This week we walk through Al's exciting career journey and all the steps that led him to leaving his corporate job to be an entrepreneur in a unique and exciting niche. Al is the founder of MBA Schooled and Betterwork Labs. He is the host of MBA Insider Podcast, Author of MBA Insider and is a thought leader in the MBA education space. Al focuses on graduate education, helping professionals navigate through their careers and gives a first person perspective on what value many of these decisions can bring you in your career. For those wondering why this episode is E8.7 instead of just E8, it's because I was introduced to Al by my guest Shyvee Shi in Episode 7. This is a fun way i will track how the guests were introduced and how my network grows 😊 First Digit is the episode number, second digit is who introduced me to them! Checkout Al on LinkedIn where he shares daily advice to aspiring professionals and interviews thought leaders in the space! If you found this interview valuable please consider liking and subscribing:) 🎙 Listen to the show: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4aNQYxLc8XegXV5mRFm82o Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-climb-project/id1607354555 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW4MvqhnxT1YeQKCSDs7jaQ Join the community: 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_theclimbproject_/ 🕺 TikTok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdGRGvmG/
Shyvee is a self proclaimed mid-career pivoter, she came from a third tier city in China, made her way through higher education and eventually landed in consulting. After a period in the consulting world she decided her interests better aligned with the product management role in tech, the only problem? She didn't have any PM experience. This month Shyvee walks us through her journey of pivoting from consulting into tech and how she eventually landed her dream job at LinkedIn where she has been working on products and building her personal brand to 50,000+ followers. Checkout Shyvee on LinkedIn where she shares daily advice to aspiring PM's, teaches courses and interviews thought leaders in the space! If you found this interview valuable please consider liking and subscribing:) 🎙 Listen to the show: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4aNQYxLc8XegXV5mRFm82o Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-climb-project/id1607354555 Join the community: 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_theclimbproject_/ 🕺 TikTok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdGRGvmG/
"You have to motivate yourself before you can motivate anybody else." This Month I sat down with Andrew Torrieri and discussed how he went from one of nine siblings to becoming a millionaire in his forties. He started in Brooklyn, became a Marine, cut hair, colored hair, owned salons, sold beauty products, was part of an acquisition by L'oreal and now owns and runs a horse barn in North Carolina. If you found this valuable please consider reviewing and subscribing:) Join the community: 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_theclimbproject_/ 🕺 TikTok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdGRGvmG/ 🎙 Listen to the show: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4aNQYxLc8XegXV5mRFm82o Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-climb-project/id1607354555
In this months interview I was able to speak with Emanuel Storch, CEO of Blackbird Foods. We discuss how he became a foodie and what experiences led to him becoming the 29 year old CEO of a funded startup. This is part 1 of his career interviews, join us in a decade to see where he leads the industry next! 00:00 Intro 01:59 Interview Start 05:11 Intro to Business 07:20 KIND Snacks 10:57 Dorm Room Restaurant 14:00 Americano Peanut Butter 17:17 Chopped Chef Einat Admony 27:41 Simply Gum Startup 36:09 Meeting the Blackbird Foods Founders 44:38 Imposter Syndrom 46:40 First CEO Actions 51:00 Getting into Whole Foods 54:05 Brand Awareness 56:07 what is Seitan? 01:04:30 Blackbird's Advantage If you found this valuable please consider liking and subscribing:) Join the community: 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_theclimbproject_/ 🕺 TikTok - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdGRGvmG/ 🎙 Listen to the show: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4aNQYxLc8XegXV5mRFm82o Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-climb-project/id1607354555
"I’m constantly trying not to create a product that people are coming to consume, but to create a community that people come to be a part of." This months interview was with Alan Shelton, the founder and executive director of Mixxer, a maker space in Winston Salem, NC. Alan started his career fixing cars and installing security systems until he found the need for tools & space he didn't have access to. He started a shared space in downtown Winston Salem that is now a successful maker space with hundreds of members. If you found this valuable please consider liking and subscribing😊 Join the community: 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_theclimbproject_/ 🎥Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW4MvqhnxT1YeQKCSDs7jaQ 🎙 Listen to the show: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4aNQYxLc8XegXV5mRFm82o Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-climb-project/id1607354555
Sam Victory is a Founder and Master Brewer at Wiseman Brewing in Winston Salem NC. He took his advanced chemistry background, created multiple award winning beers and built one of the most popular breweries in the triad area. In this interview we cover how Sam started his career with big pharma and took a leap of faith as he transitioned full time to his passion of brewing beer. 00:00 Intro 03:27 Why Pick STEM? 07:30 PhD Summary 10:10 Post Doc 12:52 Purdue Pharmaceutical 15:22 Transtech Pharma 19:04 Intro to Home Brewing 23:40 Building the Wiseman Team 27:40 Funding a Brewery (SBA Loan) 31:00 Scaling from Home to Professional Brewing 39:07 Growth Strategy 44:00 Controlling your own Destiny 45:00 Interview Feedback 45:42 Future Guests 47:34 Winston Salem Future Growth Join the community: 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_theclimbproject_/ 🎥Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW4MvqhnxT1YeQKCSDs7jaQ 🎙 Listen to the show: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4aNQYxLc8XegXV5mRFm82o Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-climb-project/id1607354555
"Nothing speaks louder than results. Nothing." - Dan This months interview was with Dan Snyder. His story takes us from officer candidate school to spending a 20 year career at Equifax in Marketing before leaving to lead a small startup to a $1.8 Billion exit in the catalogue/big-data sector. Dan shares his perspective on his career, leadership style, management techniques and how he outperformed his peers in order to climb to the top of his sector. 00:00 Intro 02:10 Education/Military Background 04:01 First Job 05:12 Equifax 08:31 Data Analytics 15:15 Moving From Corporate to Startup 19:36 Exit Strategy 29:30 Taking Money Off the Table 39:32 Business Model - Personalized Advertising 41:00 Skills to Become President 46:28 Performance Management 51:25 How to Reward Employees 56:09 Early Retirement 01:01:03 Leadership Lessons Join the community: 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_theclimbproject_/ Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW4MvqhnxT1YeQKCSDs7jaQ 🎙 Listen to the show: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4aNQYxLc8XegXV5mRFm82o Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-climb-project/id1607354555
Lou Ruggiero is a renowned C-Level business executive with decades of business development and sales experience. Today i was able to sit down with him and look back on his career trajectory and learn what moves he made to get to where he is. 00:00 Intro 01:30 Education 07:23 Proctor and Gamble 10:36 Introduction to Healthcare Sales 19:49 GE Beginning 28:48 GE Rejection 32:56 Favorite Boss Ever 39:15 Pitching Jeff Immelt 48:05 Jack Welch Story 57:31 Taking the CEO Role 01:08:11 Growing Donjoy Therapeutics 01:20:06 Who really wants to be a CEO? 01:38:03 Parenting along the way 01:41:00 Selfish questions from the host Join the community: 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_theclimbproject_/
The best way to help people is by sharing your story: The Climb Project is a collection of long form Interviews where we do a deep dive into individuals unique career blueprints and walk through the steps they took on their climb to success.