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0:00 - Hello, and welcome to the Degrees of Success podcast. 0:15 I'm your host, Frida Richards. And today we have an incredible guest with us, Dr. Patrick Horton. 0:21 Dr. Horton is an entrepreneur, a professor and author, and a vice president. 0:27 He was also awarded the Purple Heart for being injured in battle. Please help me welcome Dr. Patrick Horton. 0:34 - Oh, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. I'm glad to be here with you guys. - Of course, of course. You know, we wanna learn more about you, 0:41 find out more about your story, so let's just jump right in. Tell us about where you're from, 0:47 what your childhood was like, and what your ambitions were. - Yeah, fantastic. Yeah, so, you know, 0:53 obviously thank you guys for having me here. My name is Dr. Patrick Horton. I'm actually originally from small town in California called 0:59 Vacaville, California. It's about 30 minutes outside, right in the middle of d Smack in the middle of San Francisco 1:05 and Sacramento, California. So kind of born and raised, you know, back in the day it used to be called, you know, 1:11 Vacaville means Cow Town, and now it's kind of a connecting city right in the Bay area between, you know, you know, right there in the middle 1:18 and grew up, you know, for the most part, like a normal, you know, small town suburbian kid playing baseball 1:25 as a youth, actually almost ended up playing professional baseball, you know, out of high school. I was one of the top baseball players in the state 1:30 of California, you know, in high school. My, originally my goal was to actually become an attorney. You know, I wanted to go onto Sacramento State 1:37 and go to law school and things like that. And then, you know, like most young people, you know, you have a little bit of, you know, you know a little bit 1:43 of trouble when you're young and you know, you kind of go through some growing pains. And then after that end up, you know, going to heal technical college 1:51 and getting like a, a certificate in electronics and associate's degree in computer science. And then from there, joined the military. 1:56 But, you know, essentially, you know, a normal kid, you know, playing sports, you know, living in sunny California was just a great place 2:02 to grow up in the nineties. Definitely miss that place too. So, and then went on to join the military and go from there. 2:09 - You said you miss it because you're currently in Florida, but you are from California. 2:15 I imagine you miss it a lot right now because there were a lot of hurricanes. - Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. 2:21 I mean, we typically, you know, every, every year you, you'll get hurricane season, you may get one or two, but because we're in the Gulf, it typically go 2:27 either south of us or north. But, you know, Helene came right through. And then with all the flooding, you know, I, 2:32 I was fortunate enough, I'm actually on Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg, so not a lot of damage, no power loss where I'm, 2:38 but everybody that's on St. Pete Beach or on the coast really, really got hit hard by the hurricane. So I was fortunate. 2:43 But the city is definitely gonna, a lot of, a lot of repair gonna be needed over the, over the years. 2:48 - Right, right. Well, we're happy that you are safe. My father's actually in Florida. 2:54 He was without electricity for a few days, I wanna say. It was like two days he was out of, out of electricity, 3:00 but blessed to where his house and everything was okay as well. So we'll take the no electricity. 3:05 - Absolutely. A lot of people were out, out for, you know, weeks at a time. So fortunate. 3:10 - Yes. So you grew up in California while in California 3:15 and growing up and, and then from there, I know that you went to the military. 3:20 What did that process look like for you? How did you make the decision to serve? - Well, you know, I, you know, 3:26 I actually wrote about this in my book, lucky to be here. You know, I said I had graduated high school and just like most young folks, you know, 3:32 you're just looking for your next step in life. You know, you're, you go from being a 17-year-old kid to an 18-year-old that's gotta make life-changing decisions. 3:39 So actually I'd gotten a, you know, a certificate in electronics and associate's degree in computer science. I actually went to a trade school initially, 3:45 and then I, you know, one of the things that the trade school taught me was to make a business decision, you know? Right. You know, early on is like a 18, 19, 20-year-old, 3:52 you know, most kids were in college going to college parties. I was going to a technical school five days a week learning 3:57 about ec, ac, CDC, electronics, semiconductors, how to build computers, things like that. So I kind of start, I, you know, I was obviously, 4:04 I had an associate's degree, I had no experience, and I just kind of put it down on paper and I said, okay, what would be the best move to make? 4:09 You know, could I get like a, a help desk job in the San Francisco Bay area, maybe making about 12, 13, 14 bucks an hour, 4:16 or, you know, I kind of took a look at the military and, you know, and, and it kind of allowed me to make the best business decision. 4:21 And what it came out to was, you know, the military was gonna give me, you know, a full ride scholarship for college. 4:26 It was going to pay back the current student loans I had, it was gonna give a $12,000 bonus, it was gonna gimme veteran status. 4:33 I was gonna actually get to pick the career I wanted to join into, which basically would give me that work experience that I needed. 4:39 I would become a veteran and then have access to all of the government's, you know, organizational structure that would give you career success in the future. 4:46 I mean, I would borrow, I would argue saying other than going to a full ride scholarship to like, you know, Harvard or Stanford, going into the military could be the best, 4:53 you know, decision a young person could make. I mean, think about it. You know, I'm, I'm getting to work for another 27 4:59 to 30-year-old sergeant captain whose responsibility is to make sure that my hair's cut, that I have proper etiquette, that I show up on time 5:06 that I'm learning in my profession. I'm getting valuable training. You know, you're getting, literally getting a, a life guide slash mentor 5:12 in those very formative years when you're a young adult. And, you know, a lot of our young adults are kind of out there on their own trying to figure out life 5:19 and going through trials and tribulations. They have that mentorship that early on, you know, especially in the military when Mar I would argue the best, 5:25 you know, mentors, you know, on the planet. You know, it was definitely an invaluable experience and it actually set the stage for me to be where I'm today. 5:31 - I'm glad that you mentioned mentor. My question to you is, what, what did mentors look like 5:39 for you throughout your life, and even in this time in the military? 5:44 What, what type of influences did they have in your life and something that you still hold onto today? 5:50 - You know, definitely, you know, some of the, the, the greatest professional that I ever met were military members. 5:57 You know, I think for the mo you know, in large part leadership, you know, just, you know, you know, management, I look at it as being, you know, 6:04 like I have the project management professional certification, I have a portfolio management. You know, just those skills, those ta tangible skills 6:10 that I know how to manage time, scope, and cost on a project. But what, when you learn leadership, you learn, you know, 6:17 you know, you know, treat others as you wanna be treated yourself, you know, always, you know, think about the ethos of your organization. 6:23 You know, doing things for the greater good. You know, just looking out for the next person. You know, they call in the military, you call it your battle buddy. 6:29 You know, you always make sure you go somewhere with your friend and you guys are looking out for your, your best interest. Always do the right thing when even when no one is looking. 6:36 I mean, I think that was the thing that gave, it almost gave me a competitive advantage, you know, in order to be a service member, you know, you have to, 6:43 you have to learn leadership and, you know, honor, duty, respect, selfless service, those things early on as a young adult 6:49 and, you know, most people don't really hone in on those skills or those values. So as a professional learning, basically learning 6:56 how to be a professional. So early on I was able to go and, you know, attack any of life's, you know, challenges head on, you know, you know, 7:03 fairly, you know, seamlessly. So I think that was the advantage that having mentors some, you know, you basically get to skip 7:08 through all the mistakes, even though I made my fair share. Right. But you get to skip through a lot of the mistakes and kind of get to, you know, doing things the right way, 7:15 the first time, the best you can. - Yes. So it sounds like for you, the path 7:21 of going in the military is so early, and as we all in our young age, make silly mistakes. 7:28 'cause it's the time to do it. Of course. Yeah. Right. Don't wanna do it in your forties mistake. Yep. Yeah. Great. 7:34 Find out who you are. So in that time though, you're able to do it in a community 7:39 that's also guiding you and leading you in the proper direction. And that was beneficial to you. 7:45 - Absolutely. And not to mention, you know, you need a little bit of rope, but you do need some limits in your life, right? You need someone that's, you know, I always say 7:52 that true freedom doesn't, you know, comes from discipline, right? I mean, to live them from living a disciplined life. 7:58 Think about if I go get a bachelor's degree, if I go get a, a quality per job, and you know, it allows me to earn an income that allows me 8:05 to live a good life and vacation when I want, and retire when I want. You know, I actually have more choices 8:10 and more freedom when I live a disciplined life and accomplish things, as opposed to if I'm just willy-nilly just letting the 8:17 wind take me where I will. And, you know, I, I think that, you know, there's so much value there that that's where those, 8:22 you know, that mentorship comes in. That's where that, that structure comes in. When you're in the military, you've gotta be somewhere 8:27 every day on time. You know, you learn those basic, you know, structural skills and it, it just sets you up for everything you need 8:33 to do every career you're gonna have the rest of your life no matter what. It's, - I couldn't agree more. I'm an army brat and, and my dad was in the Marines, 8:41 but so much of that is ingrained in me just being their daughter, you know, 8:47 making sure that I'm, that I'm on time, that I think about things ahead of time, but just like they've drilled into me 8:53 what was drilled into them, and like writing down my goals. And what's funny is I have, I have other friends 9:00 that don't necessarily do that. They don't, you know, write down their goal and then, you know, reflect back on it. And I, I, I say that it seem you're cheating yourself. 9:08 'cause there's so many things that you wanted to do that you did do, but you're not, you're not going back 9:13 to look at it to say, I did that thing. So, so to recognize that you're moving forward, like it's 9:20 so gratifying to go back and say, I did that, I did that, I did that. It's just, it's so gratifying to do that. 9:27 It's actually like a reward for yourself. - Yeah, absolutely. You know, and one of the things that I, so I'm actually a mentor myself. 9:32 I'm actually the chair for the mentorship program for the College of Information Technology for St. Pete College. And I actually created a, a, 9:38 a framework for the students. Basically I call the education certification experience framework. Basically, the goal is to accomplish one major task every 9:46 year, either every year, either get a promotion or job lateral transfer at work, get a professional certification or get a degree. 9:53 Now imagine if you do one major task every single year over a 20 year career, how many things could you accomplish? 10:00 You know, one of the things I teach 'em too is they go, Hey, you know, let's just say I happen to be 25 or 30 years old and I'm gonna go, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna write down 10:06 everything I've done every year for the last, like, you know, 10 years. And then I'm gonna step back and take a look at that and go, you know, who am I as a person? 10:12 What do I bring to the table? And then looking at who I am, where do I wanna go in the future? And then start mapping out one goal per year. 10:19 And, you know, you, let's say a a a, you know, an a plus or an OR, or a security plus, or a PMP, let's say that takes three, 10:26 four, or five months to complete. You knock out that one thing in a year and you're still not, you know, overcommitting yourself to where you're burning yourself out. 10:32 And then the next year you knock out maybe the associate's degree or the bachelor's degree, the next year you get a promotion at work. If you can do that over a 20 year period, 10:38 you can really start getting some momentum on building goals and great opportunities for yourself. - Absolutely. You, that plan has to be really helpful 10:47 for the people that you mentor. Do you have an example of any of the students 10:52 that you've given that plan to and them following it and being successful? I'm confident that you do, but a particular one I 11:00 - Actually had, he actually was a information technology specialist at Spectrum. 11:05 And you know, he's, I think he's working on his bachelor's degrees and like network administrator at, at network administration at St. 11:11 Pete College. And, you know, he was, you know, working at Spectrum trying to find, you know, the, trying to like promote at his current job 11:17 or looking for other opportunities outside of his work. So I kind of said, Hey, you know, is your LinkedIn updated? Do you have an updated resume? 11:23 How about you try doing the education certification experience framework and writing down what you've accomplished and what you want to accomplish next year? 11:30 And the year after that and the year after that, you know, and he was like, oh, you know, I've thought about, never thought about doing that. So I think it was almost about two years ago. 11:36 I mentored him maybe close to two years now. So I had him write down, okay, I've got like a associate's degree, I'll have my bachelor's degree next year. 11:43 This year I'm actually doing my CCNA, and then the year after that, I think I wanna try to go for PMP. So I said, okay, write that down. 11:49 So I said, Hey, you know, even though you only have an associate's degree, an entry IT experience, do you know, two, three years from now you're gonna have a bachelor's, 11:56 A PMP and a CCC a what kind of opportunities do you now, you know, solicit, can you solicit on the open market? 12:02 What kind of labor car category requirements do you qualify for? Now, he had no idea that he was sitting on that kind of opportunity only two, three years away. 12:09 It just seems like such a big insurmountable, you know, thing to look at from when, when you don't have it written down on paper, you know, 12:15 it's gonna, it's just in your mind, but when you write it down, you're like, oh, wow, that makes total sense. I'm only two, three years away from being successful. 12:20 And, and then I think it was, I think now he's just finishing his bachelor's. He's got A-C-C-N-A and now he's gonna put his resume out, 12:27 start looking for opportunities like, and you know, the tenfold the opportunity's gonna come back. 12:32 - Wow. I'm, I'm excited for him and you because what does, what does that feel like for you 12:37 to see someone that you've mentored just take off in that way? - I mean, you know, you really can't put a price tag. 12:44 It really gives your like, meaning when, you know, 'cause obviously, you know, I, like I said, I did it wrong every single way possible before I finally figured how to get it right. 12:51 But, you know, to, to be able to, to pass that down to someone that took it and ran with it and they're appreciative of it now they're gonna go out 12:57 and do great things and be another productive member of society. I mean, it's just, it's an invaluable feeling and it just, it really gives your life purpose. 13:03 You know, like I'm, I'm a single guy, you know, who's, you know, I haven't started a family just yet. And to be able to see, you know, some 13:09 of these young adults really, you know, get to avoid all the pitfalls that life have to offer and really kind of get, get organized and, 13:16 and get a good jump on life and have someone they can all reach back and talk to, you know, really, it really feels great. And you know, like I said, I was, I was able 13:22 to help them create, you know, little, almost kind like Vistas executive coaching, like networks, right? Where, you know, you get three or four people you're 13:28 mentoring at the same time. One person worked for St. Pete College, it, one person worked for Spectrum, and now they're kind of 13:33 growing through their career together. But, you know, it's definitely, it's, it's just, it's just an easy way just by having a weekly, you know, 13:39 one hour call where you just kind of chatted up about life. - And you say that 13:44 as if you're not still sacrificing your time and using your knowledge to lift someone up. 13:49 And I know it for you, it's, it could be just, just an hour, but it's clearly important time for these people who, 13:57 people's lives, who you're touching and helping escalate them in their career. So that's incredible. 14:04 I'm, I'm, I'm really excited for him and for, and for your business and your coaching business. But before we move there, I wanna go back 14:10 to you in the military because you were awarded the Purple Heart. Can you tell me about that 14:16 experience and what led up to that? - You know, and actually, like I said, it was actually literally on the back cover of my book. 14:22 I kind of write about it. It's, so essentially my unit, I was, I was actually in three seven Infantry out 14:27 of Fort Stewart, Georgia. And my unit was tasked with, and I can't display too much, 14:32 but my unit was tasked on basically taking Baghdad airport. So literally deployed from Fort Stewart, Georgia, got 14:38 to Kuwait, was literally involved in the, the invasion to drive up to Baghdad, take the airport. That was our objective, you know, basically along the line 14:45 before we got to the airport, essentially, you know, there was a series of explosions. 14:51 You know, we, we, you're engaged by the enemy and essentially a tank barrel got propelled out of the explosion and hit me in the back 14:57 and broke three of my ribs, actually kind of tell the story. So literally, I, I was medevac from, 15:03 from essentially Baghdad down to like northern Kuwait and kind of put in like a field tent hospital. 15:09 And from that location, I was actually on life support for about a week. And I actually didn't know if I was gonna make it, you know, 15:15 at that point in time, you know, the doctor kinda came by and said, Hey, matter of fact, I had broken three ribs and I had to breathe through like a breathing tool in order 15:21 to keep my, my, my, my torso inflated. So I didn't catch pneumonia. And I kind of sat there in my, 15:26 what could have been, you know, my, my final, you know, a alive time essentially. And I started thinking about my life. 15:33 I started going, Hey, you know, did I accomplish everything I wanted to accomplish in life? You know, I did, did I go talk to that girl? 15:38 Did I actually, you know, really give my all? Was I a good citizen? Would, would I be someone that, you know, my family would be proud of if this was my last day? 15:45 And at that point, my answer was no. And you know what I kind of told myself, I said, you know, I was not necessarily a religious man, 15:52 but I said, you know, if you gimme another chance, God, I promise I'll make something outta my life. And, you know, that in that moment of clarity just kind 15:58 of said, wow, you know, I'm, you know, really, you know, allowed me to just kind of, you know, wow, you know, I, 16:03 I you really should live life with purpose and aggressively go after the things you want and live the best life you possibly can 16:09 and not just, you know, dither away and just kind of be inconsistent, you know, you really should try to make something of yourself. And that put my life on a 16:15 different trajectory from that point - On. So that makes sense why your book is titled Lucky 16:22 to Be Here, how to Discover Your Purpose, live with Leadership and Find Success. 16:31 So your book is essentially, I mean, clearly your memoir in regards to all the things that you, 16:39 all things you went through in war, but then your passion for life, therefore after, is that right? - Correct. Correct. And I also dive into, you know, 16:46 the experience of a a young man or young woman that's coming through, you know, elementary school and high school, 16:52 and some of the challenges and triumphs, you know, defending yourself. And you know, if you, if you do, you know, early on, I, 16:58 I can remember, you know, I tell the story in the book, you know, I remember being in seventh grade and I came home with a report card of three F's, 17:04 three D's, and one C. And literally, you know, I, I, you know, let's say if you start behind, you finish behind, right? 17:10 If you're the kid that doesn't get the lessons in third grade, you're gonna get to fourth grade and it's gonna be harder. It's not that the kid's a bad kid, it's just, 17:15 it becomes progressively difficult. You do that for a couple years and before you know it, you're just sitting in class going, okay. 17:21 And, you know, I had to really kind of refocus myself back in life, had parents had to step in and gimme back on the right track. 17:26 But, but you know, watching myself go through that, I can kind of relate to some of the youth today 17:32 and some of the challenges that they may be facing and how, and once you, you know, how do you pivot out of that, that situation and then still go on to, you know, I, 17:40 you know, I still went on to, to go to college and become a doctor and become a vice president and do other things. 17:45 So that's where that book, it's almost like a, a blueprint, a roadmap to say, Hey, I made every single mistake you can think of along the way. 17:51 And I still, you know, still was able to find, you know, you know, a path to, to what I consider success 17:56 and wanted to share that with, with people as many people as I could. - That humility and transparency really brings 18:05 people, it, it, it really shines a light on the opportunity to be able to do it. 18:10 A lot of people think that you need a certain level of privilege, a certain amount of money. I mean, the list goes on to the, the stereotypes 18:19 or the illusions that we all can have in regards to what door we should be able to walk open 18:25 or what, what door we should be able to walk through and should open for us. And you're proposing, listen, I've done all the things. 18:34 I am very successful, and you could do it too. And I, I believe that that 18:41 what you're telling people through your book, through mentoring, through being a professor, 18:47 and we'll jump into all of that, but being someone that people can look up to, 18:54 knowing that it wasn't an easy path, - Right. - Makes it attainable for others. 19:01 And that is, that is powerful because you're, you're probably encouraging people you didn't even know just 19:06 when they're hearing your story. - Yeah. You know, there's an old saying that says, you know, those who work the hardest always seem to be the luckiest, 19:13 you know, if, if you, if you put yourself out there and you, you know, you, you, you give it your best effort, 19:18 you know, you, you find mentors. You know, I can remember being in the military or you know, actually being a brand new contractor outta the 19:24 military and, and seeing this big time CEO that's running this multimillion organ dollar organization. 19:29 And I walked right up to him as a lowly wrenched turner, you know, help desk tech who's out in the field doing 19:36 satellite system installs. And I was like, Hey, sir, you know, what should I do with my life? Should I get a degree? Should I go try to get this type of a job? 19:41 And, and you, you would be surprised and amazed how much people, you know, how they feel flattered to be asked their advice, 19:48 and they want to mentor and help. If you just show up just a little bit of initiative, you, you never know who will take you under their wing 19:53 and try to, and guide you the way, and just a little piece of advice, you know, can just change your trajectory just enough 19:59 to just put you right on the right track. It's very important. - I also love that you just encourage people 20:05 to be humble enough to ask and be open to feedback. 20:11 - Mentors aren't there to validate your every feeling. Right. You know, they're not there to, you know, tell you, 20:18 you know, tell you that everything's perfect and you're perfect and everything is good to go. They're there to give you encouragement 20:23 and to give you, you know, was it the corrective criticism, you know, and to be, you know, show compassion 20:29 and show that you, that they care and, and point you in the right direction. And, and if you can accept that, then you know, there's, 20:35 it's unlimited. There's unlimited the places you can go, - You are so right. 20:40 I've experienced that in my own career in so many aspects of life, but constructive criticism at this point is almost 20:48 what I want more than a compliment. Right, right. Like so. Absolutely. So tell me all the things that I did wrong 20:53 so I can make them better. You know, though, I also mean like everyone else would love a good pat on the 20:59 back, but I have such a great drive, like so many other of our alums or students 21:06 or prospective students here at ���۴�ý that drive this in you to be better, to do more. 21:14 And so when I, when I have someone who's very talented in their field, I, 21:22 that's what I want from you. Like, give me all the good stuff. Tell me, tell me how I could be better. Because your feedback is valuable due to the fact 21:29 that you were a guru in the field, - Right? Absolutely. And that's the thing, right? Even if you did something right, you know, 21:35 was there an alternative method? You know, if you're advising someone else, maybe it worked for you, but it won't work for the other person. 21:41 You know, you know, it's always an opportunity to learn. And if you take that opportunity, I mean, what they say, 21:46 you know, knowledge is a compounding asset. You know, much like with finance, you know, you know, 21:52 every dollar that you make will, the snowball effect will take place, right? Well, if you learn a certain topic, 21:57 let's say in project manage it like time, scope and cost, now that you understand those terms, you know, what else do you understand better now? 22:04 And do you continue to exponentially, you know, in orders of magnitude, your knowledge will, will grow over time the more you end up learning. 22:11 So that's why it's important to keep learning so that way you can learn more, learn faster, and see concepts that you would 22:16 never otherwise know where there, - You've left the military and went into civilian business world. 22:24 Tell me about that transition and, and what, what that looked like for you. 22:30 - So, you know, like I just said, so actually I, you know, I joined the military in 2000 and, you know, went to Fort Stewart 22:37 and literally I did three combat tours in four years. So I was maybe, I think 21 years old when I went to Kosovo. 22:43 Then 23, I did the Iraq war, got a purple heart, got wounded, came home, went back to Iraq again into five 22:49 for another full year doing, you know, basically communication support, 4, 3 7 infantry out at, 22:54 you know, Bob Falcon, Baghdad, and, and you know, you know, the actual invasion itself. And I found myself at 25 years old going, wow, you know, 23:01 I've already done three combat tours in four years. Maybe it's time for me to, you know, get a regular help desk job and, you know, eat my grilled cheese and drink my tea 23:07 and my cubicle, you know, had enough excitement in life right from now. So I said, you know, what, what do I know how to do best? 23:13 You know, maybe, maybe I could become a government contractor. You know, I already, you know, I've already, I already know the government system, I know the lay of the land. 23:19 Actually, I have contractors that worked for me as a sergeant when I was in the army. So I was like, ah. So, you know, I kind of met a contractor. 23:25 I started networking when I was a sergeant. I said, Hey, you know, you know, a contractor would come to my location, you know, some, what did they say? 23:31 Sometimes you should do, you have to do things for free before you can get paid for, right? So basically I volunteered to learn a new skillset 23:37 that he was installing, like navigation systems, like Blue Force trackers on like Humvees and tanks and things like that in the field. 23:43 And I said, Hey, you know, let me do that job for you. So he gave me an opportunity to do his job for him, the contractor job. 23:48 And then eventually when I got outta the military, an IT company, proactive communications, actually, you know, 23:55 heard about me through my, my captain, my commander at the time. And then I ended up interviewing, I ended up getting outta the military, 24:01 driving my Ford F-150 from, from Savannah, Georgia to Killeen, Texas, interviewed in Killeen, Texas. 24:07 And then by the time I drove home to California, I had an acceptance letter in my inbox. So then I, instead of going back overseas to Iraq as a, 24:14 as a soldier, I went back as a satellite systems installer contractor back to Baghdad, Iraq, where I started installing satellite systems for 24:22 the DOD, you know, and, you know, Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, and, and really got my contractor chops underneath, 24:29 underneath me essentially, and started networking. And then, you know, you get a help desk job there, then you're like the help desk manager, 24:34 and then you just kind of continue to, you know, grow from there. - What, what inspired you to go back to Iraq? 24:42 You, you were injured three ribs on your possible unli bed, 24:50 - Right? - And then you get better, you come, or you come home, you get better. Yeah. And then you go back. 24:59 Tell me what's happening in your mind, because I'm, to be completely transparent with you, I'm an, I'm an army brat, not necessarily a actual service member. 25:07 So I'm not as brave as you all are. I wouldn't go anywhere near the 25:12 right, the battlegrounds again. Right? So, - You know, it's, it's funny, you know, because I was in, you know, three seven infantry, I mean, 25:18 some of the best leaders, I mean, I was an okay soldier, but some of those guys were in circles around me, the rangers, the special 25:23 forces guys that I used to work with. And you know, I I, I, you know, when you, we, 25:30 I think we did more training than we did actually, you know, you know, time we spent actually overseas in the field. 25:35 So actually I could, I felt somewhat comfortable in that environment at the time. Of course, I'm a young man back then, right? You feel invincible, but I kind 25:42 of made a business decision at the time. I said, okay, I'm getting outta the military. I've got, you know, associate's degree that I earned before I joined the military. 25:48 I've got a, you know, some it experience, some communication experience while in the military, I need 25:53 to go to college at the same time, I know I need to potentially go get my bachelor's and my master's down the road. 25:58 What would give me the best, what would put me in the best financial decision, financial position in order to be able 26:04 to obtain everything that I wanna obtain? Not to mention, I'm the first person in my family to go to college and get a degree. I had cousins that were in, in high school 26:11 and junior high school at the time that they didn't have enough money to go to college. So I wanted to be the, the kind of the adult, the kind of, 26:17 you know, I don't wanna say the word patriarch of the family and be able to help support people back home in California. So I said to myself, Hey, you know, it was kind 26:23 of funny at the time, it was 2006, and I, I, I kind of, I ended up getting back overseas 26:30 and ���۴�ý was actually the only online university that had PDF books. So this was at the time where everybody else had paper books 26:36 back in the day, and I was overseas, and I was like, the only way I can go to college is if I get a, a book mailed to me from, you know, Washington DC 26:43 or whatever, ���۴�ý, Arizona, to, you know, Baghdad, which is never gonna get there in three months, right? 26:48 Never. But ���۴�ý had the first, like that I can recall the first fully online PDF book degree 26:53 program, except for the a PA guide, right? And which I think is probably still that way today. 26:59 And, and so I said, Hey, you know, I can go back overseas, get my bachelor's, I can earn top dollar 27:06 and I can help my family and I can still grow in my career. I'm getting, I'm a DOD contractor, getting that help desk, 27:12 that manager that I, that little it experience that will translate back to my civilian career. It was a win-win in all scenarios. 27:18 And I can make good money doing it. I could travel the world, you know, so from Baghdad, you know, I, I'd have to fly through Dubai 27:24 before I could come home to California to visit family. So I spent my twenties living in Dubai and getting introduced to fine dining 27:29 and travel and all kinds of things like that. So it was an exciting time to be alive. I was 25 and I was like, why not? 27:35 - Why not 25 in Dubai? Yes, - In Dubai. Back in what that was 2005 back, well, 2000, 27:42 like six ish, 2 0 5, 2006. Yeah. Good. It was a great time anyway, and Dubai was just getting kind 27:47 of built up, you know, I think in the seventies and eighties, when is when, I think it was like seventies and eighties, they really started doing some 27:52 of the major construction after they had discovered, well, don't quote me on the date. And then around the two thousands is when it was really 27:58 like, I think like the, you know, the bird Dubai was coming up, Jamira Beach, you know, 28:04 all the, the, the mall, the Emirates and Dubai Mall and all that kinda stuff. It was just an amazing place to be. 28:09 Every hotel had the best restaurants, the best nightlife, the best everything you can imagine. It was just like, it was, I didn't know what Dubai was 28:17 before I got there, but it just, it wowed me when I got there. I had an amazing time. - I'm jealous. It's on my bucket list 28:22 for not necessarily my bucket list, but when I turned 45, that's the, that's the trip in Dubai. Oh yeah, 28:28 - Absolutely. Dubai is like Vegas times 10. It really is like, it's like you take Vegas and it's, 28:33 and there's different cities in Dubai or Abu Dhabi around there. It's almost like a, you know, a a a city that never sleeps 28:39 and it's a, a luxury city, but you can go there on any budget and we just meet just an international city. So you meet people from all over 28:45 the world. It's an amazing city. - I'm, I'm excited to see it. I may have to, I'm meant to co contact you on LinkedIn 28:50 to get your best restaurant suggestions. - I'll give you a lot of good restaurant recommendations. 28:56 The, the movie theater's out there, the mall's amazing. You've got ski slopes inside of malls, you know. Oh my goodness. It's like the Emirate Mall. 29:03 They've got like aquariums at mall, at, at hotels. I think it's like the Dubai Mall where like you in a hotel and your whole room's like an aquarium. 29:09 I mean, it's just outrageous. It's preposterous. It's amazing, - The boss. I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it. 29:15 It sounds like the perfect birthday spot. But I do want to move forward to talking about 29:21 your incredible career because you've done so much now. I could rattle it all off, 29:27 but I'd really like to hear it from you. Like, what, tell me, tell me the path in which you took 29:34 after leaving the military. I heard you say that you started to be a contractor, but give, give me that. 29:40 Let, let's hear that path and, and how you got there. - So essentially, you know, I, I exited the military 29:46 after about five and a half, six years. Then I became a government contractor as a satellite systems installer. 29:51 And I knew that I was making good money and I had a, a good career path, and I had lots of opportunity to, you know, 29:57 obviously continue to be a satellite system installer in, you know, combat zones. But I knew that eventually one day I'd wanna come 30:03 home back to the states. So what I did was, that's when I, when I was 25, 26 years old, I really started took a a, 30:10 I really made an emphasis on enlisting mentors in my life. Essentially anybody that held a rank higher than me, 30:16 that I could get a good piece of advice from, whether I end up using it or not. I was gonna walk up to him and have a conversation. 30:21 I'd walk up to the CEO of my own company. I would walk up to, you know, I had met a, a mil, it was a, 30:28 a Marines colonel who was actually in the top 1% of all lawyers in the world. 30:34 I think I was in Camp Ramadi up north next to Fallujah. And he was like, he was a marine helicopter pilot, top 1% 30:42 of lawyers in the world from Los Angeles. And you just randomly run into people like that, and you're, and he's like a mil, he's just an impressive person who's a 30:49 pilot and an attorney and can do all kinds of things like that. So I would just ask him, you know, Hey, should I get a degree? 30:55 Should I have kids? Should I, you know, just, and you just literally ask them questions like that. And he would say, yeah, not only do you a bachelor's, 31:02 but I think everybody's getting a bachelor's, so you really kind of need a master's. So then I would go and I would implement that. And then right around that time, I think it was 31:08 around 27, 28 years old, is when I came up my education certification experience framework. I was trying to figure out my next move, okay, I want 31:14 to get, okay, I know I'm working as a satellite systems technician, but I really wanna become a manager. What do, what do I need? 31:19 What requirements do I need to fill to become that manager? Okay, I need a bachelor's degree. Okay, lemme go get my, my, I was working on routers 31:26 and switches and satellite systems. Let me go, let me pay. So I, what I, so one of the things that I, I learned 31:31 to do is that I kind of started doing the cost benefit analysis of education versus not education or certification. 31:37 So I said to myself, okay, if I go pay, you know, five to $10,000 outta my own pocket to get myself CCA certified, 31:43 I go to a bootcamp back in California, I get that CCA certification. How many more thousands of dollars could I make every 31:49 year for the rest of my career? And even if that being five or $10,000 more per year, adding that up over a 20 year career, 31:55 you just paid yourself back for that certification. So I, so every year I say, okay, well this year I'm gonna finish my bachelor's in ���۴�ý, 32:00 then I'm gonna get my CNA, you know, then I'm gonna go get a satellite systems, you know, I, I direct satellite certified 32:06 and take these three classes, then I'm gonna go do project management. I'd started doing one thing every year, and before you know it, you got a master's degree, you got PNP, 32:14 you've got A-C-C-N-A, and now, you know, after three, four or five years, you know, 32:19 and you slide your in front of the, into your management and say, Hey, you know, I'm one, I like to apply 32:24 for a team leader, I'll lead position or a management position. And so, you know, one of the, you know, you know, sometimes, 32:30 you know, you have to take advantage of opportunity what's in front of you. So can you, if you can imagine being as a government contractor overseas, like Afghanistan, Iraq, 32:37 most of those guys are former military people. But if they're a person with family and kids, you know, they can only spend about a year 32:42 or two at a time before they go go home to their family, you know, and kind of live a normal life. Well, as a single person, you know, there's that phrase 32:49 that says sometimes the fa the road fastest traveled is the road. You travel alone essentially as a single person. 32:55 I, you know, when a manager would leave and go back home to go be with his family, that left a an open opportunity to promote to the next level. 33:01 And I would always raise my hand and compete for the opportunity. And if I, and if I wasn't qualified 33:07 or I wasn't ready for it, I'd go back and study harder and smarter for the next time. So essentially, you know, I think I, at one point in time, 33:14 I hadn't lived any, I hadn't lived in one single place for more than two years, and then that 20 year period, so I would go from f Iraq 33:22 as a, a satellite system installer, then I would go to Afghanistan as the, the site lead, and then I would go back and work in the network operations 33:29 center at, at at, at Fort Hood, Texas. And then from there, I'd come back to, you know, you know, 33:35 Kuwait and work another like help desk, like team lead project. Then I became the country manager. 33:41 I actually managed all of the free internet cafes, a hundred million dollars a year program for free, free internet cafes for the troops in all of Afghanistan. 33:48 And then from there, I went to Qatar for two years, and I managed like another network operations center as a project lead. 33:53 Then I went to Hawaii and managed all the Pacific IT systems for like the state department out of Ken Smith. 34:00 And then from there, I came to Tampa and became a program manager. And basically every two years, I would always, every two 34:06 to three years, you wanna be looking for some kind of a, a, a promotion or lateral move, something to continue 34:11 to diversify your skillset. And I just kept taking every opportunity that was offered in front of me. I figured the worst case, if I, if I failed, 34:17 I could just go backwards or I just continue to do what I'm doing until I gained more experience. But essentially every two to three years, I was able to try 34:23 to take one step forward, either a promotion certification or a degree every single year for about like 15, 20 years I did that. 34:30 - That is such, so I, I hear two great pieces of advice, one of which you gave before when you were talking about 34:35 mentoring to either get a degree, a promotion or a certificate every year. 34:41 But I also just heard you say in a position, you should be there for two to three years 34:49 before you're looking for your next move, whether it be a promotion or at another or at another company. 34:55 Why is that? - Well, you figure, right? Let's just take anyone's career. Let's just take a 10 to 15 year career. 35:01 If, you know, let's just say I'm a system administrator and I do a system administrative job 35:06 for like 10 years or so. Granted, you're gonna be the best system administrator, you know, on the planet 35:11 or in your AO area of responsibility. But let's just say I do a system administrative job for three years, then I go do an information insurance job 35:18 for three years, then I go do a network administrator job for two years, for three years, excuse me. So now, so that's 10 years now I've done three different, 35:26 you know, functional duties essentially, you know, in the field of it. Now it comes time to get promoted 35:32 to the site leader, the project manager. Who do you think they're gonna pick? You know, they're, you know, being, you know, getting into management isn't 35:38 just about being really good in one functional area. It's about knowing about, you know, you need to know about finance, you need to know about operations, 35:44 you need to know about the technical side. You need to be able put it all together and then be able to make recommendations to your senior leadership. 35:50 But if you've only done one thing for 10 years, you know, are you doing a disservice to yourself? You know, I don't say, you know, I kind of use the phrase, 35:56 take every promotion that they offer to you, you know, but I, I think that there's some, it, it holds some value in order that the way you become, 36:02 you get to the C-suite one day isn't by being in one job for 10 to 15 years. It's about every two to three years, because think about it, 36:09 after about two years or so, you pretty much have mastered that skillset, so to speak. You know, you may be able to grow within 36:14 that skillset about two, three years. You've gotta mastered it. Now it's time to laterally transfer to the next thing. 36:19 And then you bring up a team behind you and you give somebody else an opportunity. But every two or three years, you should, you should be looking to, you know, you give your, 36:25 your company the first opportunity. Hey, I've been assistant administrator for three years now doing the same exact job. 36:31 I'd like to be assistant administrative manager, or I'm managing maybe a couple of people doing the same things I used to just do. 36:36 If your company can, you know, if they have the growth and the opportunity, then you stay there. But if not, should you consider, you know, 36:43 other pa greener pastures? Maybe, maybe not. But I think that about two to three years 36:48 that that's a good strategy for how long you should be doing a job. - That is really great advice, 36:54 and it's great advice coming from someone who clearly is running a mentor program very well, 37:03 leading other people to having successful careers. And also you have your own YouTube page 37:10 where you do something very similar. Is that right? - Correct. Correct. So I, I called it like a strategic 37:16 career building with Dr. Patrick. And what I do is I basically kind of teach the building blocks on building a, a six figure career from scratch to say, Hey, you know, 37:23 if you have absolutely nothing, or let's say even you're, you're transitioning from one career field to another, how do you build a, 37:29 how do you choose a career that's good for you? You know, maybe, you know, you can talk a cat off a fish cart, right? So maybe you're good for sales, you know, 37:35 maybe you enjoy tech, you know, tech, so maybe you should be, you know, a systems administrator or a network administrator, things like that. 37:42 Or you wanna work in AI or robotics, you know, maybe you have good leadership skills and you wanna get into management, things like that. 37:47 But how do you choose a career? How do you create a career development plan? How do you negotiate salary? How do you find career advancement opportunities, the value 37:54 of diversifying your career? You know, you know, who knows? You know, and 10, you know, I wish I could tell you 37:59 something today that's gonna be a good career 20 years from now, but no, nobody knows AI is gonna change everything. 38:04 So what do you do when you're unsure? You diversify your career. You know, I, I, I'm a VP of a company. 38:09 I'm an adjunct professor at St. Pete College. I've got my own LLC, you know, so that way if one day, 38:15 you know, you know, one, one business starts to kind of, you know, falter or wean or we lose opportunities, 38:20 I have something to fall back on. I'm not single threaded my career since, but I, I think that's a, that's kind of what I try 38:25 to teach some of the, the college kids that hey, you know, think outside the box strategically, think about your career, about where you wanna be, 38:32 not just today, but five years from now, 10 years from now, you know, and put in the work, you know, you know, you know, 38:37 part of that discipline lifestyle is, you know, okay, you can do odd end jobs and never really focus on a career, 38:42 but I, I don't, you know, I'm, I'm gonna be in Copa Cabana Beach for New Years this year, you know, because, you know, I enjoy my, my, my, you know, I work hard 38:51 and, and working, you know, a technical career that's rewarding that you enjoy, but that can be challenging. 38:57 So you can have the freedom to go enjoy vacations overseas, things like that. So, - So how do you balance that? 39:02 Because you're a vice president, you're a professional, excuse me, a professor, you're an entrepreneur. 39:09 I mean, the, you're an author. I mean, the, the list is, it goes on and on and on because you're using your own tactic, 39:15 which is every year you do something dynamic and then every two to three make some changes 39:21 and some moves, which clearly has been your path and very successful. So I could recognize and understand why you do that 39:28 and encourage others to do that for themselves. How do you, how do you balance all of that with life? 39:36 - You know, you know, the thing is, you know, I love what I do. You know, I love going to work and, and, and, you know, and executing on the challenge of, of, 39:42 of keeping my organization, you know, healthy and, and I'm responsible for, you know, up to a hundred people. 39:48 I'm, I'm like one of the, the second or third in command in my organization. So I have a, a responsibility to my people 39:53 to make sure that, that they're employed. And I, you know, actually I enjoy mentorship and giving back to people and seeing them be successful, 39:59 you know, and, and, and also I think it's important to, you know, name your price in life, you know, what do you want to accomplish? When do you want to, you know, retire? 40:06 What's the top position you want to be in life? And then, you know, go from there. You know, maybe not everybody wants to deal 40:12 with the responsibility of being a, a vice president or chief operations officer, things like that. Maybe you just wanna be a, a, an engineer. 40:19 Now, I don't wanna say just an engineer, but maybe you want to be an engineer, but you don't want to get into the management piece because you just enjoy the technical piece of it. 40:25 So name that goal, and then just write down the things you need to do to accomplish it, and then just spend the next couple 40:30 of years just, and, and the thing is not to bring yourself out, just maybe spend three months outta the year accomplishing one goal, 40:35 and then take the next nine months off. And then you kind of like, you know, you do a sprint, you catch your breath, and then you pick the next goal 40:41 for the next year, and you just kind of like slowly and methodically build a career. So I think it can be, it's, it's, it's, you know, you're, 40:47 you're able to do it when you don't try to burn yourself out and get it all done at one time. You kind of like space it out over the years. 40:53 - Right. How did that balance help you while you were at ���۴�ý? 40:59 Because I heard you say that when you were in the military, you were grateful that this is a company that you could 41:07 see a book online as opposed to having to wait however long it's gonna take to get to Baghdad. 41:12 Right. That's it. But you've made it all the way to your doctorate. So tell us about your educational path 41:20 and your, your story with ���۴�ý. - Right. So, like I said, I think the year was 2006 slash 41:28 moving into 2007. And I knew I needed to go back to college when I became a contractor. You know, like I said, university of ���۴�ý was the only 41:34 university that had PDF books at the time. So I enrolled, and the benefit of, you know, being able to do the ���۴�ý online program is I was able 41:41 to still work full-time and then do my homework on my time. I could, you know, get off work at, you know, five, 41:48 six o'clock in the afternoon and then start on homework. Or I could do homework before, you know, I went 41:53 to work in the morning, I can do it during my lunch break, or I could wait for the weekend and knock out all of my assignments. 41:59 So it gave me the freedom to continue to build my career year by year. So every year I'm gaining another year 42:05 of experience gaining another promotion at work, all while getting my bachelor's degree simultaneously. 42:10 And because I didn't have to go into a brick and mortar, which brick and gonna a brick and mortar class is obviously, probably still the best way to do it. 42:15 But because I didn't have to go into a classroom physically, I was able to, you know, knock out those, 42:20 those degrees just a little bit faster because I was able to do everything at the same time. And it's just, hey, for the next three to five years, 42:26 you know, especially, you know, take advantage of your vitality as well. You know, I'm, I'm, I'm almost about to be 45 here myself here in March, 42:32 so I'm slowing down a little bit, right? But when you're young and you're energetic and you, you know, you've got spring, you got those spring chicken legs, you know, you know, 42:39 get out there and get to work, you know what I mean? And, and, and, and be motivated and be excited and, and take advantage of being young 42:45 and be able to, you know, multitask a little bit. You can go to work, you can chew, walk and chew gum at the same time. 42:50 Go to work, you know, go to school, you know, know that you'll do a couple years of that and then you'll be, you know, 42:55 you'll be rewarded at the end of it. - I have fighting words for you 43:00 because we are still spring chickens. I'm 41, and I, I tell my husband all the time, he's like, 43:07 are, babe, are you a summer chicken yet? No. Right, right, right. I think summer chicken is around 50 So we are still young 43:16 and vibrant and ready to go. And I know that you are because your drive is so impeccable. 43:21 Do you think it is in any way slowed down? Because it doesn't seem as though that's the case? 43:27 - No, absolutely not. You know, I think, I think the key is, you know, what do they say? Your health is your wealth. You know, you've got 43:32 to do your best to try to eat healthy, you know, do your best to try to exercise. If it's just walking best you can, 43:37 because, you know, I think, you know, and I think the military really kind of understood that, you know, you really, I really didn't think about that back in the day, but you may, 43:43 there was a reason why it was a requirement to work out every day at six o'clock in the morning and, you know, kind of build that 43:49 organized structure about yourself. You know, you ever notice that? Like when you, when you're not able to get to the gym, you're a little bit tired and groggy, 43:55 your brain doesn't work well, you just get tired quicker. You know, there's definitely, you know, health benefits 44:00 to your mental state when you are exercising and you're living a healthy life. So I, I think that, you know, just trying to stay healthy, 44:07 trying to stay motivated, being exciting about life, you know, keeping good people around you, you know, to keep your spirits up, you know, those, 44:14 those are the things that keep you vibrant and happy and see the world, you know, there's just so much out there and so much to accomplish. 44:19 You know, pick some, you know, grand audacious out of this world goals and see if you can accomplish them. 44:25 - Absolutely. I, what, what would be the worst that could happen? You could accomplish them, right? 44:31 - Right. You can compliment or, you know, you don't, and then, okay, I tried, you know, and then that's it, you know, and then where, you know, 44:36 okay, at least you, you at least you put your, your hat in the ring, you know? But, you know, back to your point, you know, I, I kind of, 44:41 I, I wanted to get the bachelor's degree. I got the bachelor's degree in it, and then I, okay, you know, I need that. I knew I wanted to get the master's 44:47 because I knew everybody was getting a bachelor's at the time, at least back in the States. So that would give me that extra competitive edge 44:53 by getting the master's in business. So I got the master's in business and then I was, you know, obviously I went, that was like a four year sprint to kind of finish that. 45:00 And I said, okay, lemme take a little bit of a break from, you know, pure academics. And I went and got like the project management profession 45:06 certification, the C-I-S-S-P, the certified information system, security professional certification. 45:11 And then I kind of took a break off that, I think it was 2014 was, at the time I was working as a contractor in Kuwait. 45:16 I said, you know, lemme just go ahead and just try, you know, I'll just, you know, try to start, you know, doing one class at a time 45:22 and really try to work my way through it. And four years later, I, I graduated, finished. 45:27 - Well, can congratulations. That is a huge accomplishment. 45:32 I am in my second phase of my doctorate and my doctorate in management here at ���۴�ý. 45:38 - Okay. Yeah, go - Ahead. And so I haven't, I, I'm starting my first chapter in this, in this class. 45:45 So I've got, I'm a little nervous, but I'm excited about it. But I just, I love what you said, obviously, you know, reach 45:53 for the stars, fall in the clouds, but you, you said imposter syndrome, 46:00 you are not alone in that at all. And I love that you've just been so open 46:06 and transparent about it. And I, I want our viewers to hear this part in particularly 46:11 because when I started my doctorate, or prior to starting my doctorate, 46:17 when I had the opportunity to go back to school here at ���۴�ý, I was going to get my, another master's. 46:23 And I was like, I think I'll do it in psychology. And my old boss, I called him as I do with all of my career 46:31 decisions because he like you to others, is my mentor. And so I was like, Hey, 46:37 I'm thinking about getting this degree in psychology and I, and I think it'll be helpful for what I do in marketing, 46:42 so I think it's a good idea. And he was like, why would you get another master's? I was like, well, the other opportunity would be to get my doctorate, but I'm not a business leader. 46:49 - Right? Right. - You would've thought I told this man something horrible because he was like, what are you saying? 46:57 And hearing his like, belief in what it is that I could do, had me immediately the next day sign 47:06 up for my doctorate. And like I said, now I'm in in phase two, but imposter syndrome can kill joy 47:15 and can and kill momentum. Can you speak to me and, 47:20 and the viewers about feeling imposter, imposter syndrome or seeing others do the same? 47:28 And then just speaking about it as a vp, knowing what it is, where you are now and where you've come from, 47:35 I think it'll be powerful for the viewers. So could you give us some, some of your thoughts on imposter syndrome? 47:41 - You know, I would honestly say that throughout my entire career, I probably had some form 47:46 of imposter syndrome with every single job that I had, every single promotion I was gonna take. I mean, 'cause you think about it, you know, 47:52 let's just say you're a help desk technician and you wanna become a help desk lead. You've never done that job before, so you don't know if you can do it. 47:58 You've seen people do it, some people fail, some people succeed. And, but it just seems like this whole other world 48:03 of management and responsibility and human resources tasks and things like that, that you have no idea what's going on. 48:09 And you just think in your mind that I just dunno if I can do this. And it can be extremely debilitating 48:14 and I can't lie, you know, I think the biggest, most, you know, you know, re me memorable moment when I had 48:21 impostor syndrome was when, you know, I went from being a, a project manager, IT manager in Hawaii when I moved 48:27 to Tampa to take my first program manager job. I mean, being a program manager for a duty company is almost like being knighted. 48:33 You're almost joining, like the junior executive brings, and this is when, you know, you're, you're dealing with big time money, you're dealing with 30, 40, 48:39 $50 million contracts and you know, one decimal point off, and you just cost the company thousands of dollars. 48:45 You know, you're responsible for, you know, 50 employees and all their wellbeing. You know, you've got a government customer, 48:51 you've got contractors that are providing services, and you've got to be the liaison, the network, all this stuff together 48:57 to provide a hundred million dollars a year service to somebody. And you're like, whoa. And I can remember, and I'm just gonna, I'll be frank, you know, I was actually, 49:04 I was actually dating in a relationship in Hawaii, and I was thinking about, you know, wow, I, I'm getting offered an opportunity 49:10 to interview for this job. If I do take this job, do I try to bring the person that I'm 49:15 with, with me to Tampa and I had imposter syndrome? I'm like, I don't know if I can, because I, what if I don't make it? 49:20 What if they fire me the next day? You know, this is the, you know, these program managers are, are the, the most excellent professionals in the industry, 49:28 and I don't know if I'm qualified to even do that. I could get there three months later. And they're, they're all gonna, you just think someone's 49:34 gonna discover that you're the most incompetent person in the world, and they're gonna be like, how did you get here? What are you doing? Go back where you came from 49:41 and you feel that way. And then you, you get in, in there and then the first two or three months that you're up, you know, you're learning all these new concepts, you're learning 49:48 how the structure works, and then you just kind of start, you start getting a little easier. And I think that the, the key is, is that it, it's okay to, 49:55 it's okay to like, feel that little bit of insecurity, but you just gotta lean into it with experience. You do it enough times and you'll get better at it. 50:02 But it's definitely a real, I believe it's a real thing and, and I, I've had it every step of the way in my career. 50:08 You just gotta fight through it. You just gotta know that it's gonna come, you're going into new territory, you gotta learn a lot of new things, 50:14 but you just gotta focus and put your all into it and then let the chips fall where they may. And then one of the things I've learned is 50:19 that you actually get better at learning as you go on. So I would say that, like, for example, right? 50:24 My, my GPA and my, for my bachelor's degree was like 3.0 or 3.2 or something like that. 50:30 Then for my, my master's, it was like three point, like maybe five or six. And then for my doctorate, it was like 50:35 three point, like eight or nine. So you, you go, you almost kind of get better at learning and better at adapting 50:42 as you go along when you kind of gain that experience. So it's just something that I believe is real. It's there and you just gotta fight your way 50:48 through it and just never give up. All we all you have to do, as long as you show up the next day and you show people that you're putting a good forth effort 50:55 forward, then they're always gonna work with you. People are gonna mentor you and get you where you need to be. And you can learn more by listening than by talking. 51:01 - You could learn more by listening, then talking. 51:06 I've as the host of this podcast, which is incredible within itself, that I get to meet 51:13 so many overwhelmingly and high achieving alumnis, 51:21 but it's in a selfish way. I am learning so much from every single person, 51:28 including yourself. So thank you for sharing that, and I love that bullet. - And here, and here's what happens, right? 51:34 You know, sometimes you'll walk into a meeting and you'll have, let's just say for even for myself, right? I'll be working with a bunch of brilliant masters, master's, 51:42 bachelor's, doctorate degree engineers, and they're talking engineering language, and I have no idea what they're talking about. 51:48 And what the, what people will likely do is they'll just say something that provides no value to the conversation, just 51:53 so that way they're not feeling uncomfortable, like they shouldn't be there. The key is just, just sit back and listen and where you can provide value to 52:00 that conversation you added. But if you can't provide value to the conversation, just listen, take note 52:05 and maybe take task, help out, be be a support at as best as you can and move out. 52:10 But, you know, just, it's just, you learn so much more by listening and then, you know, you'll just get, you'll, you'll gradually improve that skillset. 52:18 - So you have so many careers that you have 52:23 been excellent at, one of which you currently are in your vice president position. 52:31 Tell me more about that, how you got there. - So essentially I'm a vice president of program management, 52:40 essentially, you know, I work for a department of defense company, and we basically build tactical satellite and terminals, antennas 52:48 for the Department of Defense. And what my job is, is I'm pretty much on, I'm on the senior staff. 52:53 I basically am the, you know, the, either the number two or the number three, you know, advisor to the president of the organization who's in charge 52:59 of running this essentially a hundred million dollar a year company, plus or minus. And my job is to advise him in, in the regards of, you know, 53:06 project portfolio management, you know, we have government contracts with the customer, and I'm, I'm here to advise him to, you know, hey, 53:12 in regards to executing on this contract, per the customer requirements, this is what we need to do. This is what I would advise. 53:18 And I help him actually run the organization. You know, we've got like internal, an internal research and development team, engineering team 53:24 that are building new satellite technology for the Department of Defense to use. We have an, an operations floor. 53:30 We're actually literally building the satellite antennas from scratch, you know, in order to deliver to the customer, 53:35 you know, on schedule, you know, you know, at cost, you know, per the scope of what they're ordering 53:41 to execute their mission, you know, globally essentially. So essentially, I, I manage a pro, you know, 53:47 A-A-P-M-O-A-A, a program management department where essentially I've got, you know, two directors that report to me. 53:53 I've got a couple of program managers, and we essentially, you know, manage every help, manage every aspect of the organization and are, 54:00 and to, you know, understand, to ensure that we successfully execute, you know, on our mission, 54:05 you know, for our, our owners, for the owners, for the, you know, the, the senior leadership, the corporate leadership, things along those lines. 54:11 So as VP of program program management, you know, I essentially make sure that you know, hey, are, you know, 54:18 strategically, are we executing to that mission? You know, are there any benefits that we can gain? Hey, we're doing the satellite systems, 54:25 are there opportunities to get into new markets and provide other services for the Department of Defense, for international partners? 54:30 Things along those lines. So, you know, you've got project management where, hey, you're gonna buy and sell one cell phone to a person. 54:36 That's a project. You've got program, if you've got a cell phone and you've got a computer, you put those together, that's a program. 54:42 How can I leverage those two businesses to gain benefits from them? Then you have a portfolio, which is almost like organizational strategy. 54:48 How do I get, you know, the governor, or not the governor, but our, our congressman to, you know, you know, 54:54 allocate monies to certain defense, you know, programs or, you know, in order for me to probably go 55:00 after that kind of funding, but strategically, how do you, you know, you know, work in your industry essentially, you know, that's not exactly it, 55:06 but it's essentially along those lines. And I've worked my way up from being the, the help desk guy. Literally, I started from being a help desk guy 55:12 to the manager, to the project manager, to the program manager, to the, the, the director, to the vp. 55:17 And I've basically been through every level of it and to now BRM, and I've been a VP for about almost four years now, coming up on four years. 55:24 - I imagine it was a goal at one point. - Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's funny, I can remember being a, a country manager in Afghanistan, 55:31 and I got invited to Stu Guard Germany where my program management office was, and it was like led, it was like a big Colorado, 55:38 imagine being in like New York City and you're seeing some big, you know, luxurious, you know, office tower, and you walk in there 55:44 and you see all the cubicles and everybody's dressed all professional, and I'm a guy from the field wearing cargo pants and a polo 55:49 and a jacket, and I'm in Germany, and you're just kind of walking in that office and you're like, wow, you know, my one day I wanna be able to work into a program management office. 55:55 That's, that was my dream one day back in, what, 2012, I think I wanted to be part of a program management office where wanted to gain those ranks 56:02 and was kind of working on the degrees and the search back then. And then now to be, to have actually walked in that office 56:07 and seeing that big time b VP running that organization to actually being the, the person that's actually in the B position. It's just definitely a amazing journey. 56:15 - Wow. That is an amazing journey. You wrote it down, you made it happen, and you are a VP now, just as you said you would be, 56:24 so that clearly shows that your, your pattern is working along with that you're a professor. 56:34 - Absolutely. So, yeah, so just, you know, kind of on the side, you know, actually I'm an adjunct for St. Pete College, so pretty much I, I work 56:40 as an online professor and then also for the university, I'm also the chair of the mentorship program. So I think like the IT program for CCIT College 56:48 of Computer Information Technology, we've got about 8,000 students. And what we did was we created a mentorship program to say, 56:53 Hey, for any of the students that want a mentor, you know, basically submit your name and your information, 56:59 and we're gonna pair you with an industry professional in that industry. And for the semester, 57:04 you're gonna have weekly calls with that person. You're gonna create a career development plan, you're gonna choose your career, you're gonna, you know, 57:09 you know, write down your goals on where you wanna go. You're gonna get advice from someone in your field that's doing what you want to do one day 57:15 and you're gonna get someone to mentor you. And what my job was, like I said, I created basically that online digital training program, 57:21 and every student that signed up for the mentorship program, I gave them free access to it just so they can watch the videos 57:26 and get some of those basic frameworks on how to build that career. So, you know, I just kind of, I worked with the dean 57:32 for the school of computer science for s college, and we just kind of basically support the students and every semester I'll get like maybe four 57:38 or five students that'll have like weekly calls with them and kind of just mentor 'em and kind of help move them along their path. 57:44 - And you provide your program to them for free, - Correct? Yeah, - Impeccable. 57:50 Impeccable. I love your heart for people. I think that being a, a, a servant leader, 57:59 having a good heart for people and wanting others to achieve as well, like not the crab in a bucket concept, right? 58:07 - Right. - I've, I've said this before, every alum that I've interviewed thus far 58:15 has the same mentality, and they're all very happy with 58:20 where they are in their career. And to others, I'm confident would be seen as successful. And that's, that is how I personally view to them. 58:27 And I think that truly when you have that heart, it's almost impossible for you not to be successful 58:34 because you're working so hard on ensuring that others are set up for great success, 58:41 that you're also aligning yourself to that same success. Would you agree with that? 58:46 - A absolutely. You know, it's almost infectious. You know, I can remember being the kid running around, you know, Vacaville, California, and, 58:53 and the, the parents in the neighborhood, whether it was a baseball coach or you know, a teacher or just a parent in the neighborhood that would take me in 58:58 and teach me little life lessons, you know, every step of my career. I've had great, amazing mentors. 59:04 Actually, I dedicated a chapter in my book to mentorship, and I think I probably outlined maybe 20 mentors that guided me along the way. 59:10 Gave me my first job opportunity, would talk to me every week about being a good leader and a manager and what it meant to be a good 59:16 man and different things like that. And, you know, it's infectious when other people do those things for you and you saw the value that you got from 59:23 that mentorship and where it brought you in life, you want to give that back. You wanna pay that forward. So I just always make it a point, any, anytime, 59:29 any opportunity I can to, to part some wisdom on, on a young person or anybody that's, that's looking for wisdom. I definitely do my best to give them my opinion 59:36 and, you know, they can take in the good and throw out the bad. You know, they, you know, take what advice I have to offer, use the good parts for what their mission is in 59:42 life and, and move forward. - Have you ever been to one of the doctoral colloquiums? 59:48 - I have not. I have not. - Okay. I'm gonna, I'm gonna suggest that you come, 59:54 because I think that you would be an impeccable speaker and encourage a doctoral student. 59:59 So I, I'm gonna have to make that request because a lot of these bullets that you've shared 1:00:07 would really be helpful, not only to those in the room, but those that would be listening as well. 1:00:13 So I would definitely share that, share that. Speaking of you creating programs, 1:00:22 you are an entrepreneur as well, and we chatted for a bit about your YouTube page. 1:00:27 Tell us more about your company. - Yeah, so my, my, my company's name is Professional Career Transformations. 1:00:35 And what I basically did was, you know, what I did was, you know, I kind of, it was, it was kind of an epiphany moment, 1:00:40 but you know, I think I had become like a vice president of a comp of tam of my company, Tampa Microwave. 1:00:46 And, you know, I kind of like, kind of woke up thinking, you know, where, you know, start just reminiscing back where I started and all the challenges 1:00:52 that I had when I was a youth and how, and I was like, how the heck did I get here? And I was like, you know, lemme write this down. You know what I mean? Because, you know, it's one 1:00:59 of those things where I'd always mentored people's careers along the way, you know, when I was a manager, a project manager, a program manager, and I was like, you know what? 1:01:05 There is a framework, some actionable steps that people can take that at least give them a basic framework to kind launch their career. 1:01:12 You know, just, you know, only stay in a job two to three years before you promote or transfer, you know, you know, get doing, 1:01:18 accomplishing one task per year, you know, kind of getting organized with your career. So I kind of said, you know, and everywhere I would go, I would always see people 1:01:25 that would wanna reach out to me and, and get that piece of tutelage. So I said, you know, why don't I turn this into a digital 1:01:31 program to where I can record it one time and then I can basically put it on webs on a website, you know, you know, for essentially, you know, for purchase 1:01:39 or, and for, you know, to, and to offer to people, you know, so that way, you know, you're not, you, you have it professionally recorded. So what I did was I went 1:01:45 to a company called Thrive Course Studios. They're actually a professional digital course recording company. I went out to Oakland, California, 1:01:51 and I actually filmed two courses out there. Part of my, my LLC is I also teach executive training as well. 1:01:57 So for example, I teach like conflict resolution to Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, you know, so the people that drive the, the, 1:02:03 the Sun Runner buses here in Pinellas County also teach communication and strategic planning. I'm gonna be teaching leadership courses. 1:02:09 There's so many academic en endeavors you can get into for training that you know, that you would 1:02:14 otherwise not know are there. So just kind of, you know, just something that, you know, I'm doing part-time, just kind building it, you know, 1:02:19 your own, you know, my own LLC on the side, you know, just in my humble opinion, I think everyone should have an equity stake in something, 1:02:27 you know, something that you own, a small business that you own, that you, you know, you, you put your blood, sweat and tears into and you, 1:02:32 you can reap through awards as well. And it just teaches you how to run a business. It's, it's been an educational path for me as well. 1:02:37 - So you have your own LLC and obviously you're using these courses 1:02:43 to help people in a multitude of ways, which I was unaware of, that it was also from how to be a CEO to also how 1:02:50 to improve your career. - Absolutely. So how do you know if you're entry level, if you're coming out? 1:02:56 So basically what I structured, I said, Hey, if you're coming out of college, this is how you should, you know, use your college years to gain the maximum amount 1:03:02 of either search credentials while you're in college and then enter the workforce. If you're coming outta the military, these are your advantages from being in the military. 1:03:09 You're veteran status, you worked around multimillion dollar companies, these, you should be trying to become a government contractor if you can. 1:03:15 That's how you get your first footing into the civilian world. If you're already a manager at some level, how do you transition from being a manager over 1:03:20 to getting into the, the, the, the junior executive level? How do you kind of move to the next level, things like that. And then get into more of the, okay, 1:03:28 now you wanna start your own LLC, this is how you do it. You know, Hey, you know, how do you create supplemental 1:03:33 and passive income through, you know, e-commerce or digital courses or writing a, a book? 1:03:38 You know, this is the process for, you know, you know, organizing, publishing and writing a, an ebook essentially. 1:03:44 Things like that. So just basically, you know, anything I could think of that was in my brain, I kind of wanted to put down a paper and record, 1:03:50 and that way I can have it, you know, always there that I can always share it with people either through my YouTube channel or through the university itself. 1:03:56 - Okay, well, time for me to be selfish. You have these incredible skills. 1:04:01 I have a career and a LinkedIn. Would you mind giving mine a glance 1:04:06 and giving me some feedback? - Absolutely. - Awesome. - Absolutely. So actually over here, 1:04:14 actually I've got your LinkedIn here. Actually, I'll put it on this side over here. 1:04:19 So first of all, your LinkedIn looks amazing. I definitely love the banner. It one, it it really, what's that quote from? 1:04:27 Was it Jim Collins from the book? Good to Great. You know, the, the first goal is to get the right people on the bus. 1:04:34 It doesn't matter what they're, you're gonna have them doing, just get them on the bus and then you can figure out where you're going from there. 1:04:39 You just look like one of those people that, hey, this is the person that's gonna come to our organization and gonna be, you know, you know, a, an, you know, an asset 1:04:47 to the organization, someone that we wanna work with. You're representing the ���۴�ý brand. You look like a a five star professional first thing. 1:04:55 I obviously see the university there. And then I remember I got down here to your, your ex your experiences. 1:05:01 You know, it looks like you've held some, some major positions, right? You're the podcast host, your, your manager 1:05:07 of digital campaigns, small business owner. This looks like someone that can not only come into my organization and execute, 1:05:12 but they can also train other people as well. So your professional experiences is perfect. And it looks like you've been, you know, at each position 1:05:19 for, you know, a couple of years, two to three years at a time. You know, if you have someone that's bouncing around every six months, that doesn't look good, right? 1:05:25 That looks, that looks like they're, they're, they're getting to an organization, they're not jelling with the team, and then they're moving on 1:05:30 to the next opportunity. Not to mention, not only have you worked for organizations, you actually had your own small business, 1:05:36 which means you kind of understand both sides of it. You understand profit and loss, you know, buy from oneself for two as opposed 1:05:41 to someone that's never had to look at the financials, you know, who's just worked for an employer. 1:05:47 Your, your obviously your images look amazing. Creative director, managing director, the director, 1:05:53 title media director, that looks good. Obviously ���۴�ý. The fact that you've continued with your, you, you've, 1:05:58 you've, you've done continuing education. You've got your, your bachelor's, your master's, you're going for your doctorate degree. 1:06:04 That means you're continuing to learn and grow within your organization. I mean, and not to mention that just makes you a much more valuable, let say, you know, 1:06:11 you always should improve the knowledge worker. You know, it makes you that much more of a valuable asset. You're the type of person that I could hire, 1:06:17 and I know that you're a potential is endless. You, you, even if you hired a, a, a mid-level team lead, 1:06:22 you could be CEO of the company one day because you've got that aptitude, you've got that dedication to your education, everything you've done. 1:06:29 So I would call this a, a five star LinkedIn profile. I would be sending you a message trying to get you set up 1:06:34 for an interview as soon as possible. - Thank you. You know, honestly, I work really hard on that 1:06:41 LinkedIn page, and I really appreciate your feedback. I know that our viewers could probably use 1:06:49 that same feedback if they were to reach out to you. Is this something that you would be able to do 1:06:54 for them in your program? - Absolutely. Matter of fact, I actually, that's one of the, the weekly lessons. 1:06:59 I, you have them do their resume and then take those bullets and add it to their LinkedIn and give 'em like a full review. So I absolutely would review people's resume, I mean, 1:07:07 LinkedIn's and ensure that, you know, 'cause your LinkedIn is like your, your public pro profile. It's your, it's your signature to the world of who you are 1:07:14 as a brand, as a person, as an employee. And it's very, very important that you, you know, 1:07:19 take it serious and put your, your best foot forward. The, you know, it's, it's the new way how you represent who you are as an employee. 1:07:26 - It is. And our, we have a, a really incredible director of social media, I believe she's a senior director 1:07:32 of social media. And she said that typically in search, when people are searching your name, 1:07:38 LinkedIn is like the top, the three to five, that popup. So with that being the case, you definitely want that 1:07:46 to be the best that you could possibly make it. I also wanna say that when you read through my profile, 1:07:54 you were so dead on about like who I am, that it's 1:07:59 clearly you're, you're, you're great at what you do. But I was a little taken back, like, wow, how did he get all 1:08:05 of that from just what, I mean, I guess maybe, 'cause I look at it all the time, but something 1:08:11 that I think is, oh yeah, these are just little notes about what it is that I've done at work. 1:08:16 You think that we should definitely be sharing this information, putting this out so that people can then 1:08:23 read it all at once and then come up with a thought on how we could be helpful to their institution? 1:08:29 - Yeah, absolutely. Because well think about the liability of you not having this information well organized and well put together. 1:08:35 I have no idea now who you are. You know, you could be a great employee, but I would never know because you've got like a, a a, 1:08:41 a kind of like a, a gloomy, cloudy, unprofessional looking photo. You know, you're not proud of the organization 1:08:47 that you're working for, so are you gonna really, you know, my, like our ethos is connecting heroes, protecting lives. 1:08:53 Are you really gonna be about the brand of the organization? Things like that. So this just really says 1:08:58 that you're a team player and things like that, and you could be a team player, but if, but if nobody knows it, then do you, you don't exist And, 1:09:06 and this, and, and, and it's, you know, you may exist to your small circle of people that know you intimately, 1:09:12 but the world is out there. You know, there could be a company in Dubai that's looking for this five star professional that wants 1:09:18 to pay you a gazillion dollars, but they don't know you're there because you're not publicly represented. And then that's the value of, of social media in general. 1:09:25 And I'm an, I'm an old head too, right? I'm still kind of catching up on, on myself on it when regards to, you know, some of these social media platforms, things like that. 1:09:32 But that's the value you get here. You're, you're gonna get a look, you're gonna get a phone call back and taken seriously as someone that could be equally 1:09:39 as qualified as you and doesn't have that profile, they would, you just pass through their profile and wouldn't think twice. 1:09:46 - Thank you for that. I, I think that that's really great feedback and the accessibility for people 1:09:54 to be able to work with you to polish that first look, right. 1:10:00 - Right. - Has to be just an unparallel opportunity 1:10:05 to be seen as a leader in their organizations. So 1:10:10 - Absolutely. - That's, I I love, I love that that's what your company does. 1:10:16 What if they didn't want to take advantage of your services, where would they go? You - Can go to amazon.com and look for the book. 1:10:22 Lucky to be here, you know, my whole life story and lots of good lessons on how to build leadership 1:10:27 and find success in your life, things like that. But yeah, definitely have a a, a decent digital footprint myself. And yeah, I look forward to working 1:10:33 with anybody that may be interested. I definitely have a, a lot of good wisdom to share things along those lines, so. 1:10:38 - Oh, well that is clear. Thank you for just sharing your incredible journey 1:10:45 from your childhood to your, your journey with the military 1:10:50 being awarded the Purple Heart and still thriving and driving all the way to achieving your goal 1:10:58 to vice president, author, professor, and entrepreneur. 1:11:04 Thank you so much for just giving us a glimpse in on what that looks like. 1:11:10 - Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. You know, it's a, it's a podcast like these that, you know, you never know what young person 1:11:17 that's having a difficult time in life may get to watch something like this and, and relate to it and or someone that's getting ready to turn that corner 1:11:24 that's at ���۴�ý or out there in the community that it, this could help so much. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to, to be 1:11:30 of service to your audience. So thank you so much. - Of course. So the floor is yours. 1:11:36 If there's anything you wanna make sure that our viewers take away from this episode, what would that be? 1:11:43 - You know, I, I would say that, you know, live life with gratitude. You know, attack it vigorously, you know, make you know, 1:11:51 bold and audacious goals for yourself in life and, and, and, and, and live life unapologetically on your terms. 1:11:59 And, you know, be a good person and look out for the next man and, and be a good mentor 1:12:05 and a good role model and things like that. You know, you know, give your best in life and, and, and, you know, things will, good things will happen. 1:12:11 So, like I said, you know, you know, luck, you know, let's say, you know, fortune favors the prepared, you know, the people that work the hardest always seem 1:12:18 to be the luckiest, you know, if you put in the effort in life, you'll definitely get the return. So, and it's definitely rewarding on, on the other side, 1:12:25 you know, you'll definitely feel much better about yourself. So, you know, just good luck to everybody and, and if you ever need anything from me, lemme know. 1:12:30 You know, it's funny, there's a, there's a quote I heard today. It said, I can't remember, I can't remember who it was, 1:12:36 but it said, you know, you know, a bottle of water costs $1 in the grocery store. It costs $2 at the gym, it costs $4 at the airport 1:12:45 and it costs $7 at, you know, on the plane. You know, and it's the same exact bottle of water. 1:12:52 You know, sometimes in life, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, sometimes you need to appreciate yourself 1:12:58 'cause maybe you are the right person. You're just not in the right location, you're not in the right position. Sometimes you may be valued at a dollar over in this 1:13:05 location, but you move somewhere else, take another opportunity and someone will value at seven. You know, just always be willing to move 1:13:11 to the next opportunity if you can because you, you know, the next place may value, will value you. So that's always a good piece of advice, right? 1:13:18 - That's an excellent piece of advice. So know your value and know that another company's willing to pay you for it. 1:13:25 - Right? Right. Absolutely. - Okay, we are gonna move on to rapid fire questions. 1:13:31 One of my faves. So let's find out first a book that changed your life. 1:13:38 - Oof. I would say positive intelligence 1:13:44 by, I, I can't remember the author's name. Shazad something, it's actually in my book. 1:13:50 But positive intelligence, basically, don't let your mindset set saboteurs sabotage you in life. 1:13:57 Always think positive and build your positive, almost like iq in order to always have confidence in 1:14:03 yourself to accomplish the mission. - That's good. Early bird or night owl? 1:14:08 - Definitely an early bird. I get up at like six o'clock every single morning. Whether it's the weekend or not, just 1:14:14 after the five, six years in the military. You just get used to it and you know, so I try to go to the gym in the morning, try to do everything so 1:14:20 - Early, everything in the morning. Oh my goodness. I think all military people are morning. - Yep, absolutely. - What is your go-to productivity hack? 1:14:30 - Ooh. I would say the reward. 1:14:35 What's, what's the word phrase I'm looking for almost like the reward method, so to speak, right? So let's say I need to study for like a p and p exam. 1:14:42 You know, you could sit there for four hours and just stare at a book, but then you'll, you tire yourself out. What I do is I'll read like five pages 1:14:49 and then I'll reward myself with a YouTube video. Then I'll read another five pages and reward myself with like, maybe I'll go to the gym 1:14:54 or go get a bite to eat or something like that. But basically use the reward method when you're studying for exams. 1:15:00 You know, don't try to do it all in one sit. 'cause you can only, well I think you can only sit down for like an hour or so before you stop 1:15:05 pretending information anyways. But break it up with some kind of reward. You know, treat yourself, you do something good. 1:15:10 You do, you do you do some kind of piece of knowledge or reading or literature. Treat yourself with something that you enjoy 1:15:15 and that'll help you get through, let's say a 300 page, no dry book, so to speak. - Oh my goodness. So treat yourself. I love that hack. 1:15:25 Best advice you've ever received? - Ooh, best advice I ever received was from my Uncle Willie. 1:15:32 If you wash your car, it runs better. You ever think about that? If you actually, 1:15:37 you ever have like a dirty car and then you take it to the car wash and you wash it and it just kinda like, feels like it just drives better. 1:15:43 And like, I did not get maintenance on this car. It just runs better. Well, the same thing applies to people. If you dress nicely, if you're well groomed, 1:15:50 you just run better. So if you wash your car, it runs better. And that's a good piece of li advice for life. 1:15:57 - That is an excellent piece of advice because my, like, you know, counselors will even tell you, 1:16:02 my actual counselor told me, get dressed up and go outside. You'll just feel better. Just try it. And it's so true, 1:16:11 - Right? The aura, you get back from people, people look at you and they smile 'cause they appreciate the effort you put in. You're an attractive looking person 1:16:17 because you're well groomed, you're well dressed, or if you walk outside looking sloppily, how do they look at you? They're like, yeah, you know? So, you know, you, you know, 1:16:24 it's, if you wash your car, it runs better. That's just, I don't know why it works like that. - If you wash your car, it runs better. That's good. 1:16:30 What's your favorite go-to karaoke song? 1:16:35 - Oh, do not do karaoke. I try to not sing as much as possible if I am randomly working in the 1:16:43 Philippines on a work project. 'cause it, it's huge out there. I, I'm trying to remember, I not very big 1:16:49 on, yeah, not very big. Probably something old school though. I, I, I grew up listening to like Gap Band D brand, 1:16:55 Isley Brothers, a lot of the old school r and b, you know, I mean, really grew up on that. Like every Sunday there was a barbecue at my house 1:17:02 and that's, you know, what we played, you know, I'm kind of, I miss the old Definitely big on, you know, some of the, the good old school music. 1:17:08 - The good old school. So what's on, what's on your cookout album, on your cookout playlist? Oh boy. 1:17:13 - Oh yeah. A little bit of Rick James. A little bit of Prince, like I said, gap band. Jazz band, cool. 1:17:20 In the gang, you know, a little bit of, you know, run DMC, the old stuff. Yes. You know, definitely a 1:17:25 lot, lot, lot of old school music. Yeah, absolutely. A lot of, yeah. - Can't go wrong. A little Al Green. Gotta have Al Green. 1:17:32 - Oh, little, yeah. A little Al Green, Teddy Pendergrass. There we go. Yeah, you name it, you know. - I love it. I love it. And lastly, your personal motto. 1:17:44 - I Mm, I would probably say, don't really have one off the top of my head, 1:17:50 but I would definitely say work hard, play hard, you know, if, you know, reward yourself. 1:17:55 If, you know, if you're going, I think you can create a good balance in life. You know, if you're gonna go out and you're gonna try 1:18:00 to finish your degree, you know, obviously do everything responsibly, but, you know, treat yourself with a, a, a good weekend away 1:18:08 where you're, you know, where you, you go on a vacation where you know, you know, you can't take it with you. 1:18:13 Right. You know what I mean? Go take yourself to Ruth Chris, and, and buy yourself a steak dinner just for you sometimes, 1:18:18 you know, always, you know, take good care of yourself. Just, you know, work hard, play hard, you know, and I think you'll get the most out of life. 1:18:25 - Dr. Horton, thank you so much for sharing your incredible journey with us. - Thank you so much. - That brings us to the end 1:18:31 of this episode of Degrees of Success. Don't forget to like, subscribe and comment. 1:18:38 I'm your host, Frieda Richards reminding you that your next chapter just might be your best one yet. 1:18:44 See you soon.