The Beers & Careers Podcast

Listen to Sheridan Benard share his story which started by him taking a job before graduating! He spread his last years coursework over two years…why?  He’s someone with maturity beyond his years and loves a challenge. He’s someone who loves what he does, but he didn’t take his role at EMSI primarily for that. Mark and Sheridan both stumbled into roles they love which is an interesting discussion....

Check out this conversation with John Smith. “You’ve got to have passion to get out of bed in the morning.” From his first job as a paper boy, to working for Budweiser in College (yes he wore the “Budman costume”), the hospitality industry, and he talks about how he leveraged those skills into his role today, working in the global business community.   CXC partners with companies to help them mana...

Check out our conversation with this accountant turned CFO and hear how he used content creation and technology to grow his business.  His journey from studying education in college, to being an actuary, to doing tax returns 10 hours a day to taking the leap and going out on his own and the chances he took and lessons he learned. He’s learned how to embrace and share his business wins. And he love...

Enjoy this great conversation we had with this former NFL quarterback. He shared great stories from his time at BC with Matt Ryan, playing in the CFL and his first job working in the daycare center of a local gym-but didn’t change diapers there.  He talks about overcoming injuries and what it was like playing football in stadiums that had more people in them than his hometown.   He shares his focu...

 Our conversation covered Erin’s love for Mac and cheese, craft beer and how her drive and enthusiasm helped her get to the “C Suite”.  Her path took her from legal to higher education to her sweet spot of helping people and how she learned at every job she’s had, even if the job wasn’t a good fit for her.  She realized how important community was to her and focused on contributing and getting inv...

Enjoy our conversation with this philosophy and psychology undergrad who loved to read and ended up at law school in Boston. Jonathan started out doing contract law work for several companies. He took chances along the way. A great relationship with a headhunter prepared him for a new opportunity. Listen to our conversation here.   Click here to connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn 

Megan is high energy and a highly motivated person and has always been focused on helping students. From higher education to running a college recruitment program, she’s always loved the “a-ha moment” when working with students-when it all comes together. She talks about interviewing 300 students a year and how a “Thank You Note” is still an important way to stand out after an interview. She also...

This former National Guardsman has a problem solver mentality. He shares his story of growing up in West Africa, moving back to the US and how he learned to be his best self by being raised by his grandparents. He talks about how he became successful by making mistakes and how those mistakes helped him grow. He explained how most large cities currently have programs using autonomous vehicles and w...

Enjoy the conversation as Mark and Ryan, High School classmates catch up. Ryan shares his career journey starting with a story of coming to terms with what he learned after pursuing an entrepreneurial opportunity that didn’t come to fruition. He explains his path from the legal profession, to Wall Street to an MBA to his current role using all of his skills managing a team of strategic partner man...

Grab a beer and listen to this conversation between Mark and his dear friend Charles.  Charles’ family hosted Mark when he traveled to Australia in 2009 and their relationship has grown ever since.  Charles and his wife Janice run a boutique consulting firm, working with large organizations and helping to shape their culture through growing and influencing people.  Charles and Mark discuss how the...

Enjoy our conversation with Linda K. Wertheimer, who is not the Other Linda of NPR fame, though she too is a journalist. Learn about Linda’s path from reporter at such newspapers as The Orlando Sentinel and The Dallas Morning News to Education Editor at The Boston Globe and to author. Her first book, Faith Ed, Teaching about Religion in an Age of Intolerance, was published in 2015 by Beacon Press...

This successful HR executive’s first job was a grave digger, yes, really! He shares the lessons he and his firm learned from the 9/11 tragedy and how to focus on connecting and connectivity and how it’s still important today. He reminds us that most of the “jobs of the future” haven’t been created yet and shares one of his favorite quotes from Colin Powell “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier...

Enjoy our conversation with this self proclaimed corporate dropout. After a successful corporate career as an executive in HR, Laura decided to refocus her business experience to build another income stream (in wine!) that allowed her more time with her family and has never looked back with any regret. She’s always been focused on helping others grow and that hasn’t changed. She says that one of t...

Enjoy this conversation with Christian, who is full of energy, passion and ambition.  We get to dive into Christian’s story which is fascinating, including global consulting gigs and a train ride to Paris that he never expected to end the way it did.  After his story we dive into some of his perspective on the world, why he’s focused on getting better every day!   Connect with Christian on LinkedI...

Learn how this NYU graduate combined his studies of music and economics to make his passion - music - his career.  He shares his feelings on the "Freelance Philosophy" - that no amount of work is too much work - is wrong, and how he balances writing music, teaching, performing and growing his social media presence and engagement. He shares some mistakes to avoid, his advice for recent and soon to...

The conversation covered “developing your expertise” to “passion not being enough” and how Investment banking wasn’t a good fit for her.  This highly motivated individual wears a skirt and shoes every day while working from home and then changes her clothes at the end of the day to relax. She shared her career path from consulting to staffing to software and what she learned along the way, from li...

Our conversation with Ravi covered his education and early career growth in India from working for a company as a Product Development Engineer and Sales Engineer to starting his own manufacturing business in India and his journey to moving to the US and becoming a formally trained executive business coach.  He talks about compassion and empathy and how important it is to say “thank you” to your em...

Ryan is a friend of Mark’s and overall an impressive individual who set some aggressive goals early on, including making his first million before he’s 30.  We discuss where this thought process and drive came from, the decisions he knew he would have to make eventually, and why he packed up everything and moved to Texas to follow his dreams!   Click here to check out BookThinkers Click here to fol...

This morning person moved to Boston on  a whim with 2 friends and stayed.  This marketing and business major fell into learning and development at one of the areas largest construction companies which opened doors to her being part of Trip Advisors growth. She shares that she loves building things from scratch and loves to watch people become successful and recognize their own growth. This avid re...

This self proclaimed “student of the world” has created a community focused on inspiring readers to maximize their potential. Nick shares his journey from insecure and introverted high schooler to an influencer that has created a community with over 92,000 Instagram followers and how a public speaking class changed his life senior year.  Last year he read over 70 books, this year he’s reread 30 an...

Our first podcast with two (2) guests. We welcomed Kathie Mahoney, former center director and Leslie Parady from MassMEP. And as it turns out they went to High School together and didn’t know each other and they worked together for over 10 years.  Kathie enjoys hot yoga  and Leslie loves the New York Times Hard Sudoku and they’re both glad to see more women getting into manufacturing. Neither of t...

Listen to Nick’s story of walking away from a career path that had him as a regular expert on TV news casts to how he found his calling as an executive leadership coach. This spiritual man starts his mornings early, very early and meditates and how growing up on a farm, being a sport fisherman and Tony Robbins Personal Power made him an early riser. He shares why it’s important to “pay your dues”...

Learn about Lynn’s “Non-Lynn-ier” career path that zigged and zagged over the years … from her medical focus in college to becoming a branding specialist working with the NBA and Warner Brothers/Looney Tunes to how she started her own business while pregnant and how that didn’t work out.  These various experiences along with following her mantra “Be aware of opportunities, they come in different s...

From running a day care from her home to starting a manufacturing company with her husband Lori explains why “Life is all about how you handle Plan B” and how she has embraced that quote as her career evolved. She shares stories about being a woman running a manufacturing company in the energy industry and how responsible she felt for her employees and worried about their success. Now as a profess...

Tieg and I explored his path after college, which included starting at a smaller firm, going to Deloitte and then realizing the big 4 and big business wasn’t the best fit for him, and since then his desire to be at smaller companies. He spoke about the assessments he took to figure out what his career would be, describing it more as a process of elimination, the need to fail!  Lastly we discussed...