The Dream Job Podcast
The CIA Analyst / Novelist Returns!
If you're reading this, it means you have somehow decided to stay subscribed to The Dream Job Podcast feed despite receiving exactly zero minutes of new content in the past three months. And if you're that dedicated to the work we're doing here, it's likely you were also listening in May when we had Dave McCloskey on the podcast. And if you were, you likely recall the solemn vow we made to our dear listeners that we would have Dave back on for a second episode to see how life was going after his first novel was released. This is that episode. When we last chatted with Dave, he was a former CIA analyst, a former McKinsey consultant, and an aspiring bestselling novelist, with the "aspiring" tag being passive-aggressively applied by us due to the fact that Dave's debut novel had yet to be released. Well, we can now drop the "aspiring" tag and give Dave the credit that is his due as an actual novelist. Damascus Station, Dave's debut novel came out in early October and has since gone on to sell several (at least seven) thousand copies, receive more than two hundred five star reviews on Amazon, and be named to a number of fall reading lists by the likes of Amazon, The Washington Post, Apple Books, and others. By nearly any measure, Damascus Station is an amazing success for a first-time author with zero reality TV credits or TikTok followers. BUT...does that mean the path has been laid for Dave's career as a full-time novelist? Does it mean book #2 is destined for the same result? Does it mean he's living his dream?? Those are questions that need answers. And if we have to stage an impromptu, unplanned, mid-Winter podcast episode to get those answers...well, that's what we're going to do. So here it is. Hope you enjoy it! Dave's WebsiteDave on InstagramDamascus Station on Amazon
Goodnight, Sweet Prince
It's our last episode of the summer! Whether that makes this our Season Finale or our Series Finale remains to be seen. But at the very least, it's the last episode we're releasing for a little while. We didn't want to float off into the audio ether without first (1) thanking everyone who has given us the gift of even five minutes of your time, and (2) attempting to put something resembling a finishing touch on our 2-year adventure in podcasting. In this episode, Onnie re-joins the podcast to engage in some meandering banter with Kent about what we've learned from the 50+ Dream Jobbers we've had on the pod – with a specific emphasis on the things we've learned but still refuse to apply. Kent and Onnie share updates on where they are in their own career journeys, describe what it feels like to be in the top 1% of all podcasts ever recorded, and discuss why it's so important to let your friends know when they're on speaker phone with children present. From the very beginning The Dream Job has been a labor of love. And while there have been times when it felt more like labor than love, it has also been a welcome diversion and the source of much enjoyment in a season when both of those things were desperately needed. So thanks for journeying with us! We hope you've enjoyed the conversations as much as we have. And if in the process you've come away with a deeper appreciation of yourself, your work, and what you want to be when you grow up, then that alone will have made it all worthwhile. Take it easy out there. Be good to one another. And get #BackToWork.
Amazon's Chief Book Recommender
Finishing an amazing book is kind of like going on the Keto Diet: if you don't tell everyone in your life about it, you're probably not doing it right. But that's honestly one of the coolest things about books. They have a way of turning readers into evangelists. It's also one of the coolest things about our guest this week's job: she gets to recommend great reads to literally millions of people each month. And she gets paid for it! Sarah Gelman is the Editorial Director of Amazon's Books division. (That's right, selling books on the internet: back where it all began for Amazon.) In that role, Sarah leads the team of writers, readers, and content creators who serve as the "human" element of Amazon's recommendation engine. As great as the "frequently bought together" and "you might also like" tools are, we can't leave your next book solely in the hands of the robots. Which is where Sarah and her team come in, writing reviews and making recommendations on hundreds of titles every year. Think of them like your best friend with impeccable taste. Just, you know...on the most popular website on the internet. Sarah stops by The Dream Job this week to talk about her earliest literary memories, what it was like interviewing Chelsea Clinton, and how she manages to read nearly 100 books a year. And, of course, since she's in the "recommendation business," we make sure to get her recommendations for the books you MUST be reading with what's left of your summer. (Links below.) Sarah is a living example of the magic that can happen when a passion (books), a profession (Amazon), and a mission (celebrating great authors and great literature) all converge into one. Give it a listen! And then instead of getting back to work...get back to reading! Sarah on InstagramAmazon's Book Review SiteBooks Recommended On The EpisodeEverything I Never Told You, Celeste NgLittle Fires Everywhere, Celeste NgThe Husbands, Chandler BakerWinter Garden, Kristin HannahThe Great Alone, Kristin HannahCount The Ways, Joyce MaynardPunch Me Up To The Gods, Brian Broome
The Wunderkind CEO
"Wunderkind" is a fun German word for "a person who achieves great success when relatively young." I can't think of a better word to describe our guest today. Barely into his 30s, Matt Tresidder, is already at the helm of his second fast-growing tech startup. At the age of 26, with zero executive leadership experience, Matt was tapped to be the VP of Sales at Pushpay, a tech company providing donor management software to thousands of churches and nonprofits. He promptly led his team of 100+ sales reps and account managers through four straight quarters of record breaking and unprecedented growth. After taking a six month break to detox from quotas and end-of-quarter scrambles, he jumped right back into the startup vortex as Co-founder and (as of four months ago) CEO of Leadr, a people development platform that has just received $10 million in Series A funding. Matt steps back from the hustle this week to share how he's planning to spend that $10 million and to reflect on the half-decade he's spent in high pressure, high growth leadership roles. We talk about wins, regrets, culture drift, imposter syndrome, the endless hamster wheel that is sales, and I get him to share his philosophy on working with friends: "don't suck at your job and we'll get along fine." :) It's a great conversation with a guy who has taken the concept of "learning on the job" to new heights, and who has all the scars, perspective, and leadership chops to show for it. Give it a listen! And then get #backtowork. Matt on LinkedInLeadr on the webLeadr on Instagram
The Preacher Man
It's our 50th EPISODE!! And for the first time in over 18 months (and 47 episodes), we recorded this one in person with our guest. Was it worth the wait? Time will tell. In this episode, Kent swings by Orland Park Church in Orland Park, IL on an oppressively hot July day to chat with his good friend, Derek Buikema, about Derek's job as Lead Pastor of Orland Park Church.After Derek attempts to derail the conversation by bringing up the story of Kent's disastrous audition for the Wheaton College Improv Team, Kent gets things back on track by shifting the focus back to Derek with some hard hitting questions about Derek's short-comings as a minister.Just kidding. But they DO go deep on what life as the leader of a congregation of 1,000+ is really like. In a tight 30 minutes they touch on everything from the time Derek did four funerals in a single week to how he deals with congregational criticism to the most extreme responses he's ever gotten when he tells people "I'm a pastor." Being a pastor is one of the oldest, most intense, and most public professions around. Join us this week as we go behind the pulpit and into the life of Pastor Derek Buikema. And then get #BackToWork Orland Park Church on the webOrland Park Sermons and Services on YouTube
The Ultramarathoner and Performance Coach
When it come to amateur participation in endurance sports, most of us cannot imagine anything more ambitious or arduous than the 26.2 miles of a marathon. (And truthfully, most of us can't even imagine that.) But if you're our guest this week, you see the finish line of a marathon approaching and think, "halfway there." Literally.Jacob Puzey is an ultramarathoner, performance coach, race director, and business owner. In 2016, he set a world record by running 50 miles in 4:57:45 on a treadmill, beating the previous record by nearly an hour. He is a six-time national champion in cross-country, road and ultra championships, and has three national trail 50K championships to his credit. In 2017 he finished 37th overall at the Boston Marathon (out of a mere 30,000 runners) with a time of 2:26.52.He hangs up the running shoes long enough this week to sit down with The Dream Job, and share how his childhood spent playing with pickaxes and rocks prepared him for the work he does today. We also talk about how he got the courage to walk away from two masters degrees and half of a PhD to go "all in" as a running coach, and about the inspiration he draws from his 70 year-old father's approach to his career. It's a wide-ranging and downright inspiring conversation that will make perfect background listening while you're wheezing through one of Jacob's warmup runs (aka: anything less than a half marathon). Peak Run PerformanceJacob on InstagramJacob on Twitter
The Podcaster, Author, and Entrepreneur
James Carbary didn't invent podcasting, but he's been hosting and producing them since the dark days when the only people with podcasts were Bill Simmons, Marc Maron, Ira Glass, and a bunch of Breaking Bad fans. (FYI: in podcaster parlance this era is generally known as B.S. - Before Serial) Since then, James has founded a B2B (business-to-business) marketing company, executive produced 100s of podcasts that have been downloaded millions of times, written two books (one for grownups, one for kids), gotten married, and has somehow found time to continue recording 100s of hours of podcast content each year. He's also accomplished a neat trick that so many entrepreneurs miss: he's turned something he loves (podcasting) into a business and has managed to not start hating it in the process. We talk this week about how he's managed to pull that off. And also about how he connects his personal values to his professional life, the importance of "the Goober Ratio" at any networking event, and how he keeps his dream job from taking over the rest of his life. It's a podcast, with another podcaster, about his company that makes podcasts. Doesn't get much more meta than that. Give it a listen! And then get #backtowork.James on LinkedInjames@sweetfishmedia.comEntrepreneurial Operating SystemSweetfish MediaContent Based Networking (James's book)
The Professional Triathlete
Ironman Triathlons are widely regarded as the most challenging single-day athletic competitions in the world. (Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is a close second.) On their own, each of the three events would represent a significant athletic achievement for anyone who accomplished them: swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles. Doing them all in a row in a single day is a Herculean achievement almost beyond comprehension. But for professional triathlete, Pedro Gomes, it's all in a day's work. Literally.Pedro has been competing professionally on the Ironman Circuit since 2010. During that time, he has notched an impressive 25 Top 10 finishes in Ironman Length Races, including a third place finish last month in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho which qualified him for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI next month. Pedro takes a break from his insane training schedule this week to chat with us about how he turned his passion into his profession. We talk about some of the "high highs" and "low lows" that come with life as an endurance athlete. Pedro shares how it feels to be nearing the end of his professional career. And we get hyped for Pedro's quest for the ever-elusive sub 8-hour Ironman. Let's face it, none of us are ever going to actually do an Ironman. So we might as well listen to someone talk about doing them. #BackToWork Pedro's WebsitePedro on IG (@PedroGomesTri)Pedro on YouTube
The NYT Bestselling Author
Of all the job-related superlatives that can precede one's name, "New York Times Bestselling Author" has to be right up there with the best of them. (Maybe right behind "United States Ambassador to Fiji" and "TGI Fridays Employee of the Month".) And it's one our guest this week, J Ryan Stradal, has been hearing ever since his debut novel, Kitchens of the Great Midwest hit the NY Times bestseller list in 2015. That was soon followed by the national bestseller The Lager Queen of Minnesota in 2019, and we catch him just as he has put the finishing touches on the manuscript for his third novel. We chat with J Ryan about his process as a writer, the numerous driver's tests he failed as a teenager, and what a "good day" looks like for someone who's done nothing but write fiction for 12 hours. We also talk a bit about some of the financial realities of being a writer and he delivers one of the best lines anyone has ever said on the podcast: "Trust me, there is nothing the world needs less than your novel." It's a warm and wide-ranging conversation with the writer of warm and whimsical books. Give it a listen! And then of course…get #BackToWork. J Ryan's WebsiteJ Ryan on TwitterKitchens of the Great MidwestThe Lager Queen of MinnesotaJ Ryan's Recommended Summer Reading: Shoulder Season (by Christian Clancy)Four Dead Horses (by KT Sparks) The Music of Bees (by Eileen Garvin)
The Stay At Home Dad
There was a time when nothing in the world sounded better than the thought of being a stay at home dad. (Mostly right after college when the crushing reality of a 40 hour work week was proving a difficult to stomach.) But then I had kids. And now there are few things that sound worse. But for Michael Voth, certified stay-at-home dad and our guest on the podcast this week, it's the most purposeful and life-giving job he's ever had. In fact, it was that stark contrast between the joy he felt raising his three boys and the drudgery he felt at his various jobs, that led him to ditch his 9-to-5 a few years back and dive headlong into fulltime fatherhood. And he hasn't looked back since. For this special, Father's Day Edition of the podcast (aka: the Dad Pod), we chat with Michael about the good, the bad, and the exhausting of his life as a stay at home dad. We talk about how he and his wife navigated that transition, any "dad hacks" he's picked up along the way, and how he stays sane while spending 90% of his waking hours with three people under the age of 8. Give it a listen! And then tell your favorite Dad how happy you are that they didn't throw you out of the cave when you were a kid. Because lord knows we all deserved it.
From Team Lead To CEO in 5 Years
On a bad day at work, who among us hasn't nurtured a self-indulgent notion that goes something like: "I can't believe they let these idiots run this place. Give me ONE DAY in charge, and I'd have this place clicking on all cylinders by lunchtime." No? Just me? Well, whether she would frame it in those terms or not (hint: she definitely would not), our guest this week is getting the chance to experience that particular workplace fantasy firsthand. In 2016, Molly Matthews was hired as a Team Lead at Pushpay, a software company whose digital giving tools are used by nearly 11,000 churches and nonprofits around the world to process more than $5 billion dollars in charitable giving every year. Five years and five promotions later, and Molly was introduced (in March of 2021) as Pushpay's CEO, sitting at the helm of a company with a $2 billion market cap and 400+ employees in offices across two continents.Molly shares some of her early career goals (and how different they are from where she's ended up), and talks about the importance of bringing our full, authentic selves to our jobs. It's a wide-ranging conversation that touches on everything from imposter syndrome to work/life balance to the challenges of our new all-remote-all-the-time existence, and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed talking to Molly. #BackToWorkPushpay on the webPushpay on InstagramMolly on LinkedIn
The Dairy Farmer
Waking up at 4:30am to spend 10 – 12 hours performing manual labor 7 days a week, 365 days a year sounds more like a prison sentence than a job to most people. But for our guest this week, it's how he's spent nearly every day for the past 40 years. And he wouldn't have it any other way. Larry Stap is the owner/operator of Twin Brook Creamery, a dairy farm in Lynden, WA. With help from his wife, Debbie, his daughter, Michelle, his son-in-law, Mark, a growing crew of grandkids, and 250 cows, Larry produces, bottles, and distributes more than 500,000 gallons of milk each year. As a fourth generation dairyman, Larry is carrying on a legacy of farming that dates back to 1910 and it is clear that nothing gives him more joy than passing his love for farming down to his kids and grandkids. During our conversation, Larry shares many of the critical lessons he's learned over his long career, makes a strong case for doing business with family, and tells a pretty crazy story about what happened last spring when COVID hit and Twin Brook had to switch their entire bottling plant from glass to plastic in less than 48 hours. It's about as far from Kent and Onnie's careers as a job can get, but it's another great example that dream jobs can come in all shapes and sizes. (And that you can learn some amazing things when you talk to someone over the age of 40.)Give it a listen! And then get #BackToWork. Twin Brook on the WebTwin Brook Creamery on Instagram (meet the cows!)
The Tech Founder and CEO (Virtuous.org)
It's easy to get the impression that tech founders are like Olympians. They work insane hours, they consume biologically impossible amounts of supplements, and if you haven't made it by the time you're 25, it's probably not going to happen for you. If you've ever had that thought. Or if you've ever thought that the "big change" you wanted to make in your life needed to happen before you had kids, a mortgage, or a Netflix account…then this week's episode is for you! We're joined on the podcast this week by Gabe Cooper, CEO and Founder of Virtuous, a social-good software company committed to using technology to help charities accomplish incredible things. Gabe founded Virtuous in 2014, when he was well into his mid-thirties with five kids and a successful software consulting practice. Not exactly the life stage or the "risk profile" you envision for a typical startup founder. Gabe shares how he was able to de-risk the early stages of Virtuous and ease his way into his new life as a tech founder. He talks about how his role has changed as Virtuous has grown from five employees to fifty and we contemplate whether or not tech founders are sociopaths. Gabe and Virtuous are on a mission to do big things, and – whether there's a startup inside you dying to get out or just a new passion waiting to be pursued – this week's conversation is a great reminder that it's never too late. Give it a listen. And then get #BackToWork! Gabe on LinkedInVirtuous on the web
The CIA Analyst and (Aspiring) Novelist
Today, Kent and Onnie welcome their college roommate, David McCloskey, onto the podcast. Now, reading that you may be thinking "geez louise. These guys are really scraping the bottom of the barrel for guests these days, aren't they?" And while you'd be right, we actually have more to talk about with Dave than freshman dorm antics and Will Ferrell quotes from 2005. Specifically, we want to talk about his recent decision to walk away from his high paying corporate job to try his hand at being a novelist. With his debut book coming out this October (available for pre-order now), and with him being two months removed from the corporate grind, we're catching Dave at a unique stage in his journey toward his "dream job." And since he's a good friend, is (technically) unemployed, and is an easy guest to book, we thought we'd follow along with Dave as he opens this new chapter of his career. (A miserable pun, but it had to be said.)In this first conversation – part 1 of 2 – we talk to Dave about the five years he spent working at the CIA, his transition into the private sector, when he knew it was time to leave, and how it feels to have "gotten out." We also talk about the uncertainty of the road ahead and contemplate the possibility that his book might be an abysmal failure. Give it a listen, and then stay tuned for Part 2 in November when we'll check back in with Dave to see how things are going. Did anyone buy the book? Have they sold the film rights? Is Collin Ferrell attached? Does he still like writing? Has he gained 30 pounds and a drinking problem? These are questions that need answers, and we'll get all of them at the end of Season 2. Pre-Order Dave's Book on Amazon! (out October 5th)
The Nutritionist & Influencer (@kids.eat.in.color)
When she started the @kids.eat.in.color Instagram account, Jennifer Anderson wasn't trying to become a social media influencer. In fact, she'd never even used Instagram prior to that. What she had done is witness the undeniable link between poverty and nutrition. She'd also experienced firsthand the frustration and exhaustion that can come from parenting a picky eater. So she started posting pictures of the creative food hacks she used to get her own picky kids to eat veggies. Her posts struck a chord with defeated parents everywhere and her follower count began to rise. Her blog quickly became a business, and Kids Eat In Color - now more than 1 million followers strong - became a community. Jennifer stops by The Dream Job this week to talk about her early interest in nutrition, the importance of pairing best practices with real life experiences, and why kids are so opposed to eating anything that might actually keep them alive. We also deconstruct the very idea of an influencer and talk about what it feels like to have achieved modern America's ultimate "merit badge" - 1 million Instagram followers.If you've ever thought your life would be materially better if you had 1,000 more social media followers, this episode is for you. If you've ever told a child, "two more bites of broccoli...fine one more bite...fine just give ME the broccoli," this episode is for you. If you've ever doubted whether having a mission-first, message-first, people-first approach is truly the best way to succeed in life, then this episode is definitely for you. Check it out! And then get #backtowork. InstagramFacebookWebsite
We're back! But why? And also...where have we been?
Crazy how a four week break for Christmas can quickly turn into a six month break for "doing other things instead of podcasting." But all of that is behind us now. Kent and Onnie are back for Season 2 of The Dream Job and it promises to be 30% dreamier and 50% jobsier than ever before. Onnie say's that's some solid YoY growth and he's a consultant, so he knows what he's talking about. On this week's episode, the guys share what they've been up to for the past few months that was SO important they couldn't even spare the time to produce a weekly podcast. They talk about why the world still needs this podcast. (Apparently a 12 month reprieve from commutes, pants, and mandatory "team building" activities wasn't enough to fix work.) And they give a preview of what's in store for Season 2. It's been a long, bleak winter in more ways than anyone cares to count. But all of that is behind us now. The blessed spring of new podcast content has arrived. The future is bright. 2020 is over. And nothing bad will happen to anyone ever again. The Dream Job Podcast goes back to the office today! (In a socially distant, CDC-approved way, of course.) We hope to see you there! (Wearing masks and maintaining 6 feet between us at all times, of course.)
The Nonprofit Founder, Entrepreneur, and Author
Our guest this week - Nicole Serena Silver - is now 13 years into her career exploring purposeful, passion-filled work. She's written a book (@vekitapd), started a nonprofit (@grow_myfuture), led workshops for Fortune 100 companies, and founded a company all focused on equipping people to ask hard questions about who they are and what they want out of their life. She was kind enough to join us on the #podcast this week to share some of what she's learned over the years. This our 36th and final episode of 2020. We will be taking a quick break to enjoy the holidays! See you in 2021. Vekita PDNicole on LinkedInHer guidebookHer nonprofit
The War Photographer
What do you do when you're 21 years-old, on a break from school, and desperate to prove to yourself (and everyone else) what you're made of? Easy. You forge a press pass, borrow a friend's camera, catch a flight to Budapest, and beg/plead/lie your way onto a UN flight to Sarajevo during the height of the Bosnian War. At least that's what you do if you're Thomas Hurst, this week's guest on the Dream Job. When it comes to meaningful work, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more noble (or naively ambitious) purpose than ending all armed conflict around the world. But that's what 21 year-old Thomas Hurst committed himself to after witnessing the atrocities of war first-hand in Bosnia in 1992. His weapon of choice? A used Nikon camera. He thought if he could show people the horror and savagery that he was witnessing firsthand, that humanity would lose their appetite for war. He worked twenty years in pursuit of that mission, and - while he didn't quite achieve that end - he did skillfully capture the brutality and humanity of places most of us only know from the news: Kosovo, Haiti, Rwanda, Afghanistan, and more. Join us as we talk about Thomas's non-traditional path into photojournalism, what it's like to be looking at his dream job from the "other side," and that time he almost died in the Rwandan jungle. Thomas's WebsiteBosnian Wars (wikipedia)Rwandan Genocide (wikipedia)
The 'Balance and Burnout' Deep Dive
The data shows that you, dear listener, want to hear more from Kent and Onnie! So this week, the pod takes a detour from our typical interview and goes deep on the topic of Balance and Burnout. Join us as we walk through what our days/weeks actually look like, our perspectives on the topic of balance and burnout, and how we try to avoid it (only sometimes successfully)!Relevant articles on Balance/BurnoutHow Millennials became the Burnout GenerationWorkismWork as identity, burnout as lifestyle (Ezra Klein podcast)
The Distinguished Lecturer on Authentic Leadership
What happens when, after a range of careers (incl. smokejumper, documentary filmmaker, and activist in Central America!) you find out your calling is using improv to teach others how to be more authentic communicators? Yeah…we didn't know either until we met this week's guest: Cort Worthington, a Distinguished Teaching Fellow at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. He teaches one of the legendary courses at Berkeley called Leadership Communications, which focuses on soft-skill leadership trait development with an emphasis on improvisation. You might call it public speaking, but it's much more than that - it's really about finding your authentic leadership style, and honing your communications skills to live it out.Cort bent his path from what he calls 'itinerant' to a deliberate path to train business leaders to play more, practice improv, and find their 'true voice.'In this week's episode, Kent and Jon speak with their first non-Millennial (turns out there's a lot to learn!) - we hear about Cort's path, from what he labeled 'itinerant' to a deliberate mission to train business leaders to play more, practice improv, and find their 'authentic voice.' We also cover his view on what it means to be 'authentic', how you can listen to and act on a calling, and how you can always be learning, even from humbling failures.Join us.Cort's faculty pageImprov Wisdom (killer book on how to incorporate improv into your life!)