 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.080 now I have this, I'm well, I don't know, I 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:31.480 don't know what to call myself. And people say, like, 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:33.200 what do you do now, I'm like, I do a 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.280 lot of things, but one of the core things is 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.720 I have the Manny money Maker career coaching community, which 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:39.520 I've just started in the last couple of years. And 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:43.160 You've always been very supportive of that. Thank you. But 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:46.080 it was sort of exciting for me in a sick, 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:48.960 kind of weird way. Again, I'm a terrible person. Unlike yourself. 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:51.160 You're very pure. But when you got let. 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:56.560 Go, when it happened to you, you were few important 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:59.000 things like this in public you could have. 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:00.760 You never told me that you liked it when I 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:01.480 got laid off. 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:03.520 Well, and from the sense of like, I love it 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.040 when anyone comes to me with a real life career 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:11.000 conundrum and I'm like, ooh, data and project and I 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.160 want to watch this story unfold so I can learn 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:17.360 to make me a better coach, you know, and yeah, 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:22.160 so when you but also there's my therapist asked me, 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:23.760 She's like, what is it about you and Alex that 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:27.080 you think makes you guys have so much faith in 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:29.359 yourself for success or whatever, and I was like, I 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:30.960 don't really know what's to put up on my finger 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:32.920 on it, but like, I'm not worried about either of us. 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:35.640 I'm not worried about you. I'm not worried about There's 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:42.040 no real sense of getting let go could derail Alex's success, 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:43.600 you know what I mean? The same way for me, 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:47.640 Like if tomorrow, god forbid, they take away Brown ambition, 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:49.440 I don't know who is in charge of that, no one, 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:52.639 because we own it. But whatever, I'll I'll find some way, 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:54.560 like I'll be okay. So I feel like when you 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.680 came to me with, you know, unfortunately being let go. 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:01.240 While I was concerned and I wanted to help you, 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:04.720 I also like wasn't I was like, oh, like he'll 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:06.320 bounce back. He's going to be fine, you know what 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:09.000 I mean. So that's why I think I could like 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:11.040 take myself out of it and be like ooh project 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.040 and like it's fun. But I want you to talk 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.200 about that because I think you're such an incredible example. 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:19.040 And I told you this at the time of professional 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:23.560 resilience and someone who you know, you were at this 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:26.120 place for less than a year or just about a year. 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:29.480 It was less than a year. It was around nine 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:30.240 ten months. 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.240 Yeah, and you're like me a job hopper, So how 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:36.120 many this was like your how many jobs? And I 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:38.360 don't know how many jobs did you have up to 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:39.400 this point? How many years? 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:43.480 An unwilling job hopper. I'm I'm searching for long term commitment. 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:44.480 I think I found. 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.080 It, Like we could hear that bill. 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:49.360 Yeah, I was not trying to like. 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:52.880 Job like hop from the next thing to the next thing. 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:55.760 It's when you're in the startup world in tech this 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:58.440 can happen. It's kind of the risk you take when 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:00.760 you go from an IBM or a salesforce, which is 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:04.840 where I worked out of college, into the startup world 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:08.120 where it's a lot faster, a lot looser, and you 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:11.160 don't necessarily know what's going to happen. The flip side 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:14.160 of that is that you can have massive earning potentials. 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:16.560 You have a lot of autonomy to run yourself and 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:20.080 your business like it's your business. And it speaks to 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:22.280 me more going back to what we talked about earlier, 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:23.880 it speaks to who I am to work at a 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.039 company that I know, the CEO, I have a relationship 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:28.800 with that person, and I know what we stand for 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:33.160 and I can reflect that. So yeah, getting laid off 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:37.600 is tough. It was very, very startling because I think 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:42.320 highly of myself and so while I wasn't shocked because 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:44.800 I knew that as a company we weren't performing and 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.919 as an individual I could have been doing better, but 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:53.720 I was definitely surprised. I thought that it wouldn't if 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:55.080 it was going to happen, I thought I would have 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:58.400 been safe. So there's a couple of things I want 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:00.599 to say, Like, definitely I have a chip my shoulder. 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:02.719 And when you talk about you always knew I was 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:04.120 going to be okay. You're not worried about me, You're 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.320 not worried about you. Like I'm going to be okay 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.039 because I'm going to make sure that whoever made that 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.640 decision regrets it one way or another. 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:12.520 And they probably won't. 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:15.440 They don't know, so you do have like in my head, Yeah, 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.000 I want to like make them regret it. I want 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:21.840 them to be like saying that dumb shit, Like that's 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:24.000 what I want. And so I'm going to force that 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:26.159 to happen. And so Fiddler, where I work is getting 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.920 the hardest working version of me, like possible. It is 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:33.599 the I'm on go mode right now because I need 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:37.240 to validate not only to myself but to this imaginary 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.880 hater who I've created in my head, who thinks like 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:41.800 I'm going to fail. 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:44.279 I'm gonna flyp like that. That is how I operate. 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.000 But on the other end of it, in terms of 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:49.920 like when it happened and the fear that I had 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.039 two reasons I wasn't really afraid. One is that my 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:57.800 girlfriend has my back, like she financially can help us 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.080 out and get us through a period of lean time. 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:02.760 And then the other thing, it's not all that lean 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:07.680 over here. I'm doing okay, Like I'm not scraping the bottom. 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:09.440 I didn't have a lot of cash in the bank, 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:13.040 which you expressed to me, but you didn't have an airbnb. 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:15.559 Yeah, Like, what's the worst that can happen? 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:18.559 Now my massive house and make a bunch of money 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:20.279 off of it, and then by the time I'm done 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:21.920 doing that, I have a new job, and. 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:25.000 Like you just got to be able to be adaptable, Like. 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:26.680 Yeah, I wanted this. 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.280 House, but what if it doesn't work out, that's okay, 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:33.279 Like I need what's actually important to me as a 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:36.960 human it isn't this house, it's not this neighborhood, it's 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.279 not the job that I was in at the time. 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:43.680 It's like, how do I ensure that I'm not losing 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:45.359 sight of what's actually important to me? 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:47.480 And so when I got laid off, Yeah, it was. 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:49.760 It was scary for a little bit, but once I 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:51.479 started thinking about it, and I'm like, I'll be fine. 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.719 I'm going to handle this and no matter what, nothing's 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:56.800 off the table as long as you know, me and 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:59.880 the people who I love are protected and we're fine, 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:01.839 and maybe we live in a smaller place, maybe we 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.200 rent for a while. None of those things ended up happening. 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:05.800 I got a new job in like three weeks. 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:08.960 But like, yes, so let's talk about that. Yeah, first 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:11.200 of all, your first your first correct step was to 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:11.760 call me. 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:14.360 I called you almost immediately, right, I don't know. 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:18.800 It's extremely pregnant and you know, about to pop any. 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:20.360 You were like any moment. 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:22.440 Now, I'm like, hey, wait, we're kind of putting a 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:23.920 date on it. And if we do that, do you 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:30.960 think that matters? You've been pregnant twice, Oh, you're right, Well, 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:34.640 you know pro life, I've been pregnant. 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.520 Sleuthing that hard, I'm fine with. 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:39.240 Yeah, you're right, Okay, Okay, yeah, so of course you 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:43.720 called me right away, and I just pro life, I've 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:44.640 been pregnant three times. 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:46.240 Okay, Yeah, I'm sorry. 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:47.800 I just I just I caught up with you. 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:53.920 Stick around, kid, you'll learn some stuff today. All right. 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.000 So you called me up. We talked about it, and 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.080 like immediately I feel like you were it was your 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.600 full time job to be looking for work, and like 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:03.920 quickly talk about a few things that you did that 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.680 you feel like three weeks later you had an incredible 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:08.560 Not only did you have an incredible job, because we 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:11.040 got to the negotiation, which is also so fun for 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:14.760 me to like have a backseat to watching you negotiate 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:16.920 because I love seeing it happen in real time. But 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.680 you had options in three weeks. It wasn't just like 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:23.200 I got a break, It was you had two or 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:27.600 three potential opportunities. So I think it's really crucial for 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:29.280 people to understand how that came to be. 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:32.160 Yeah. So, I mean it's just like when you brought 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:34.120 up how I lost hope in college. It was the 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:35.880 same exact scenario. 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:38.480 Like I got hope scholarship, not hope in his life. 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:40.160 Oh, you're right, I forget people aren't fromantic. 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:41.600 I lost the Hope scholarship. 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:45.000 I'm not hope as a person. Yeah, I lost a 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:48.679 scholarship that I had going to college and that was 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:51.120 that was a big wake up call. It reminded me 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:53.280 to keep the main thing the main thing, and understand 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:55.120 what my floor is and for me, in order to 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.560 do everything I love and everything that's important to me, 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.960 I need to be a highly functional software or sales executive. 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:03.480 And if the place I was at I wasn't able 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:05.719 to do that or deliver, I need to go and 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:09.560 fix that first. If I don't, everything else is now 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:13.120 under threat. I can't invest in my movies, I can't 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:15.720 have a lifestyle I want to live. I can't you know, 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:19.120 put into my retirement, et cetera. So it was extremely important, 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:20.800 I put to your point, I was like my full 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:22.760 time job for that three weeks was to find a job. 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:28.720 In terms of how I got the options I have developed. 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:31.719 Over the course of my career, A good reputation, and 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:36.440 several really important mentors, people who have vouched for me, 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:40.200 people who have supported me along my process. One of 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.120 them is Seth Dobrin, who at the time was the 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.680 president of the Responsible AI Institute, which I'm a board 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.199 advisor for, and he connected me with a few people 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:49.200 immediately as. 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:54.559 Well as Exponsible AI, the Responsible AI Institute. Okay, gotcha. 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:56.839 He connected with me with people. 0:09:57.000 --> 0:09:59.280 I was on LinkedIn, you know, doing what I do 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:01.840 from a state sales perspective, but now looking for a 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:03.000 job and I'm the product. 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:06.160 So it was very it felt natural. 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:07.800 It was scary for the first few days, but then 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.559 I started getting interviews and then you start then I'm 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:12.680 in the mode, right, I'm I'm Max. 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:14.960 So you reach out to seth, you reach out to 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.560 the mentors, like via LinkedIn or email or whatever, let 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:19.760 them know. Do you tell them? Because I get this 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:21.880 question sometimes, should I tell people I've been let go? 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:24.079 What you need to think about? What was your p 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:25.720 That's a fair question, I think. 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.680 And you had a lot of concern about reputational risk too, 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.960 until the stigma warranted and valid. 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.960 Reputational risk because it wasn't my first time leaving a startup. 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:38.960 Right in the prior year, I had left a company 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:40.920 and went to a startup and then that startup folded. 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:42.600 I didn't get let go, but I had to get 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:45.600 out because it was under a lot of pressure. So 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:49.080 I left for another startup, and then that startup laid 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:52.480 me off. So like, for me, my reputation as a 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.280 job hopper is not something that I think is valuable 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:58.280 in my career. I don't want that reputation. I want 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:00.320 the best opportunity for me. Don't get me wrong, but 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:02.280 I don't want to be looked at as a job hopper. 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.120 I want to go somewhere and deliver and be looked 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:07.000 at as Wow, I'm glad that person was here. 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:10.679 So I was worried, yeah, about who I reached out to. 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:13.079 And I think for anyone listening, it's important to think 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.760 about what your reputation is with somebody before you reach 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:18.120 out to them and tell him you were let go, 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:20.720 Because if they don't think that highly of you, and 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:23.080 you were reaching out to them and letting them know 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:25.240 bad news about you and asking them for help, like 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:27.920 maybe you should find someone else. 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.800 Their reputation could be at stake as well. You know, 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:33.720 they have to really well like if they will, because 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.240 they may decide not to vouch for you just for 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:38.640 fear that if they do, like they don't really trust 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.600 that it'll reflect, you know, well on them. But if 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.079 someone knows you, they're like, oh, Alex was Alex ended 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:47.320 up here? Not because he's not great, but because you 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.400 know some thing's happened to Alex. I'm still going to 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:51.679 vouch for Alex as the product, you. 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:55.080 Know, absolutely, and you don't want to. 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:58.960 It's always you're always trying to build the best reputation 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:01.480 for yourself with everyone in your network that you possibly can. 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:04.440 So if somebody already doesn't think that highly of me 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:07.000 or is not a huge fan of mine, I'm not 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:08.520 bringing them bad news. 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:11.719 That's not a valuable investment on my end. 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:13.640 I'm going to wait to pull up on them after 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:15.520 I have some good news so that I can improve 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.400 that impression that they have with me. So I'm going 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:21.000 to the people to your point who already think highly 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:22.800 of me, who know that if I was let go. 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:25.760 You know, it's like when you have a breakup, you 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:27.120 go to that friend who's going to be like, man, 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:29.280 they were bugging, Like that's who you want to go 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:31.000 to in this environment. You want to go to somebody 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:31.960 who supports. 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:35.080 You, yeah, and then would vouch for you. So that 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:38.679 led you to a couple of not just interviews, but 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.599 like because you're niching into and people who want to 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:44.320 break into tech, I feel like listen up because like 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:48.480 you targeting were you specifically targeting startups? Because I feel 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:52.800 like that because it's such a smaller sort of I 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:56.280 don't know, like companies small fewer people in between you 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.480 and leadership, You're able to get that FaceTime with leadership 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:03.040 pretty quick, you know, versus like applying to Meta or 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:09.880 Google and you know, going into this huge stratosphere that's 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:11.680 just like it's hard to break into. 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:15.120 You need to understand what your leverage is. So for 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:17.800 me and the skill set I have and the track 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:20.360 record I have, I have the ability to go to 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:23.320 a startup who needs the job that I do, which 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:27.440 is sales, and say you should consider me. Right, But 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:29.960 if you're brand new and trying to break into the 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:32.200 tech space and you're trying to get a job like 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:34.880 the one I have right now, it might be more 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.120 beneficial for you to go to a bigger company who 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:40.040 is hiring more people at once, who has a training 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.680 program like what I did when I joined IBM. Right, 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:44.920 that would be maybe a good use of your time. 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:46.840 Because if you go to a startup. They're expecting you 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:48.559 to be ready made. They want you to have gone 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:50.560 through training already. They want you to be ready to 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:55.239 literally join and Fiddler, I was having meetings with customers 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.280 like a week after I joined, because I. 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:58.120 Already knew the space. 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:00.600 I was already you know, enough of it expert to 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:01.120 be able. 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:01.960 To They don't have time to train. 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:03.400 Yeah, they didn't need to. 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.320 Yeah, they didn't want to have to train anyone. So 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:07.839 that's the leverage I had coming in. If I were 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:09.960 brand new and I were trying to get into a 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:12.680 sales job, I would go somewhere with a training program 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:16.880 that allows me to generate more skills and a track 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:20.640 record of success. And then if I decide eventually I 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:22.600 want to be in startups, which is how my career 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:26.160 you know, uh went, then I can do that. And 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:27.920 now a startup is a lot more likely to look 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:29.720 at me because I have a track record of success 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:33.680 and I've been trained already, you know, a valuable program. 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.240 Okay, all right, that's really helpful. I think that that's 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:41.040 really good to note as well. Like, and I bring 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.320 up IBM because I've got some clients who work for IBM, 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:45.120 and I'm like, shout out to the big companies who 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.920 give people a foundation of experience. Yeah, so there's no 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:53.360 shade to going to a big old company. But I 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:55.680 think what's great is that you weren't afraid to change 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:57.560 your mind and you weren't afraid to go in a 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:00.480 different direction. And I recently heard a statistic that was 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.920 like the highest and this is a basketball reference. Okay, 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.400 so obviously I don't know what I'm talking about, but 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:12.040 this stat was like the top five highest scoring players 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:16.520 were also the top five highest missed basket players. What 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:17.560 do you call that brick? 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:19.680 Yeah, so like they had the bricks. 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.560 Yeah, you do conference field goals missed, so they probably 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:24.040 had the most. 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:26.440 Yeah, because they're shooting a lot o basketball. 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:27.600 That's not a field goal, is it. 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:30.000 Yeah, it's called a field goal. It's confusing. This is 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:31.360 a tough what it is? 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:34.960 Yeah, the thing that Shaq can't do. That's a field goal. 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:35.800 That's a free throw? 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:40.480 Oh feel a free okay anyway, Yeah, but my point 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.640 is like in order to get the wins, get the house, 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:46.800 get the airbnb, you know, get the debt paid off, 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:49.440 you had to make like a lot of like take 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:53.040 some risks, like go for it, you know, and the 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.360 layoff being one of the times that it didn't that 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:58.840 you could perceive it as like, oh, took that shot, 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.680 it didn't pay off. But look at all the things that, 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:04.000 you know, all the chances you did take that did 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:06.520 pay off. And I feel like a lot of people 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:08.360 that I work with and even who listen to the 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:11.720 show just are like love coming back because it's like 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:15.560 giving you permission, helping you feel safer, you know, taking 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:20.440 that shot, because failing is yeah, failing is scary. I 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:23.560 have failed. I will fail, you know in the future 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.360 with some projects that I pursue. But I'm also going 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:28.480 to really succeed because I'm going to keep doing stuff. 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:31.320 Yeah, you know, That's why I loved when you first 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.720 started the show, Like I'm a I'm an artist, so 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:39.520 I vibe with concepts and name and even brands and logos. 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.080 Thanks to wearing ours again. By the way, follow us 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:44.880 at Pineapple cut Pictures on Instagram, or you can follow 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:47.960 me at alex J Woodriff. I may not be on 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:48.560 in a few months. 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:49.920 I might have to leave, you should have said at 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.120 the beginning of the show, as I will. That's what 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.000 most listenership is. You know what I'm saying. 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:58.320 Yeah, yeah, like the Brown ambition, the name it speaks 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:00.720 to everything you just said. It's like you have to 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:05.840 have that be your affirmation. Be ambitious, be audacious when 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.399 you have the ability to, Like, those are things that 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.280 have served me very well. Is when I know that 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:12.440 I understand what it is I'm doing, I'm good. Those 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:14.600 are the times to be audacious. Those are the times 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.080 to try to go a step further than maybe where 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.800 you'd be comfortable, and that's how you're going to For example, 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:22.040 I built the house after I first bought a condo. 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:24.440 That was pretty audacious, but I did have a little 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:26.440 bit of a foundation because I had renovated my condo. 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:30.520 So those things, you know, are important to try. And 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:34.080 now whatever I do next, who knows, right, but it's 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:37.720 going to be something that's audacious because that's just part 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:38.600 of my DNA. 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:43.400 I mean direct writing and directing your first features sary 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:46.600 short yeah, short film, Yeah, I've learned that from Project 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:50.560 green Light. It's a short, but still it's really freaking amazing. 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:52.080 I wish I could be there in person to see it. 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.639 But I want to end on that note, just like 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:59.399 talking about the audacity of Brown ambition and how you 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.480 persona by that, and I'm just so damn proud of you, baby. 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.439 Bro, thank you so much, and the feeling is way mutual. 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:07.200 I'm so happy. I wish TIF could be here. I 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:07.720 tell her too. 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.880 But y'all, maybe you'll come back on the show. 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:14.240 I want to be back. 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:17.359 I mean, you know, you know if you're watching the 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.440 reviews on this one, like the I want to get 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:21.160 the I want to get. 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:24.680 The listening, well, I don't know, you're gonna have to 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:28.320 be on i G because like that's where the BA 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:31.280 fan is on IG interacting with our clips. Also, you 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:33.600 can listen to this on or watch on YouTube if 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:36.399 you want to see how much Alex may Or may 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:40.359 not look like me, y'all me, I am the original doppelganger, 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:42.880 not Drake. Yes, people, then no one used to say 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:44.000 you look like Drake when. 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:47.200 His hair goes down. Yeah, it's pretty uncanny. 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.960