The NoDegree Podcast – No Degree Success Stories for Job Searching, Careers, and Entrepreneurship

He wanted to move to Nashville to make it as a drummer. But Andy Huffman’s band mates weren’t as serious as he was. Unsure of what to do, he joined the Coast Guard. After he finished his service, he did any job he could find. He even worked as a waiter for some time. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about how one book changed his life and how he got his first break in sales when his financial advisor...

He worked at sneaker store before he graduated high school. Brennan Decker went to college for a year but it just wasn’t his thing. He decided he didn’t want to continue working in retail so, he got his license to become a barber. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about why he didn’t make it as a barber and how the skills he picked up as a store manager helped him to transition into the tech industry....

He didn’t get good grades in school. As an immigrant, Jonathan Lamour took whatever job came his way so he could pay the bills. He started out as a dishwasher and although there are no promotion opportunities for that job, he created his own. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about times he had to sleep in his car and how his eagerness to learn and positive attitude got him from dishwasher to sous chef...

She became a nanny right out of high school. Isabelle Nyroth credits this job experience as the job that gave her the foundational skills she uses in her career today. Listen in as she tells Jonaed about how she eventually became the drone pilot.   Support Isabelle here: LinkedIn: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isny/ Thank you for sponsoring our show. If you'd like to support our mission to...

He grew up in an abusive home. Brian Will describes himself as a very angry kid with an attitude problem. He got kicked out of highschool for missing the first 42 days of school but made a deal with the principal so he could continue school. Listen in as he tells Jonaed what that deal was and how he started and sold several multimillion-dollar businesses in spite of the fact that he couldn’t keep...

He was not a well-behaved kid in school. In fact, according to Poopster, he had a lot of issues while he attended high school. He managed to graduate and found work at a local restaurant. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about how he lived from paycheck to paycheck and became a successful HVAC professional before his cancer diagnosis forced him to pivot into a completely new industry.  Connect to Poop...

“Could have done better.” That’s what George Harrap’s parents usually saw on his report card. And although they saved up to be able to get him into a great school, he couldn’t go to college because of his “bad” grades. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about working at a mining company, moving to Hong Kong starting his own business and finding success in the crypto currency realm. Get in touch and/or s...

People went to beauty school where she lived. So that’s what Andrea Hunt did. She went to high school and beauty school simultaneously. A dedicated worker, eventually she worked for herself. Listen in as she tells Jonaed about how the skills she picked up as a hairdresser prepared her for the corporate world. Get in touch and/or support Andrea here: LinkedIn Thank you for sponsoring our show. If y...

His parents planned his career. They decided that Tauf Chowdhury would major in Computer Science or some other degree that led to a lucrative career. They almost fainted when he told them he wanted to be a biology teacher. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about going against his parents and cultural expectations, working his way up from a temp job to fulltime and the path he took to land a consulting...

He was the typical straight-A student. But when Omar Sadik got to university, quite the opposite happened. Unexpected life-changing events affected his mental health and his grades. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about ditching classes in college, taking risks, working hard not just for himself, but also for family back in Bangladesh and leveling the playing field in sales as the co-founder of Train...

High school was a bore and he skipped a lot of classes. What Jason Riedel was interested in though, was computers and it started when he was just nine years old. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about getting his A+ Certificate at 16, the importance of having humility in your career and working at well-known companies like Symantec, PayPal and eBay. Get in touch and/or support Jason here: www.jasonrie...

He was a job hopper. After high school, Miro Laflaga tried different jobs- he worked in fast-food, security and call centers. He found his calling when he got a job as a Creative Director. That job was the first role he had that he felt he wanted to turn into a career. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about dropping out of college, leaving a fulltime job, getting a job that required a Master’s Degree,...

Growing up he wanted to be a professional athlete. Warren Bub even had his eyes on the 1988 Olympics. But injuries changed the trajectory of his career. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about he worked on wall street, worked at Verizon and how being an athlete helped him to succeed as an actor. Get in touch and/or support Warren here: LinkedIn www.warrenbub.com Thank you for sponsoring our show. If yo...

She worked three part-time jobs while going to college at night. That’s how Kim English got job experience at a young age. Eventually her circumstances changed and she couldn’t juggle so much anymore.  Listen in as he tells Jonaed about competing against men in the world of sales, not being recruited because she didn’t have a degree and how she overcame cancer while working a new job. Get in touch...

Like many college students, Randy Humphrey loved to party. His grades suffered as a result so his dad gave him an ultimatum. He either had to get his grades up or stop school and start to work. Without thinking he chose to dropout of college and has never looked back. Listen in as he tells Jonaed about becoming a bartender, working as a stock broker, being burnt out and then pivoting into the pay-...

He was physically and verbally abused by students and teachers in school. Growing up in a homophobic town made school especially challenging for Evan Patterson. So much so it made him physically sick and his parents pulled him out of the classroom and placed him in an online high school instead.  Listen in as he tells Jonaed about getting paid to write at 16, why he decided to drop out of college...

She didn’t like school although she got good grades. Sophia Lorena was always interested in personal development and it was the personal development events she attended that led to her decision to not go to college. Listen in as she tells Jonaed about the reaction from her friends and parents and how Loan Officers can make six-figures. Get in touch and/or support Sophia  here: LinkedIn TikTok The...

Dyslexia, ADHD and definitely NOT academic. Those are a few things Sunil Kumar shares about himself in this week’s episode. Most teachers made him feel like he was doomed to failure, except one.  Listen in as he tells Jonaed about how he owned a snake breeding business at age 12, the challenges he faced early in his career battling Crohn’s disease and how he’s leveling the playing field so that pe...

He grew up poor on a farm and was home-schooled. Daniel Ogden has been an entrepreneur from the age of eight. Although one of his businesses didn’t make any money for two years, he was determined to not live a life working on the farm. While working at a gas station he did his home-schooling curriculum during his lunch break. He reinvested his earnings back into his business. Listen in as he tells...

Three semesters into college, the attacks of 9/11 happened and it prompted Randy Warner to introspect. He loved sports. He enjoyed the sports medicine class he took in high school. So he thought pursuing a degree in orthopedic surgery would help him reach the ultimate goal of becoming a team physician for a professional sports team.  But, like many college students, he went to some classes and par...

He worked in a tire factory, tried out for the Falcons, served in the military, makes music and he’s a personal trainer. To say that Will Barnes has done a lot is an understatement. He was a great athlete and had college scholarships lined up after high school. But he didn’t accept because he thought he couldn’t do so because he had a child. He went to the military instead. Listen in as he tells J...

Her parents weren’t worried about her education. But it’s not because they didn’t care. Alejandra Ayala is Mexican and says her immigrant parents’ main concern was to ensure they were providing a roof over their kids’ head. Listen in as Alejandra tells Jonaed why she finally gave up on college and how an unlikely skill helped her to land jobs at places like Adobe, Disney and Google. Get in touch a...

He says he was the nerdiest black kid and got beat up 13 times as a result. Frustrated, Khafre Jay had his own gang by the time he got to high school. Like many kids, especially those of color, he “found his way” from the wrong people. His life changed for the better when a principal let him into an art school. Listen in as Khafre tells Jonaed how he left gang-life behind, uses his love of music a...

Like many college kids, Jeremy Leinen worked at a restaurant while going to school. He soon realized that he enjoyed being in the restaurant more than he did his pre-engineering classes. He did not want to spend the rest of his life looking at blueprints so he dropped out. Listen in as Jeremy tells Jonaed how he became an Executive Chef, without culinary school. Get in touch and/or support  Jeremy...

He was happy to be told he’d be home schooled. Braxton Wood hasn’t been in a classroom since the age of 11. As a teen, he worked a fulltime job while taking his home-schooling courses. In a time without Zoom and other technology to facilitate distance learning, he had to do it all on his own. Without help from his parents or teachers. Listen in as Braxton tells Jonaed how homeschooling made him an...