Career Cheat Code _

On today’s episode, we have someone who started their career selling cable boxes, and now manages benefits for a tech company with a global footprint. Let’s start the week with Marcelina Mata.

Key Points from the Episode:

• Bring your personality to the workplace
  
• Growing up in a diverse community helps professionally
  
• Use community colleges as resources for less expensive programs/classes
  
• Taking a pay cut to propel her career
  
• Importance of networking throughout your career and keeping in touch with network regularly
  
• It’s OK not to put things on your resume for different reasons
  
• Keep in contact with recruiters and hiring managers...even if you don’t get the position you interview for
  

Books Recommended:

He majored in philosophy, and now helps multiple nonprofits ensure they are financially able to carry out their missions. Let’s start the week with Michael Chang

On today’s episode, we have someone who majored in philosophy, and now helps multiple nonprofits ensure they are financially able to carry out their missions. Let’s start the week with Michael Chang

Key Points from the Episode:

• Moving to China for 5 years to connect with relatives
• Getting a Masters degree in China
• Why he chose to major in Philosophy
• Service projects took him the world
• Impact of Jesuit education on him
• Obtain a Master’s of Public Administration from Columbia University
• Helping small businesses and nonprofits

Book Recommended:

On today’s episode, we have someone who almost became an accountant, and instead decided to tap into her creative side with her career, and her own business. In her day job, she does a lot more than just “make the stores look pretty”. Let’s start the week with Jennifer Goris

Key Points from the Episode:

He went from aspiring baseball player to building a career in corporate America.

On today’s episode, we have someone who manages multi-million dollar relationships for an investment bank. He went from aspiring baseball player to building a career in corporate America. Let’s start the week with Gregory Lara

Key Points from the Episode:

• Wanting to be a baseball player, and transitioning out of that
• Being one of the few community college students in his investment banking floor
• How growing up in uptown Manhattan shaped his perspective
• Desire to help local brands expand with capital investments
• Dispelling myths of wealthy people once he worked with some
• Getting paid to manage relationships
• Traveling for work

Books Recommended:

Remysell Salas advocates for people and nonprofits in his community. He is a conduit of resources, who has professional experience in Europe and America.

On today’s episode, we have someone who advocates for people and nonprofits in his community. He is a conduit of resources, who has professional experience in Europe and America. Let’s start the week with Remysell Salas

Key Points from the Episode:

• Working in NYC City Hall
• Moving to Europe for a few years
• Cold-emailing for internships
• Balancing multiple unpaid internships at the same time
• Trying to connect people in the community to much needed resources
• Starting a music career provided leadership skills he still uses
• Embarking on a new journey with a lobbying/consulting company
• Staying yourself at work brings value to the workplace

Book Recommended:

Key Points from the Episode:

• Living alone through last year of high school
• Strategically prolonging his college graduation to secure a job
• Academic life hacks in CUNY system
• Mentoring is part of our mandate
• Universe bringing him closer to family

Books Recommended:

On today’s episode, we have someone who uses his design abilities to come up with creative solutions and products for amputees.

Key Points from the Episode:

• Moving from Iran alone and sleeping in his college's library because he didn’t have a home
• Using his design background to provide creative products for amputees
• Being promoted 3 times in 8 months
• Designing an unofficial BMW concept car that went viral
• Designing an apartment and his parents making it their home

Books Recommended:

On today’s episode, we have someone who was able to merge her passions for marketing and cooking into a sponsorships role at a financial services company. Let’s start the week with Scherise Merritt

Key points from the show:

• Staying true to yourself in the office
• How saying “good morning” landed her a job
• Advocating for yourself for career growth
• Exposing yourself to projects beyond your job description
• Growing up fast, and how that shaped her

Books Recommended:

Our guest today began taking pictures in night clubs, and now has grown his own production and creative company that works with artists and large organizations to bring projects to life. Let’s start the week with Fred Focus

Key points from the show:

• Why he waited years before calling himself a director
• Working with large record labels and organizations
• As an immigrant, explaining his director role to Dominican parents
• Self-teaching editing skills
• Other directors and professionals who inspire him

Books Recommended:

We discussed tips to becoming more financially savvy, and to create a career path teaching low-income communities how to plan, save, invest, and retire comfortably.

Throughout this episode, you’ll hear how Aaron Pagan is on a crusade to educate low income communities about financial service products they can utilize to save, invest, plan, and retire. His career started in real estate, and is now a financial service broker in NYC.

Key points from the show:

• Growing up middle class gave him a unique perspective on finances
• Finding “mentors from a distance”
• Your network determines your net worth
• Tips on becoming financially stable

Book Recommended:

Throughout this episode, you’ll hear how Julissa Baez is a career coach whose journey began as an immigrant who studied business and changed to political science, then serendipitously landed in a program that changed the trajectory of her career. Now, she helps others identify career paths and becomes their copilot to get to their destination.

Key points from the show:

• Journey of coming to America for college
• Working in local politics gave her a sense of impact in the community
• How side hustles shaped her career
• Even coaches need a coach

In this episode, you’ll hear how Brandon went from the copy room to working as a management consultant in the at a top consulting firm.

Key points from the show:

• How to utilize LinkedIn to connect with fellow alumni
• Why he decided to attend grad school
• Overcoming fear played a pivotal role in his professional life
• Working to expand a charter school network in NYC
• Wanting to become a police officer or civic employee, and how that did not materialize

Books Recommended:

Throughout this episode, you’ll hear how Pedro is a modern-day historian, and his journey from being in an immigrant, to working on his Associate’s Degree at a community college, to ultimately obtaining his doctorate degree from an Ivy League School.

Key points from the show:

• The importance of learning about specific fields
• He became an avid reader while in college
• How moving to multiple cities in his life helped him professionally
• Importance of finding mentors in your field

Book Recommended:

On today’s episode, we have Irving Burbano. Irving went from working in politics, to helping a major bank have a meaningful impact in the communities it serves.

Key points from the show:

• How his Spanish-speaking upbringing in Washington Heights, NYC has played a pivotal role in his career
• Being your own champion at work, and tips to achieve it successfully
• He didn’t know his type of role existed until applying for it
• Not always about who you know, but who knows you

Book Recommended:

Throughout this episode, you’ll hear how Anthony helps bridge the digital divide gap in NYC communities that need it the most.

Key points from the show:

• How being fired...TWICE played a huge role in his career
• Attending Columbia University's School of International & Public Affairs helped him re-think his career
• His pivot from accounting was facilitated by finding mentors and leaders in the field

Books & Documentaries Recommended:

Throughout this episode, you’ll hear how Guru became a lawyer and now counsels innovative, high-growth private clients in corporate and finance matters.

Key points from the show:

• How being a son of immigrants and raised in Brooklyn has played a role in his life and career
• How the POSSE Scholarship played a pivotal role in his education
• Urban Fellowship program provided the foot in the door to his career
• Importance of maintaining good mental health
• The need to exercise your creative part of the brain, in his case by writing Sketch-comedy

Other Resources discussed:

Throughout this episode, you’ll hear how Monique works in the private sector, but with public sector clients. She is a fiscal problem solver for government agencies and authorities.

Key points from the show:

• How being a lesbian Latina from the Bronx has played a role in her life and career
• Fellowship program provided the foot in the door to her career
• Importance of Branding yourself at work
• How to create a Board of Advisors for your career

Books Recommended:

Throughout this episode, you’ll hear how Chris experienced and embraced the changes in his life, that ultimately led him from being in a vocational high school to an investment management company that teaches organizations how to invest their money.

Key points from the show:

• By his own words, he “attended college by mistake”. His best friend’s older siblings attended college, which was his first exposure to higher education
• Navigated college process without much parental guidance
• In college, changed majors multiple times. Ultimately went from Forensic Science to Economics
• After college, worked at an investment bank doing commodities
• Provides advice for college students looking to get into investment management/banking

Books Recommended: