Pull Back To Push Up: Mentorship and Leadership With Ken Daniel

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David: However, I believe my disadvantage was actually my advantage.

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David: You have to, your consumer, you have to know what you're doing.

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David: You have to follow your heart.

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David: You have to follow your passion.

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Ken: Everyone has something that they can teach somebody

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Ken: And there should be every interaction should be

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Ken: Mutually beneficial.

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Ken: At the end of the day, poverty is in where you live.

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Ken: It's how you think, right?

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Ken: Hey, you can pack the work hard,

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Ken: But you have to make sure you're working hard

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Ken: In the right direction for you.

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David: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the conversations

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David: That count podcasts.

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David: Today, I am here with my good friend,

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David: And he is an amazing individual.

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David: And before I start introducing him,

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David: I'm going to pass it over to him, let him introduce himself.

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David: No, I appreciate that.

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David: I'm really excited about the opportunity

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David: To speak with you this evening.

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David: A little bit about myself.

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David: I'm a native Detroiter.

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David: Go cast.

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David: Once you're University of Michigan

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David: Was in the business school there,

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Ken: You've been in Ross School of Business,

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Ken: Where I pursued a bachelor's business administration

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Ken: Within the Citizen Marketing Strategy.

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Ken: And currently, I am the amongst other things,

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Ken: My main day to days,

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Ken: I am the digital marketing manager

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Ken: For the middle-antic region with the Atlantis,

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Ken: Which formerly known as Fiat Chrysler Omelebills.

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Ken: I love it.

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Ken: And I love the fact your digital media marketing manager, right?

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Ken: Because everything you do, everything you provide

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Ken: Is how can I communicate with people at large.

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David: It is amazing.

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David: And not only that, but it's the way of the future

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David: That I can love about my job is

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David: There may be two days that are the same,

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David: But outside of that, there is not going to be any repetition

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David: Because the way that swimmers engage with digital media

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David: Changes day to day.

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David: And we see the adoption that it had in such a short amount

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David: Of time, it's crazy how many brands and companies

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David: Just flocked to the tool.

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David: And this is what I was familiar five years ago,

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David: No one thought was going to be a platform

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David: That we would be using for advertising,

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David: But now when you look at some statistics,

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David: TikTok is one of the most advertised one platforms.

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David: That's one of the duties of my job

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David: Is constantly looking at the market,

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David: Looking at what consumers are engaging in

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David: And finding the best way to integrate our brands

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David: With their lifestyles.

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David: No, I love that I literally just bought something

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David: Because it was on a TikTok advertisement.

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David: I'm sorry to think I have a TikTok addiction.

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David: So that's a great place to have that marketing.

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David: And actually that leads me to really my first question.

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David: Based on what you said, you really know your stuff, right?

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David: You know what you're doing.

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David: You know your products,

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David: But you're a really young individual.

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David: So I have to ask to be your age,

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David: Be as successful as you are already.

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Ken: I can only imagine that you've had some mentors

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Ken: In your life and I'd love to hear at least

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Ken: About one conversation that you had with them,

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Ken: That counted and really had an impact on you.

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Ken: I'm 25 and I am the youngest

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Ken: Of the youngest digital marketing manager in Stellantis's history.

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Ken: I came into the role when I was 24

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Ken: And a lot of that came from to your point

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Ken: Not only mentors, but just having career advocates

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Ken: In my corner.

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Ken: And I would say like,

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Ken: I have all the mentors that I've had.

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Ken: The one that's most aligned with the work that I do to individuals who were

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Ken: Digital marketing managers and I was there in turn in the summer of 2018.

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David: And I look at them and I saw at least two amazing women who were doing amazing

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David: Things in a male-dominated industry.

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David: And I remember having conversations with them and I was like, I want to get

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David: Into the space by how do you do it?

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David: Like how do you navigate it?

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David: And the biggest thing that they told me was, and that stuck with me so

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David: Tough because that is something that not only do I resonate with in my own

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David: Personal, social, professional mantras, but that's something that a lot of my

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Ken: Other mentors indicated to me as well.

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Ken: And so to hear that from two individuals who were I want to say senior in the

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Ken: Automotive industry, but they've had five to 10 years of experience in auto

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Ken: Space just to hear them say that reignited like, OK, like this is something that I

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Ken: Could be passionate about.

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Ken: And then when I connected my summer internship experience, just being at each

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Ken: Fighter and being an advocate car lover, it align perfectly.

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Ken: I think it just allowed for me to really take my career to just take my life

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David: By the right.

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David: And just say, this is what I want to go for.

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David: And I'm a goal.

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David: And I'm just really with passion to get there.

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David: And that's something that I've not only been able to do, but I feel as I've

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David: Been able to thrive with over the past three years that I've been working full

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David: Time with semantics.

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David: That's amazing.

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David: Right.

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David: So it sounds like I mean, heck, you grew up in the motor city, right?

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David: No, I have to be it because here it says, I can imagine that had a huge

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David: Impact on you, especially growing up.

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David: I love the idea though that then you took that passion.

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David: You said not only will I come in and I'm going to do everything I can

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David: To dominate the space, but I'm going to do it with my own energy, my own

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David: Passion and with my own personality.

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David: And and I can't imagine, right, being 20 24 starting off now 25, I can't

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David: Imagine that that was always an easy, easy place to be and not kind of fall

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David: Into into almost the fold of doing things.

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David: I were guessing now and in the reason why it's kind of two-fold is, but

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David: Almost industry is a hundred year old industry.

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David: And to be completely here, a lot of the leaders within the space have a very

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David: Similar look and very similar background.

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David: One paper, I'm at a disadvantage for coming into this space.

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David: However, I believe my disadvantage was actually my advantage.

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David: So coming in as an intern, I had no agenda when I was an undergrad,

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David: It used to be a career coach.

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David: So whenever I used to talk to my students, both BBA's and PBA's that I

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David: Would coach, I would say, don't do what I did when it comes to recruiting.

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David: I applied to a hundred different companies.

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David: And I just was like, okay, the first one that I did, I'm going to, I'm going to

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David: Take.

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David: So Christ, there was actually the first company to reach out to me,

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David: Offering an interview and I did the two rounds.

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David: And I say it was the best mistake of my because it was then,

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David: When I was able to go out to New York and work out of the Northeast

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David: Business Center, which is pretty much the entire Northeast.

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David: They run, they manage all the Christ, that I was ran, deep sales in that region.

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David: And I would never go over working at team.

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David: I'd realized two things.

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Ken: One, there's not enough diversity and inclusive and collaborative thought

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Ken: Within the automotive.

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Ken: Space and I found a, I wouldn't say a niche, but I just found a area that I knew that I can

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Ken: Grow. I guess it would be a niche. But the second thing I noticed is it's something that I'm

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Ken: A neatly good at. And I don't know if it comes from both of my grandparents working in automotive

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David: Factories in Detroit. I don't know if it just comes from me growing up in Detroit. Or if it comes

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David: From me being a 24, 25 year old into this space that actually understands the digital, not only

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David: Understands social media. And that's kind of goes back to what I was saying about it being a

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David: Kind of both side of both being a disadvantage and advantage. But like, yeah, coming into the space

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David: When I first started, I was in area sales manager. And so that's pretty much more one-on-one

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David: Consultation with a select number of dealers, out-station and Connecticut. And I had to garner

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David: The respect to my dealers because like, you're the youngest rep you've ever had. What do you know?

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David: And it was kind of a ball buster. It's all outside. I had to be able to talk to shit and

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David: Back it up. But it was also rooted in like true genuine, what do you know? Like what value act can

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David: You bring me? Like you just graduated college. So it forced me to be on top of my shit.

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David: Where three years later, I still have dealers who call and reach out to me. Not just on a personal

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David: Level, but on a hey, can you help me on this or can you provide resources on this? Because I

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David: Lump and I was very quick with it. And there was very much a being kind of more authentic

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David: Than myself. Like hey, if I don't know something, I'm gonna get back to you. And there was one

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David: Instance where I was talking to a dealer. There were a newer dealer on the dealer and they were

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David: Asking me something about them in the same app or something on those lines. And I told them, I don't

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David: Know. Let me reach out to the team and I'll get back to you. And you said, Kim, you were the first

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David: Rep that I had. And tell me that you don't know something. And I appreciate that because there

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David: Was a rep who told me that they were something and it wasn't right. And they cost me $20,000.

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David: So it's like, yeah. And it's just kind of like those moments where yes, I'm young and yes, little

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David: Black games play from Detroit, first generation college student, you wouldn't expect to be able to

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David: Drive this space. But it's those, I didn't find factors that really make me a decent job.

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David: Where is like, yes, I'm coming into this space with a different perspective. But I'm also

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David: Coming into this space with the perspective that is more representative of our target audience

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David: In terms of, yeah, because we're trying to sell brands that we hope at the North Park polio,

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David: Then those who don't share some of those same diversity traits. Wow. You said a lot of amazing

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David: Things there. I want to break it down just a little because I can relate a lot to what you're saying.

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David: And it actually took me back to my early days when I first started writing mortgages and

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David: Originating them and helping clients, right? Because I first started off house 23 years old.

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David: And imagine trying to tell someone what to do with the biggest investment they've ever made.

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David: And I remember stepping into it right and thinking, well, I'm going to, even if I don't know

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David: The answer, I'll make something up. I'll come with them in the spot, right? Because I'm fresh out of

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David: College. I think I know everything. And even if I don't know what I'll act like I do. And someone gave

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David: Me the same advice that you just kind of knew.

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David: Which is a blessing, right? But I remember I was talking to a client. I didn't have the answer

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David: And I started making something up and we as a direct nom a director, but I'll listen to like

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David: My salespeople's calls, make sure they're telling people the right thing. And I had a director

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David: At the time and when I tell you, he started messaging me saying, Hey, I need you to pause your

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David: Phone. Right? He's stalking me right there. He said, I need you to put the client on, hold real

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David: Quick, tell me, we'll be back three to five minutes. And I did just that. And I'm like, I wonder if

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David: You're going to tell me how great I did. And opposite. He said, what you said made absolutely no sense.

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David: Why would you say that if you don't know the right answer? Why would you make that up? This is their

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David: Home we're dealing with? And I'm like, well, it doesn't matter. We'll get to the same result. He's like, no,

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David: It matters completely because what's going to happen is either, hey, they're going to figure out

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David: Your liar, which is no one wants to work with a liar or be, you're going to tell them something

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David: That's incorrect that they think is the truth. And that's going to hurt them later in the future.

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David: Every action has a consequence, right? And so he said, he actually said, Hey, it's okay to say

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David: That you don't know. Right? Young, because I'm a young kid, barely went through college, grew up on

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David: Section 8. I didn't even know what money was. And here I am lending out 100 to 1000 sometimes

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David: Millions of dollars to people for their homes. So I don't want them to figure out that I'm a

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David: I don't know what I'm doing, but it actually turned out to your point clients actually appreciated

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David: So much when I would say, Hey, I don't have the answer. If you give me, give me just a minute,

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David: I'm going to call someone who I think well. And I put them on a hold and I do it and they're so

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David: Grateful. And I to your point, I have clients now, I'm not even client facing. I run a team,

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David: But I still have clients now who will reach out call email me. And I'm running a team for almost

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David: Two years now still have clients that are like, Hey, David, I know you don't do this anymore,

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David: You're the one I want to work with. Exactly. And it's to your point. It's that it's that level of

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David: Of just honesty and true communication with your clients. Which I think is,

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David: And I think it's funny that you mentioned that home purchase most individuals, most

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David: Personal, most expensive investment, because on most purchases are the second most expensive

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David: To purchase. So funny, because we do have that commonality. And it's very similar in all those

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David: It's been times when I've even had customers and I'm not customer facing audience in our

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David: Dealer network. But I have where the dealership acts need direct question about specific

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David: Deal or specific incentive or if we can get something moved around or something for a specific

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David: Customer to their loyal. And I'm like, okay, let me work some kid magic here. Let me see what I can do.

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David: And the dealership tell the customer, yes, this was happening because of our rep. And the customer

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David: Reached sound like, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. It really feels good to know somebody

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David: A corporate actually cares about what cares about your customers. And it's like those small

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David: Moments in my opinion are what make not only my job. So both all the roles have had so many

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David: People, but just also makes life meaningful when you're able to actually make a positive impact

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David: And someone else's life. No, completely agree. And actually that that transitions me to

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David: Other questions. I really've been dying to ask you because as we transition from being the direct person working with clients directly,

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David: Leading people and helping them deal with clients right. I know we're always there to your point. It's good to know someone at corporate cares.

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David: But what do you say are some of the biggest things you do so that the people that work under you can provide the same level of service that you did when you were in their shoes? Is there anything specific?

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David: So my direct report, they're currently, is actually from one of our program, our digital program management company called Ship Digital.

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David: And so I've never actually had the role that he's in now, but it's very similar to roles that I've either been around or experienced throughout my either full-time role worker Chrysler or my two internships.

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David: And it's interesting because his habit older, his 20 years and so it's kind of interesting to have that dynamic. I'm younger than him.

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Ken: And also his manager. And so I take a very lateral leadership style because I'm a firm believer of everyone has something that they can teach somebody and there should be every interaction should be mentioned in additional.

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David: And when I say that, yes, there are some things that may have to be delegated, but also it's, hey, I'm not, you're not just working for me for me to look good.

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David: I also need to work for you so that to make sure that when you're ready, you can get a role that surpass my because that's been a big model of mine in every capacity in my life of life.

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Ken: As I move forward in life, I want to make sure that I'm always able to pull back into whatever community I'm currently on based off Baltimore.

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Ken: So I'm living here for about a year and a half, but we've always going to be home. And so I always try to do things where I can pull back to push up.

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Ken: And the role in the work capacity. One of the biggest things I do is I try to get my direct report as much exposure to senior leadership as much exposure to leading projects on his own and kind of like presenting the liberals training support.

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Ken: Because in a day, not only see a representation of me, but he has to know that I fully trust him in his autonomy and his perspective because the reason why he was hired on was because obviously had experience.

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David: And so I had some to ask me he had some that I'm at that he provides an organization. And my thing is why should I limit that with my own agenda.

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David: And I can get more done if I actually to trust him. So I will say that that's the biggest thing is like trusting my direct report providing an abundant wrap around resources for him to not only grow professionally, but also grow socially also grow personally because he's a very intelligent guy.

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David: You're timid when you're speaking.

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David: And so I'm pulling the sign and like, no, like, I need for you to own this shit.

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David: This is your stuff.

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David: You research it.

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David: You play with it.

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David: This own it.

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David: And those are kind of something that I believe makes a good manager.

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David: And the last thing that I'll say is always putting your team first.

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David: And what I mean by that is as managers, we're only as good as our team.

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David: So if we're not putting our team members first and you're like, okay, are you good?

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David: What do you need to do?

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David: Do you need me to step in and light enough some of your workload to make sure that you're

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David: Performing at the way that you need to perform?

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David: Because it's like depending on the engine, you're not going to go anywhere.

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David: And also it's like you have to make sure that your team holistically are just in a good

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David: Spot.

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David: And if you have to get into the weeds, get in the weeds.

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David: I'll give this time example, then I'll go over to another.

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David: I'll copy it about three weeks ago, Wagoneer, which is one of the branches in our portfolio,

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David: We sponsored a horse race down in Baltimore to call the Preakness.

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David: And this is a horse race where all the up and up's come in.

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David: It's a very notable event within the mid Atlantic region.

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David: We have the amazing opportunity to be one of the corporate sponsors.

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David: And we found out from the event team that they were sitting on an individual to set up.

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David: Now my new, this was no just pop up tent type of situation.

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David: We got a whole floor plan of stopping.

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David: We're bringing in tent tables and we're bringing in wagon and all these different things.

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David: And it was just one young lady who was meant to set up all of this.

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David: And so that I connected with her and I'm like, hey, I left 20 minutes out.

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David: Do you need help?

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David: And she's like, oh my God, yes.

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David: So the two days before that event, I'm out in mud and dirt and cold raining weather with barely any

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David: A tiger.

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David: I didn't really know what I was getting into.

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David: I'm thinking, oh yeah, just clean up this or that.

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David: And we're up until 12 o'clock in the morning, setting up tents and setting up this and

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David: That in the third and putting potting flowers and all these different things.

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David: And it's not because I had to, but because I knew what needed to get done.

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David: So like I don't mind going out into the trenches, rolling up my sleeves and getting dirty

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David: Because at the end of the day, I hate to say all for a greater good.

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David: So I feel like that makes what we do sound much more glorified than it actually means.

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David: We're not, we're not rocket scientists here.

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David: But shows that no matter what there is no iron team and everyone should be able to do

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David: Everyone's role within a certain scope to make the larger plant.

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David: Contaction.

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David: No, I love that.

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David: One thing I want to talk about that more, but I have to ask, what is that phrase you said,

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David: Push up to pull forward?

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David: What did you say?

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Ken: Yeah, so pretty much as I move forward and I want to make sure I'm able to pull back

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Ken: To move to push ahead.

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Ken: But one of those things where I don't feel as though first generation college student who

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Ken: Was who have it granted, I'm not, I'm not a believer in fate.

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Ken: I'm a believer of everything happens for a reason and everything happens at the right

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Ken: Time at the right place.

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Ken: And a lot of opportunities mentorship opportunities, internship opportunities, school,

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Ken: There's a lot of different things.

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Ken: They all came about at the right time.

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Ken: Why?

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Ken: Where it's kind of certain that this and you kind of think this is all plan.

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Ken: There's everything is strategically placed like a game of checkers or chess.

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Ken: And I was like, OK, who's playing this right now?

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Ken: But it's all.

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Ken: Everything happens for a reason. So I was like, I know that without one of those experiences without one of those mentors about one of those opportunities

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Ken: I would not be in a position I am in today and so because of that I make it one of my missions in life

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Ken: To be able to give back and be able to help as many people as possible either in all the space or in any other industry as a career

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Ken: Culture as just a mentor or however to push them ahead of me because I want to see you succeed

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Ken: I know I know where I'm going and of course you have to continue to get advocates and community mentors

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Ken: But like I'm in a good position. I'm like I think but there are a lot of people who don't have that same support

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Ken: We don't have that same love. I have the opportunity back in 2016 to intern with the superintendent Detroit public schools and that experience

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Ken: Open my eyes to the disparity of resource

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Ken: Academic rigor

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Ken: Also other things that a lot of Detroit youth face and

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Ken: It was one of those things where it's like you don't really realize until you throw it and until you kind of get the experience

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Ken: Posting their experience, but then how are we going and fix this?

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Ken: How are we going to make this how we're going to change this narrative and this is something that's seen in a host of other urban communities

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Ken: One of the really big reasons why I've enjoyed my time involved more so much is because the geographic social economic

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Ken: Demographic

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Ken: Statistics are very similar to Detroit the whole dynamic here is very similar to Detroit and because of that

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Ken: We have the highs and have lows and that one of these why I'm sitting on the board now

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Ken: Of an out topic called transforming youth into adults that work with foster care a foster youth who are transition out the foster

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Ken: Care system and just providing wraparound services for them. It's like these are the same type of elements that are going on in Detroit

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Ken: These are the same type of elements that are going on in other urban communities and it takes people who are able to

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Ken: Make it out of those situations and who are in a better

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Ken: Social economic and just overarching academic position to be able to pour back into the community

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Ken: I'm gonna say this that we go to next topic while entering with superintendent

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Ken: I remember being at a town hall and

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Ken: One of the I think was either a recent graduate or soon to be high school graduate told us that their definition of success is

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Ken: Either leaving Detroit and never coming back or coming back and making a day

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Ken: And there are so many people who leave the city

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Ken: Be at Detroit New York Chicago Atlanta fall up tomorrow

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Ken: Whatever urban community that they grew up in and

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Ken: Never go back because that's their definition of success anymore power to them

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Ken: That's great, but personally that should how I wrote

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David: I'm a firm believer of if this community poured all their resources into me growing up

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David: It's up to me to be able to be able to pay that for it

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David: I'd know if anyone listening to this that grew up into Detroit right Detroit is coming back

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David: I work with a rocket and a lot of what we're doing down there is growing we're working on installing building a lot of cool stuff

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David: Right I almost say what I was supposed to but we're working on creating a lot of great things down there

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David: And I encourage everyone if you love Detroit if you've been at Detroit even just come and visit the downtown

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David: I'll give you a look at your mind.

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David: Because you're 100% right.

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David: I know people who have left the trade

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David: And they're like, I'm never coming back.

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David: And that's why.

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David: Why would you not want to come back

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David: To the city that built you and shout out to all the kids

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David: Who struggled and worked.

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David: And if you're still working and trying to make it out,

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David: Don't just think about how can I make it out of my area.

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David: At the end of the day, poverty is in where you live.

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David: It's how you think, right?

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David: It doesn't matter where you go in the world.

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David: You'll end up in poverty again

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David: If you don't change the way you think.

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David: So change the way you think, bring that thought back

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David: To where you grew up.

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David: That's my encouragement, my little soap box for the day.

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David: And I want to ask too, right?

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David: Because I think that's also awesome.

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David: I've gotten to speak to a few other individuals

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David: Who are part of nonprofits.

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David: And I'd love to hear how you mentoring early stages

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David: Instead of even like the later stages, right?

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David: Because someone who's already seen the world,

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David: Who's experienced the highs and lows of success,

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David: Sometimes they can, it's a little easier to mentor someone

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David: In that situation than it is.

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David: Someone who's never gotten to see success, right?

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David: Like tell me when I was riding a bus with my grandma

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David: That it was that, hey, one day you might be driving any car

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David: You want.

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David: It's like, well, we don't even know what that car would be.

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David: I've never been in it, right?

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David: So what can you give me an example of what a conversation

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David: You might have had with maybe one of your mentees

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David: At the nonprofit people you've seen struggling

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David: Trying to make their lives better?

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David: Yeah, no.

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David: So before I go on into this question,

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David: I kind of want to go to a prior experience

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David: I had with a nonprofit Detroit.

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David: So when I was at CAS, it was my junior and senior year,

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David: I was part of COOM.

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David: And so I had the opportunity to work half a day only take,

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David: Well, I'll be able to like,

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David: Four classes and then with work.

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David: So I'm like, that's a pretty cool sketchbook,

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David: But I have an opportunity to report

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David: An nonprofit called the Skillman Foundation.

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David: When I had the opportunity to work with Skillman,

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David: I, that was my first exposure to nonprofit work

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David: And working with them,

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David: Open my eyes to not only the disparity that Detroit used

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David: In Detroit young people face,

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David: But the disparity that a lot of black and brown individuals

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David: In urban communities face.

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David: And even I kind of want to ask for it to say,

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David: Exactly Brown, because realistically,

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David: It's not even a race thing,

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David: Even though a portion of it is,

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David: It's more of an under-resourced situation.

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David: Because there are many people from different communities

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David: And different backgrounds that live in under-resourced communities.

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David: And that's the, I don't care how much people say

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David: It's not a money and it's not a race thing.

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David: It's a combination of that and more.

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David: It's a lot of dynamics that create these disparities

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David: Within our community.

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David: But working with Skillman,

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David: It kind of opened my eyes to seeing the impact

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David: That nonprofits in the organizations are solely funded

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David: And focused on making impacts on whatever social change

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David: Or social movement that they are developed for created for,

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David: Founded for, that it was like,

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David: Okay, this is something I want to get started.

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David: I'm just something that not only do I find it totally in,

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David: But this is also something that I'm not actually

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David: Make the most impact in the world.

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David: And that was something that I took the college.

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David: And of course,

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David: Profit space, private sector, money and resource wise.

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David: Very big difference. I kind of have to have to put one on the back of our forum minute.

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David: But being able to kind of come full circle and get the opportunity to be on this board

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David: For this nonprofit has been amazing. I think one of the biggest things, I can talk about the

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David: Board experience first and I'll talk about another experience I've had talking with some

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David: Entities to answer your original question. Sitting on the board is very unique because again,

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David: You know, I'm just person on the board, most early 10 year in terms of their career on the

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David: Board. However, I've been able to be a avid voice because a lot of the youth that we're targeting

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David: And working with are a couple of years younger than me. The Baltimore really actually allows for youth

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David: To stay in the system until the age of 21. And so the program that we created actually extends past

422
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:56,560
David: That to the age of 20 because we actually provide the opportunity for youth to develop a financial

423
00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:01,600
David: Plan so that they can buy the homes that we own, that they're staying in and that would be the

424
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:07,120
David: First piece of property. And now are these individual homes that they live in or is it like?

425
00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:14,400
David: Yes. So the nonprofit we have more to different style homes, laws, those apartments that we own.

426
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:22,480
David: And pretty much the plan is to provide a host of resource skills, make resource workshops and

427
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:28,000
David: Skills to offer these youth to become homeowners before the age of 21. That's amazing.

428
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:34,240
David: It's an up and coming nonprofit has been established for about three years, but there's so much

429
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:40,880
David: Traction behind it. And the biggest thing that I recognize here is outside of the financial

430
00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:48,000
David: Component of it. There are so many other, I think one say issue there, so many other life skills that

431
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:54,480
David: Are needed for late teens, early 20s, and early to navigate it. There are so many things

432
00:25:54,480 --> 00:26:01,760
David: Personally, socially, that you have to navigate and deal with in your late teens and early 20s,

433
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:09,200
David: That I could just imagine as someone who had resources, who had support systems, who had access to

434
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:14,480
David: Different opportunities. If I went through those type of things, individuals who have been

435
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:20,160
David: Either displaced or who have not had those opportunities or those same type of resources,

436
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:25,920
David: I just imagine how those same emotions, feelings and issues are magnified. And so when I came into the

437
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:33,040
Ken: Nonprofit, my main focus was how can we provide more wraparound services for these young people?

438
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:38,800
Ken: Because I know what they're going through. I mean, I think the pandemic in itself was rough enough.

439
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:44,080
Ken: For everyone, but then it's like, okay, and this is just like one of the top things that I think

440
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:49,680
Ken: About in a concept of things, as adult, how do you make friends? Like, just, we think of that as a very

441
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:55,200
Ken: Kind of, maybe a cliche, but a very like, tah-hah-hah-chuck-o-comin. But then you really start thinking about it.

442
00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:00,000
Ken: It's like, how many adult friendships have you made that didn't stem?

443
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:05,200
Ken: From college and instant from work that didn't stem from something where you are forced to be together.

444
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:11,600
Ken: And we add in a layer of homelessness or property or being displaced and you don't have those

445
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:16,800
Ken: Same groups or communities to build those connections with, it's how do you build those type of

446
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,800
Ken: Connections with people. And then if you think about networking events, if you think about

447
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,640
Ken: Social outcomes, if you think about all these things, a lot of those things cost a lot of money,

448
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:29,680
Ken: Or cost money to engine. And so again, it creates this dynamic of well,

449
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,920
Ken: How do you go about this? How do you navigate this if you don't have those resources? If you

450
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:38,480
Ken: Don't have those experiences, and not saying that every youth that is part of the program or

451
00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:43,680
Ken: Every youth that this homeless or displaced is not in school or is not educated, don't have those

452
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:50,800
Ken: Experiences. But there are still dynamics within that that doesn't create a full psychologically

453
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:56,080
Ken: Safe individual and that has a creative individual that has a lot of mental tasks because, hey,

454
00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:59,440
Ken: You don't know where you're sleeping that night. The last thing you think about is making friends.

455
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:04,240
Ken: So that's like, it's a lot of right about I've earned things that you kind of have to think about.

456
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:08,400
Ken: And they kind of pivoting into your original question about having those conversations with

457
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:12,800
Ken: Someone who haven't necessarily had some of those life skills and life experiences, I actually want

458
00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:16,800
Ken: To revert back to my college days where, well, you've been having my college days. I'll say

459
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:21,120
Ken: Mentoring still with university admissions, so I'm still part of some organizations on campus

460
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:25,840
Ken: Who I still am a mentor. And so there's a lot of first year in sophomore students who I

461
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:31,760
Ken: Engage with talk to present to and one of the main things they have is how are you so successful

462
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:36,240
Ken: Or how have you gotten to where you are? I wish I could see myself in that same trajectory.

463
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:41,040
Ken: And the biggest thing is like, you can do it and you can do more. Nothing that I've done has

464
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:45,840
Ken: Been either granted to me, given to me, silver spoon, or if anything that's just completely

465
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,480
Ken: What else in college I have six jobs. And of course, it was sort of money.

466
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,120
Ken: Wait, six jobs at once or six jobs all together?

467
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:54,560
Ken: I have six jobs at once.

468
00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:55,200
David: Oh, wow.

469
00:28:55,200 --> 00:29:00,720
David: I'm a dive into that a little bit. I was always very strategic in the work that I chose.

470
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,800
David: All the roles that I have were either some type of community outreach or as market. So,

471
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:13,280
Ken: I was a peer coach for the career development office within Rossville business.

472
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:21,360
Ken: I was a peer advisor for a learning community within Ross. I was a social media strategist

473
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,440
Ken: Or an nonprofit in an hour. Marketing and associate for another learning community on campus.

474
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:31,200
Ken: I actually opened up and ran my own marketing agency, which I did continue after college for a

475
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:37,840
David: Couple years. And I had the opportunity to work as a peer mentor for another learning community.

476
00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,640
David: So, you know, I was able to have a lot of money.

477
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:46,480
David: I was able to develop my skillset early so that when I got into internships,

478
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:50,880
David: When I was time to start working, you know, full time, there was already a abundant amount

479
00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:55,360
David: Of skills that I've already stored up. And so, and I said, that's a simple. Nothing I've done

480
00:29:55,360 --> 00:30:00,480
David: In granted to me. I've worked my ass off to get where I'm at. And as long as you have a determination.

481
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,040
David: Won't get that passion long, get that fire, you can do anything.

482
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:06,560
David: But the other thing that I always preface, anyone, especially those I'm

483
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,920
David: Entering, is all that's fine, but you also have to make sure that

484
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:12,640
David: You're following your North Star and your comment, your passion.

485
00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:15,920
David: Because I'm from a believer of I'm not a money-modivated person.

486
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:19,280
David: I love money, so you're wrong. But at the end of the day,

487
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:21,280
David: I'm not going to do something because of a dollar.

488
00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:25,840
David: And that's one thing I try to instill with you in general, no matter what aspect

489
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,040
David: I like the area, because it's so easy and that's a

490
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,600
David: People on you, but it's so easy to get into the finance industry.

491
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:35,520
David: It's so easy to go to a accountant or IB or consult and because of the

492
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,520
David: Paycheck. Not saying it is easy to get into those spaces, but in terms of

493
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,400
David: If you're looking at what going on do my life, okay, well, I want to make a

494
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:44,480
David: Lot of money, let me go into consulting. Let me become, let me go into

495
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,480
David: Investment banking. Let me go into here, I'll be going to there.

496
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,120
David: But if that's not really what you're passionate about, a year to end, you're

497
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:50,720
David: Going to be barfined, you're going to hate your job.

498
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:53,600
David: I'm a lot of peers who are graduating from business school with

499
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:57,360
David: Their net paying position, where I had my job, I'm making decent money,

500
00:30:57,360 --> 00:30:59,920
David: But I just can't do it anymore. And for me, it's a complete

501
00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:03,520
David: Interest. I'll be still like my job. But I feel like my job. And it's like,

502
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:06,720
David: That's something that a lot of people can't say, but that's just one of those

503
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,720
David: Really strong cases of advice that I try to give is, hey, you can pack the

504
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,400
David: Work hard, but you have to make sure you're working hard in the right direction for you.

505
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:18,560
David: No, I mean, you're 100% right. A lot of people come into the finance industry.

506
00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:22,720
David: To your point, oh, how can I make as much money as I can? How can I retire early?

507
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:26,400
David: And honestly, those people never make it the long term. I've had a lot of those people

508
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:30,320
David: Work for me. And they'll do really well for a short period of time.

509
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,920
David: Yeah. I had something that because I was one of those people early on where I was like,

510
00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:39,040
David: Well, do this. Not because I want to, but because I know I can make a lot of money,

511
00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:44,400
David: Help my family take care of the people I love, right? But as I started getting mentored by the

512
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:49,840
David: People who were able to find longevity, something that they taught me early on is that we're not

513
00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:53,920
David: Here just to make a dollar. If you're here just to make a dollar, you'll probably make a few,

514
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:59,120
David: But you won't be here very long. But we're here. And the reason we're even compensated as

515
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:04,320
David: Much as we are is because of the impact we can have on people, right? Because people, if I can help

516
00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:08,960
David: Someone either by refinancing their home, getting the money, paying off their debts, helping them

517
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:14,000
David: Get their first home, that's an enormous life impact. Right? And if I'm just doing it for a dollar,

518
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:18,240
David: I'm probably not going to help as many people as I could. And I'm going to be tired of it because

519
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:23,600
David: I'm not going to see the true benefit. But for the people that realize, yes, the industry you can

520
00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:27,520
David: Make a lot of money, but it's the same thing with anything where you can make a lot of money,

521
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:33,360
David: Only make it because of the level of impact you can have on people. So to your point, right? I

522
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:38,160
David: Would encourage everyone to follow something they're passionate about. Now me, I got lucky, I came

523
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:44,400
David: In here looking to make a lot of money. And then I found my passion after that. It was like, wow,

524
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:50,080
David: No, that's why I became a leader rather than staying as a banker, right? Because I realized I could

525
00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:55,360
David: Have a, if I have a larger impact on my team, I could then send that team out to have a larger

526
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:59,920
David: Impact on more people than I ever could by myself. And it's, it's allowed.

527
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:05,520
David: To do much bigger things for a lot more people at a larger scale. But you're not wrong, right?

528
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:10,480
David: It is easy to just jump into something like that. But it's not easy to stay for the for the

529
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:17,120
David: Exact reason you plan. So good point. Now something I want to ask you, right? Say you have someone

530
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:22,000
David: Who might be, because something I love that you talked about way earlier is you brought a failure,

531
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:26,160
David: Right? When you went to your first job that you didn't feel like you would really found necessarily

532
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:30,880
David: Your passion, right? What advice do you have for people out there to really find that

533
00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:35,440
David: Passion? And anything they do, right? Maybe before they find that job that isn't for them,

534
00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:41,040
David: Or even after. How do you find that North Star? So I'm a firm believer that you have to

535
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:47,040
David: Feel forward and you have to embrace it. And the reason why is at the end of the day, failure is

536
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:53,360
David: Just an experience to show you this may not be what this may not be the right way to do

537
00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:58,000
David: Something at this moment in time. But it's not meant to say you should never do it again. And

538
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:04,080
David: It's not meant to discourage you from trying other avenues. I look at failure as the same as

539
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:10,320
David: Rejection if you're dating. Like if you're dating and you shoot your shot and your partner is like,

540
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:14,400
David: No, I'm not interested. Well, you're not going to stop dating. Maybe we'll blood her for a

541
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,200
David: Couple of hours, but are you going to come to the next person and be like, hey, what's up?

542
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:22,000
David: So failure, other capacities in your life have to be seen in the same capacity. Because the

543
00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:27,520
David: Worst thing to make it say is no. And if someone says no, that means that that was not an

544
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:33,600
David: Opportunity. That was not an experience that was not a endeavor that was meant for you. Everything

545
00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:38,880
David: That's meant for you will be. And if you have that mentality, you have that belief, failure will

546
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:45,440
David: Come more as a failure will be more would be accepted and accepted with open arms because you

547
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:49,520
David: Knew that that wasn't for you. Because what's the purpose of going down around a hole of getting

548
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:54,960
David: Something and you hate it. And if you shift your mindset to say, I didn't get this because

549
00:34:54,960 --> 00:35:00,480
David: I it wasn't meant for me. And the next thing is going to be bigger and better. That's that's the

550
00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:05,440
David: Biggest way to kind of go about navigating failure. Because at the end of the day, there are very

551
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:13,200
David: Few things in life where failure is a true life or death situation. There's a time if you're

552
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:19,200
Ken: Failing up something. Hell, I'll give a personal example. So, picture it, it's I'm taking calculus.

553
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:25,520
Ken: It's like fall 2016 semester. I don't do math. That's why I'm not in finding a colony. I don't do

554
00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:31,440
Ken: Any of that. I can develop a marketing strategy in my sleep. But give me a balance sheet to balance out.

555
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:36,960
Ken: No, FIFO, LOPY, LOPY, all that know. Of course, before getting into the business school at

556
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:41,280
Ken: Ross, you have to take calculus on the burn. I set up other financial courses. So, I'm in

557
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:47,040
Ken: Calculus. And it was me and my college family. We're still together today. And I was actually

558
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:50,240
Ken: With them recently just two weekends ago. And I told them, I was like, yeah, no, no, no,

559
00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:57,760
Ken: For the reason I passed calculus. Because I did my first exam, I don't think I got me like a BC something.

560
00:35:57,760 --> 00:35:59,760
Ken: I got my second exam. I got to eat.

561
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:01,720
Ken: And I didn't even go call it out.

562
00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:05,520
David: So when I was taking the exam, I had just, I clamped up,

563
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:06,680
David: I pressured up.

564
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,760
David: I was so just like, I just knew I wasn't going to do well.

565
00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:11,920
David: And when I left half of the exam playing,

566
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:14,080
David: And it's like, I got the E and I was distraught.

567
00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:15,800
Ken: I was like, I'm not going to get into Ross.

568
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:17,400
Ken: I'm not going to do this.

569
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:18,520
Ken: I need to just drop out.

570
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,360
Ken: I don't deserve to be here all this stuff.

571
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:22,640
Ken: And it took a couple people talking to me

572
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:25,440
Ken: That I love it, to realize, okay, I just have to,

573
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:28,080
Ken: I just have to change my study habits,

574
00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:30,720
Ken: I have to change my direction how I'm doing things,

575
00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:31,960
Ken: And I have to make some of the shape.

576
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:33,920
Ken: And so then after that, I was one of ours.

577
00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:35,400
Ken: I was studying constantly.

578
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:37,160
Ken: I was taking these practice exams,

579
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:39,520
Ken: And I was being more proactive of asking questions,

580
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,600
Ken: Making it known, hey, I don't know this,

581
00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:43,400
David: Let's go over this again.

582
00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:45,040
David: And I've asked, have not,

583
00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:46,600
David: Having that relationship with our professor,

584
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:47,440
David: Hey, what I'm trying to do?

585
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:48,800
David: Like, give me some extra problem.

586
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:50,440
David: Give me some extra things I can do.

587
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:53,360
David: And again, that's why I say, with failure,

588
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:57,360
David: You should think of it as, you should think of it as a pivot,

589
00:36:57,360 --> 00:36:59,320
David: Because of something that they, hey,

590
00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:01,080
David: If I would have kept going down the hole

591
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:03,360
David: That I was going in, and let's say I didn't fail.

592
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,360
David: Let's say I got another seat on that exam.

593
00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:09,040
David: Then that final exam, I really might have failed

594
00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:10,720
David: And would have won the course.

595
00:37:10,720 --> 00:37:12,080
David: And then it would have been, again,

596
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:14,760
David: Having redo the whole thing all over then.

597
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:16,640
David: Whereas, me fell in for this one point

598
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,040
David: And changing and redirecting,

599
00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:20,680
David: I was able to do what I need to do,

600
00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:22,160
David: To get what I need to get out of that force.

601
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:23,480
David: That's an awesome story.

602
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:25,520
David: That's a good example of failure too.

603
00:37:26,240 --> 00:37:27,120
David: Very good.

604
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:29,200
David: Well, how I say, seize get degrees.

605
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:31,840
David: So, wow, you just, you're full of quotes, Ken.

606
00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:33,000
David: I love it.

607
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:34,800
David: Honestly, I need to, as funny,

608
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:37,320
David: I did a creative writing minor in undergrad.

609
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:39,520
David: I just need to write a book or something.

610
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,240
David: I need to actually put all of this in my head down the page.

611
00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:44,680
David: No, I remember, and I have a similar example

612
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:46,240
David: When I first got the college, right?

613
00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:48,680
David: So, not business school, not as fancy as you,

614
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,600
David: Not yet, but I remember in high school,

615
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:52,960
David: Right, I never had to study.

616
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,400
David: Never, I could do the homework before I left high school.

617
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,080
David: Like before I got out of class, I was usually done.

618
00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,440
David: So, I could get home and do whatever I wanted.

619
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,200
David: I'll never forget, I even had a class

620
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,280
David: That was created for me just for writing,

621
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:07,360
David: Because I turned out to be so good at it.

622
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:08,880
David: But then I got to college,

623
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:11,960
David: And I ended up having to write a paper for a professor.

624
00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:14,520
David: And I'll never forget getting back my paper

625
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:16,320
David: And him giving, I think he gave me,

626
00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:17,440
David: I think it was my percentages,

627
00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:19,480
David: But I think it equated to like a seat.

628
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:20,680
David: And I was shocked, I was like,

629
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,800
David: Whoa, I haven't gotten to see on a paper since like middle school.

630
00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:25,880
David: What are you talking about?

631
00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:26,720
David: This can't be right.

632
00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:28,360
David: Are you sure you graded my paper?

633
00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:30,720
David: Are you sure you didn't get a mixed up with someone else's?

634
00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:32,680
David: You made it very clear and he said, well sit down,

635
00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:35,280
David: I'll tell you all about how you could have done better.

636
00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:38,040
David: And I said, okay, let's see you try.

637
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:40,800
David: When I tell you you spend probably 30 to 45 minutes

638
00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:41,880
David: Of his office hours, right?

639
00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:43,280
David: When people sitting outside,

640
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:45,520
David: Just sitting there telling me one after another

641
00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:47,120
David: Of things I could have done better.

642
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:49,840
David: I walked out shocked and aw, just wow.

643
00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:53,080
David: And at first, I was upset and I couldn't believe

644
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:55,320
David: That he had the nerve to tell me

645
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,160
David: That my paper wasn't good.

646
00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:00,120
David: But then I really sat down and I read it a few more times.

647
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,880
David: I took in his feedback and I said, wow, he was right.

648
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:04,440
David: And I made a similar change, right?

649
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:05,880
David: I started going off as I was.

650
00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:09,360
David: I started getting reviews from my peers before I even turned it in.

651
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:12,400
David: I would go through and grammar check it multiple times.

652
00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:15,920
David: And those C started turning in and I did those B's with turn in the ACE.

653
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:19,280
David: And before I know it, it started getting easy all over again.

654
00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:23,600
David: But to your point, if I never would have taken that loss, right,

655
00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:28,240
David: Taken that opportunity for growth, I never would have done better in the future.

656
00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:31,360
David: I never would have grown and taken my papers even more serious.

657
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:34,320
David: So yeah, and everything that's meant for you is for you.

658
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:39,040
David: Because again, in your example, if you never would have,

659
00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:43,200
David: If you would never got an SC or even, oh, you have to think about,

660
00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:46,440
David: You have to remove the whole like F for failure thing out.

661
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:51,120
David: And this is where failure is an internal rating scale.

662
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:55,160
David: So for you, if you're backing out AAA, yes, the C is a failure for you.

663
00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:57,520
David: But everything that's meant to be is to be.

664
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:01,520
David: If you wouldn't have changed direction, and let's just say that,

665
00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:04,400
David: The past student and the next professor, it probably wouldn't wait.

666
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:04,720
David: Works.

667
00:40:04,720 --> 00:40:07,760
David: It would have been a harder percent or moving forward.

668
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:12,720
Ken: And I said, simply if I wouldn't have put in the effort to do what I need to do in that calculus class,

669
00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:14,080
Ken: I weeks get into the business school.

670
00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:15,920
Ken: And I knew that this school was for me.

671
00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:20,960
Ken: I have to go to backwards version of my own monitor, like, okay, well,

672
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:21,440
Ken: This is for me.

673
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:22,640
Ken: So how do I get here?

674
00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:25,200
Ken: Oh, but you know, same sentiment of just like,

675
00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:30,080
Ken: You have to be able to accept and embrace failure with open arms,

676
00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:32,960
Ken: Or from it, grow from it and move forward.

677
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:35,360
Ken: I have a firm belief, like, if you get a failure,

678
00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:37,280
Ken: Something you get 24 hours to be upset about it.

679
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:40,800
Ken: And then you have to, you have to, you can still think about it,

680
00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:42,960
Ken: But you have to be proactively trying to change it.

681
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,840
Ken: Because the purpose of being just bitter and upset,

682
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:46,960
Ken: That's not going to change anything.

683
00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:48,400
Ken: No one's going to feel pity for you.

684
00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:49,200
Ken: Not at all.

685
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:50,160
Ken: And I love that too.

686
00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:53,200
Ken: And when you think about it, when you can take it even further, right?

687
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:55,680
Ken: And I feel like you're someone who does this too.

688
00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:58,640
Ken: When you fail and then you might get upset for a second and you're like,

689
00:40:58,640 --> 00:40:59,280
Ken: You know what?

690
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:01,360
Ken: I just learned X, Y, and Z from this.

691
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:03,840
Ken: And now you've gained that wisdom, right?

692
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:06,240
Ken: You've gained almost like a notch under your belt.

693
00:41:06,240 --> 00:41:10,320
Ken: And to me, I feel the truly successful are just the people that failed the most.

694
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:11,600
Ken: Because they tried the most, right?

695
00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:14,000
Ken: The only time you can fail is when you try.

696
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:16,080
Ken: If you never try, you never have to worry about failing,

697
00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:19,120
Ken: But the people who constantly try to do better,

698
00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:20,800
Ken: They're going to fail more than anybody.

699
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:21,120
David: Oh, wow.

700
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:22,800
David: But they also end up succeeding more.

701
00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:24,320
David: After they fail a lot.

702
00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:25,280
David: So I love that.

703
00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:27,520
David: I think it's an example.

704
00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:28,720
David: It's an example to some people to another topic.

705
00:41:28,720 --> 00:41:36,160
David: But I think when you look at this, it kind of goes about people who are afraid to kind of

706
00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:39,600
David: Venture outside of their wheelhouse and those who are.

707
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:41,520
David: And a lot of times, a lot of people are saying,

708
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:44,560
David: Within a certain geographic areas, they within a certain genre.

709
00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:46,000
David: They within a certain industry.

710
00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:48,240
David: They're afraid of failing somewhere else.

711
00:41:48,240 --> 00:41:50,480
David: But you know, I didn't want to say the more successful people,

712
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:56,080
David: But the people who have more of an ambitious spirit of themselves,

713
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,640
David: And people who are willing to make those leaps and changes,

714
00:41:58,640 --> 00:41:59,840
David: They have a.

715
00:42:00,050 --> 00:42:10,250
David: An ambient of different life experiences and different experiences in general that they can learn off of the lean off of to make them more dependable people and the world.

716
00:42:10,450 --> 00:42:16,410
David: You know, so just show you like, hey, having more value experiences actually makes it easier for you to navigate the world.

717
00:42:16,410 --> 00:42:20,450
David: If you never let the city be true, you never let your block.

718
00:42:20,450 --> 00:42:24,130
David: Let's take that and you're thrown in the middle of Kansas.

719
00:42:24,130 --> 00:42:25,730
David: Like, what are you going to do?

720
00:42:25,730 --> 00:42:27,090
David: You're not going to know what to do.

721
00:42:27,090 --> 00:42:28,290
David: You're not going to know what to do.

722
00:42:28,290 --> 00:42:33,090
David: My father of Kansas, like, but I can imagine, hey, I get there.

723
00:42:33,090 --> 00:42:37,250
David: I'm like, okay, well, let me find a phone somewhere.

724
00:42:37,250 --> 00:42:39,570
David: Let me get the fuck out of that room.

725
00:42:39,570 --> 00:42:41,650
David: Like, let me call, let me do something.

726
00:42:41,650 --> 00:42:47,850
David: You know, it's just like, you have to have an aggregate of experiences and like, to truly get the most out of it.

727
00:42:47,850 --> 00:42:49,490
David: And I think that's where failure is going to be.

728
00:42:49,490 --> 00:42:55,690
David: No, 100% and we'll wrap up with this because we're nearing an hour and it's been great, but I know it would do one.

729
00:42:55,690 --> 00:43:13,690
David: Well, but something that I learned in my career as well and I'm sure you learned is that because of my aggregate amount of experiences, how many I had, it made it a lot easier relate to more clients and more people than it did to my peers who didn't have who might not have gone through the same level of hard times or even the same level of good times.

730
00:43:13,690 --> 00:43:18,290
David: Right. They just couldn't relate to the people they were working with for or around them.

731
00:43:18,290 --> 00:43:25,570
David: And so that also will help you be successful because to your point, you get dropped in the middle of Kansas and you're used to living in

732
00:43:25,570 --> 00:43:35,570
David: The suburbs of Detroit. You're not going to know where to go. You're not going to know how to get a car, how to find a phone, how to talk to the next person you see you're not going to understand it.

733
00:43:35,570 --> 00:43:46,570
David: So I think that was a huge point and a lot of great takeaways from everything you said right first and foremost, be true to yourself, be true to what what your passions are and search for that diligently.

734
00:43:46,570 --> 00:44:02,570
David: And just hurts for a dollar, search for who you want to be. And when you find who you want to be, you start finding that success, don't forget there are a lot of people out there who haven't gotten that same opportunity and that we need to be reaching back for and doing more for and reminding they're not in this alone.

735
00:44:02,570 --> 00:44:12,570
David: And even if we can't, we still should, right. We should all be giving back and sharing with each other. And as well, while you're doing all of that fail failure is great.

736
00:44:12,570 --> 00:44:18,570
David: If you haven't failed, you're not living right failure is is the piece of life. It's the best way to enjoy it.

737
00:44:18,570 --> 00:44:23,570
David: And there are a lot of more takeaways as well. I'll probably have to listen to this one multiple time to get all the takeaways.

738
00:44:23,570 --> 00:44:37,570
David: What I do want to do is I would like for you to just repeat what the nonprofits name is where we can go everyone out there listening in myself or we can go to get more information on it, learn more how we might be able to contribute to it.

739
00:44:37,570 --> 00:44:53,570
David: Yeah, no, I love that. So the nonprofits name is transforming youths into adults. And if you don't see why I a dot org, you'll be able to learn more about the organization's mission to volunteer opportunities that are going to have within the local Baltimore area.

740
00:44:53,570 --> 00:44:59,570
David: But also know we're looking for an all text about opportunities for sponsorships engagements. The really the biggest thing.

741
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:10,000
David: We're just finding ways in which we can further integrate our mission and vision into not only the Baltimore community, but into the overarching landscape of the United States.

742
00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:19,000
Ken: There are multiple youth that are facing homelessness that are in the foster care system and that don't have stable amount around resources.

743
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:27,000
Ken: And so with any connections that we can develop in order to help further our mission and hopefully further other organization mission as well, we extremely value.

744
00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:32,000
Ken: I hope everyone listening here is the passion, sincerity and Ken's voice.

745
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:42,000
Ken: So whenever you have a person that communicates with passion, you can imagine that anything they take part in, they're going to push the success and they're going to push the impact and help as many people as possible.

746
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:51,000
David: So I encourage everyone to be a part of it, join, check it out, make sure the link will make sure the link is in the description for the nonprofit as well.

747
00:45:51,000 --> 00:46:03,000
David: David shaft and Daniel signing off from conversations that count. Everyone having amazing successful rest of your evening. Let's go out there and impact some people. Thank you all so much. Thank you.

748
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:09,000
David: Thank you everyone for watching another episode of conversations that count.

749
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:15,000
David: Sometimes what we find is YouTube will unsubscribe us from our favorite channels.

750
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:24,000
David: As well as when we finish an episode, we'll have enjoyed it so much. We'll forget to hit the subscribe button because we'll be so caught up with it.

751
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:35,000
David: My ask is so that we can keep the channel free so that I can continue bringing you amazing guests, continue bringing you amazing practices that improve all of our skills as we go into every day and every week.

752
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:44,000
David: If you can hit that subscribe button if you can like, share, it goes a very long way to again keeping the channel free, allowing us to continue providing you amazing content.

753
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:53,000
David: And my promise is I will only continue to improve the content, improve the guests and improve the best practices every single time.

754
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:59,000
David: I will make sure every week and every month that it only gets better for you.

755
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:06,000
David: So again, thank you all for tuning in. Thank you for watching and I look forward to seeing you in the next episode.