Careers Explained

In this interview, Matt Petit describes his career path and role as a Foreign Service Officer and the Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council. He joined the foreign service in 2008 and has worked as a vice consul in India, as a desk officer in Somalia and Eritrea, and as the Deputy Chief of Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Zambia. Matt speaks Persian, Spa...

In this episode, Chris Tapia describes what he learned from his previous roles at Kearney, The North Highland Company, and Data Ventures and what he does in his current role as a Strategy Principal Director at Accenture. He received his undergraduate degree from Duke University in Mechanical Engineering and his MBA in New Product & Venture Development from MIT Sloan School of Management. We di...

Sam Robinson talks about his career path and current role. He graduated summa cum laude from Furman University with a double major in history and philosophy and received his master's degree and Ph. D. in history from the University of California Berkley and is currently a content design manager at PayPal. We discuss:  0:00 - An overview of the major points along his career path and how he figu...

Angelina Darrisaw describes her career path working at ESPN and Viacom and her current role as Founder & CEO of C-Suite Coach including: 0:00: An overview of the major stepping stones on her career path 2:01: Career advice  2:53: Her experience overcoming rejection  6:27: How she learned what she did and didn’t want in a job 9:16: Misconceptions around working in media 9:37: Tips for increasin...

Next in our entrepreneurship series, Kendall Scales Glade describes her career path and current role as Chief of Staff at Series Next Solutions. We discuss: 0:24 - The major steps on her career path including working as an auditor at Deloitte and at The Coca-Cola Company in financial roles for 11 years, before co-founding Series Next Solutions 2:15 - Why she chose to work at a large corporation li...

Dr. Michelle Higgins O.D., owner and optometrist at Insight EyeCare in Yarmouth, Maine describes her career path and her role. We discuss: 0:14 - An overview of the major steps on her way to her current role 1:14 - What interested her in optometry  5:29 - How she picked what type of optometry school she wanted to go to  6:46 - An overview of optometry school 7:58 - What she chose for her external...

Josh Zipin describes his career path, his experience in entrepreneurship creating Handstand , and his current role as an Account Executive at Stripe including: The major steps on his career path How he started his own business How he pivoted when he was laid off The challenges he faced running his own business and how he tackled them What led him to switch companies when he did Advice on applying...

Lauryn Albold describes her role as a Medical Assistant at a Dermatology Practice including: - 0:00: The steps she took to get this role - 1:35: The types of patient care in medicine and why she prefers outpatient care - 2:52: What experiences in college helped her decide what she wanted to do - 3:54: What she does as a medical assistant, including her typical roles and responsibilities - 5:35: Wh...

Bryant Barr describes his career path and current role. He worked at Mercer as an Actuarial Analyst, at Nike as a Financial Analyst and Manager, founded Slyce, was the President of SC 30 Inc, and is now a Managing Partner at Penny Jar Capital.  We discuss: 0:00 His educational and professional background, including his prior jobs and what he learned from each Why he chose to go to business school...

This week Ben Simonds, an Executive Recruiter at Spencer Stuart, describes his career path and current role including: The major stepping stones to getting his current role Why he was interested in this role The interview process The training process What his role entails How many projects he is on at a time What the typical timeline and process of each project he works on looks like How social th...

This week David Farley describes his career path and current role as Principal at William Hough High School.  We discuss: His educational background Why he wanted to go into teaching  The typical steps to becoming a high school principal  His main roles and responsibilities  What a typical day is like for him What he likes about the role and finds challenging Advice for those who want to follow hi...

Leo Tinkham, who has degrees from Bowdoin College, the University of Southern Maine - School of Business, and the Wharton School describes his path into and experience with angel investing including: What angel investing is How angel investing clubs operate How angel groups find companies to invest in The key factors he’s learned from years of investing of how to pick what companies to invest in H...

This week Pete Benbow describes his career path and current role as a Business Intelligence Developer at Davidson College. We discuss: The major career steps in his career prior to this role How he got into data analysis with no experience Why he decided to demote himself to a lower role as he was climbing the ranks at a previous job The professional, economic, and personal factors that led him to...

Carol Quillen, the 18th President of Davidson College, describes her career path and experience in the role. She talks about the important milestones, both educational and professional on her way to becoming president and gives advice to those who want to follow her path.  She goes over: How she decided what she wanted to do Why she wanted to be a professor Her career path milestones Why she...

Gabby Delp describes her current role as a paralegal at Morgan & Morgan including: Background on her How she chose her career field Advice for getting work experience as undergraduate student The process to secure her current role as a paralegal The main roles and responsibilities she has What type of law she works in and examples of cases in this area Her process of completing case research t...

Peter Smith describes his career path including working for Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, EIG Global Energy Partners, and Brookfield Asset Management, and his current role in private equity as a director at EQT Group. He describes: His background and education How he decided what he wanted to do Why he switched from investment banking to private equity An overview of the similarities and differences...

 Drew Palermo describes her career path and current role as a Talent Acquisition Sourcer at Lithium at Albemarle Corporation. She describes: Her education background How she decided what she wanted to do Her current role and what it entails What she looks for when recruiting Her process in recruiting new hires How she got this job How she learned what wasn’t a good fit for her What the traini...

Kevin Blossfeld, a Technical Sales Associate at Parker Hannifin, describes how his career path and current role including: How his engineering background led him to this role Why he chose technical sales in engineering over a typical industry role An overview of what technical sales is The process to get his role and his interview process What the training is like An overview of his company and hi...

This week Jesse Adams, a Cardiologist at Baptist Health (KY) describes his career path and current role including (in chronological order):  Why he got into this specific role His career steps from college to his current role  An overview of the process and challenges of medical school and the Match program  His biggest roles and responsibilities Areas within cardiology The most com...

This week Jack Brem Smith, an Employment Law Attorney at Smith Law Firm describes his career path and current role.  He talks about: His background Why he got into law Why he chose to be an attorney Why he chose employment law Different options within law What he likes about being a trial attorney Extracurriculars he did to prepare him for his career\ His career steps after law school How hav...

Todd Day describes his career path and current role as a registered nurse at CarePartners PACE. He describes: Education required to become a nurse His typical roles and responsibilities How he prepared for the license exam Limitations of the role What a typical day looks like/ typical schedule Career milestones for a nurse Job options w/in nursing What the training process was like What the learni...

This week Ashley Henneberger describes her role as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the National Human Genome Research Institute. She describes: Overview of NIH: national institutes of health Why she wanted to work at the NIH How she got her current role Post-baccalaureate fellowship opportunities at the NIH What the interview process was like and how she prepared Describes what she does as a cl...

This week, Bob McKillop, who was the head coach of Davidson College's Men's Basketball team for 33 seasons describes his career path and what his role as head coach entailed including: - An overview of his basketball career  - Why he wanted to be a coach - How he picked where he wanted to coach - What the process was like to become a head coach - How the roles differ between an assi...

This week Izzy Lozano describes her career path and current role as a marketing coordinator at QuintEvents including: Why she was interested in marketing How she found her current role Her current role A typical day for her including her biggest roles and responsibilities How she uses analytics to track the performance of her content What her technical interview entailed What the training process...

This week Kate Auletta describes her career path and current role including: What made her interested in this field The roles she’s had during her career How she approached the learning curve of her past jobs How she came back from losing her job during the Recession Her perspective on restarting as an intern after working a higher-up roles The typical responsibilities and schedule of her job...