415: Weak Ties: Maximizing Your Network To Land Your Ideal Role

HTYC success story Tanya Maclolm Revell discusses how she used the power of weak ties in her network to land her ideal role.

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Guest

Tanya Malcolm-Revell, Director, Events & Operations

Tanya Malcolm Revell was a New York television producer for networks including MTV before moving to London to join wellness company Wanderlust.

on this episode

Friends! How many of us have them? Friends! Ones you can depend on?

Everyone has a network. And here’s a secret… almost everyone thinks their network isn’t big or strong enough to help them land their ideal role. Not true! 

The problem is that most people misunderstand how their network actually works. Studies have shown that it’s not the people closest to us who are the really powerful part of our network — it’s the weak ties, the friends of friends, who truly matter for making things happen. Sociologists call this the “Power of Weak Ties.”

And it makes sense, because the people closest to you probably know many of the same people you do, whereas your weak ties likely know other people beyond your normal networks. These weak ties are your bridge to career change.

On this week’s podcast, I chat with Tanya Malcolm Revell, an HTYC success story who used the weak ties in her network to get an introduction that led to her ideal role.

What you’ll learn

  • Why your network should be tapped into to unlock your ideal role.
  • How to discover the power of weak ties in your network.
  • How to use your network to land your ideal role.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 00:01

The job searches were pretty much leading me, I was very overwhelmed and very scattered throughout my searches, not really knowing where to focus or how to focus. And then of course, as I'm looking at the calendar, all of a sudden, a week has gone by, two weeks have gone by, and now than a month, and then two months, three months, and I was getting very bummed out, to say the least.

Introduction 00:30

This is the Happen To Your Career podcast, with Scott Anthony Barlow. We help you stop doing work that doesn't fit you, figure out what it does and make it happen. We help you define the work that's unapologetically you, and then go get it. If you're ready to make a change, keep listening. Here's Scott. Here's Scott. Here's Scott.

Scott Anthony Barlow 00:54

Over the years, we've shown you a lot of career changes that most people would consider impossible. We know from being on the inside of these, that it can be really challenging to think about, how on earth someone would make this career change from one drastically different occupation to another or how they might go and get what most people would consider to be a... impossible dream job, and many, many other things between. So that's one of the reasons why we take great pains to show you how it works from the inside. For example, how does someone go from identifying a list of organizations that they might want to work for, and getting an opportunity with their number one company on that list?

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 01:46

I work with Wanderlust and if you're not familiar with them, Wanderlust started as a yoga studio, but now has branched out and produces festivals and events throughout the world.

Scott Anthony Barlow 01:57

That's Tanya Malcolm-Revell.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 02:00

I got myself into a position where I am now a part of the production team involved in bringing Wanderlust into Europe and presently into London, into the United Kingdom.

Scott Anthony Barlow 02:12

Tanya's story is super interesting because she was trying to find her ideal opportunity in a completely different country. She's from the US, but her husband and her work relocating to London. The way she found her opportunity is even more interesting, especially since she ended up working with her number one organization that she had said "hey, this is where I want to work." So listen close throughout this conversation, as she shares exactly how she did it. Here she is, telling about where her career started.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 02:48

Well, it started in New York City in television production. So I really cut my teeth in the MTV Music Television arena, and was in there, gosh, for about 12, 13 years, on and off doing exploring within television production, and then jumping in and out to different facets of the Music Television arena. So I was, like I said, a TV producer, but I also did experiential marketing around events. And I worked on festivals. And until very recently, I was working as a tour manager for pretty big bands. And like I said, I've done this for years and years and years and the overwhelming process throughout every new job that I would take was, I really don't like this. I really don't like something in my job, because it's not fulfilling. It's not necessarily the work itself, although I'm sure there are bits and pieces that drive me nuts, but it's not that particularly, it's a bigger umbrella, and I can't quite put my finger on what the heck it is. But you know, there's a new job, and it's right in front of me. So I'll go ahead and grab that one anyway. And that been pretty much my story year over a year, you know, the available job and not really diving in deeply into, why am I having these thoughts? You know, why is this job career not really fulfilling? So why is this circle keep happening exactly? So, my journey started, gosh, you heard what I was saying about not being fulfilled about my position, but I’ve been really started to transition really happened when my husband and I decided to move outside of the United States and come over to the United Kingdom. And I was ecstatic for many reasons. But in terms of my career, I thought this would be a great opportunity to just not reinvent myself, but maybe just do that, reinvent myself. Look at what I've been doing and start from scratch, which you know, sounds all well and good and ideally that would have happened and I would have gotten a job the next month or day or whatever.

Scott Anthony Barlow 05:00

24 hours later, at least. “We've arrived!” Okay, Where's it at?

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 05:04

Fortunate, after a little bit of a longer deal getting a work be the spouse work visa, I just got sat down and said, I refuse to fall into my old ways, I really need to think about what I wanna get out of my next position. I'm in a great place to do that right now. There's no overwhelming monetary need for me to jump into something. As I felt that years and years living in New York City, it's just all about the next job and who knows you. So I felt like to slow down and really evaluate where I was at. And I tried to do that on my own and realize very, very quickly that I was going nowhere fast. The job searches were pretty much leading me, I was very overwhelmed and very scattered throughout my searches, not really knowing where to focus or how to focus. So getting more and more frustrated throughout the entire process, and then of course, as I'm looking at the calendar, all of a sudden, a week has gone by, two weeks have gone by, and now than a month, and then two months, three months, and I was getting very bummed out, to say the least. And then I think I went online. And I just said, I need to find a podcast about career transitions and finding a job. And I stumbled across your interview with on Mac's List. And I swear, I listened to you and the Happen To Your Career bootcamp, and you were talking about and I said, "Oh my God, that's me." This is what I need. I need some guidance. I need a voice who can help me get to the bottom of what I truly need to get not just for myself, but just that great work life balance for myself, my husband, my career, etc. And I went online and I think we were talking within the next couple of hours. I called or emailed you right away, and voila, I was inundated with the Happen To Your Career process.

Scott Anthony Barlow 06:55

I think I got your email, somehow ended up on a Skype call, like I’ll just gonna call her.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 06:59

Yeah, that's exactly how it happened. And I have to say, Scott, you know, it's when I was talking to my husband and I said, "this is the first time where I feel like I have found someone in something that is going to make me focus and give me purpose." But I feel like I, my purpose is about to explode everywhere. And having gone through a couple different conversations with you, I jumped into the bootcamp. And you know, the rest is history, so to speak, in the sense that ultimately, and I'll give you the abbreviated version and then dive in a little bit more deeply, but ultimately putting in the work and the effort throughout the bootcamp really paying attention to myself and my thoughts and kind of my gut as well, what worked, what didn't work throughout my career, what I was looking for, what my wants were, what my motivations were, my minimums, my ideals, etc. And just putting this all down on paper, you know, I realized it's not rocket science, at the end of the day, this is me. But what it did for me is it helped to put me into perspective. You know, it helped me to really think about myself in a different light by evaluating my skills, my beliefs, my needs, and my wants. I mean, it's almost like I was able to see myself through a bigger lens. And then in turn, now, I was able to properly position myself and focus myself like in this career transition. And that's the key that had been missing this entire time. I didn't know how to position myself, I didn't know how to focus and I didn't really know what I wanted at the base. So going through everything, coming out of it at the back end, with this great, like my career profile, and it's there and it's what I want, what I need, and then focusing my search on companies based upon that, that shared my belief system that had the values that I was looking for, I targeted Wanderlust and I think was one of the first companies that came out of my mouth once as soon as I had this great profile, and I was like, "I want to work for Wanderlust."

Scott Anthony Barlow 08:58

Really? That's pretty cool.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 09:00

Absolutely. And then a couple of other places on my list is as you should... That was always key. And number one, so yeah. And then I just did everything that you guys basically coached us to do the reach out, the network, you know, massaging your network to see who knows who and reaching out to them and seeing if you get introductions and being very bold and forward, which is part of what I do in my job. But in terms of a job search, I was very hesitant to do.

Scott Anthony Barlow 09:29

It's outside your normal conventional operating area, like...

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 09:32

And that was the other pieces, I was like, “okay, look, you want something this desperately or this badly, then why wouldn't you work outside of your normal operating levels or your normal conventions?” What's the worst that they can say? You know, but that's better than no answer whatsoever that you wouldn't have gotten in the first place. So I did all of that. And I got into one of the co-founders of the festival, I got directly to him. And he, in turn then, you know, obviously responded to my email. And then, because I'm now in the UK, he shot me through to that arm that deals with all of the branding outside of the United States. So then, of course, in bigger conversations started there with that entity. And it was a little bit of a painful process just because they weren't quite ready to have the deeper conversations, although they did recognize that I would be a good fit. It was one of those things. And you've mentioned this and Lisa, during many of our coaching sessions, reiterated this, it's not necessarily what they can do for you right then and there. It's about establishing a relationship and keeping that relationship going so that when there is an opportunity, you're the first person they're going to think of. And Scott, that's exactly what I did.

Scott Anthony Barlow 10:49

Know this is so wonderful, because I'm not surprised by it anymore. I don't think that's the right word. But I'm always amazed at how when you define what it is that you want and when you know what you want and then when you take action or ask for what you want or go after what it is that you want, very often…

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 11:10

It manifests itself. Yeah.

Scott Anthony Barlow 11:12

Yeah, yeah, it is just a really interesting phenomenon that I observe all the time, in my life, I've observed in a lot of the lives of our students, clearly this has happened for you. And just like you said, the other really interesting part of that is 100% of the time, or I should say, nearly 100% of the time, what we want is outside the realm of what we've done before, which means that by definition, it's outside our normal comfort zones or normal operations zones or anything else, which also by definition, makes it uncomfortable. So it’s, kudos to you for moving through that because that's not an easy thing to do at all.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 11:49

It wasn’t. But you know, Scott, at the end of the day, if you want something and you're determined to make a change in your life and in your career, I could not go another day saying, “oh, I'm not happy or I don't like my job or I wish I didn't have to go to work today” I was over that. I spent way too much time thinking of the negatives. So there was only one thing for me to do, and that was focused on me and the positive and the future. I couldn't dwell on the past anymore. And it wasn't beneficial for me, nor was it beneficial for my job hunt. So I still am flabbergasted that the conversations went very, very well, with wanderlust, but I'm still flabbergasted that they said, “Hey, by the way, the London events are starting up and we'd like for you to lead the charge on it. Are you available to start tomorrow?” So yeah, it was exactly like you had kind of presented it in the sense that the hard work, the dedication, having your career profile or dialing that far down into your wants, your needs, your beliefs, etc, like I mentioned, and coming up with that, you can only find something that is going to speak to you and represent who you are. Because that's what you're focusing on. And that's where your career search is going towards. So at the end of the day, whatever presents itself is going to be a positive outcome for you, no matter what. And that has been the biggest revelation for me, I will never go out for a job just because it's presented itself on some random LinkedIn, you know, job blast and it sounds good. Other than me, focusing on companies that I know that I will be appreciated in, I know that I will be able to grow in, I know that I will be able to work in some sort of collaborative environment, a big piece for me to having a flexible work schedule. I really don't like taking the tube during rush hour. I don't know too many people who do. Having a schedule where I could flex my hours and work from home when I wanted to. And also go into an office if I wanted to, and may are 100% on board with that, which I did a couple of fist pumps in the air when I heard that, but more importantly working with people whose values are really aligned with me in mind. So yeah, I've got all that. I've got everything I wanted. That's the craziest part, everything, not one, not two, not two and a half, like everything.

Scott Anthony Barlow 14:20

It feels crazy right now. But I think the cool part is that now that you've done that, you realize that, that is something that you can build for yourself every single time that you want to make a switch or I don't know if something changes in your life in which you need something different and you have to make a change for one reason or another because something no longer aligns. Then you now have the tools and the experience to know that, that's totally possible for yourself, which is super, super cool.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 14:49

Yeah, absolutely. And I have the tools to be able to pivot I mean, it's called a career pivot for a reason, right? And I feel more confident in being able to shift left to right, front or back, whatever, but knowing that I'm going to move forward in a direction that aligns with me. And again, I've never had that before. I've never had that feeling behind me.

Scott Anthony Barlow 15:10

You're in such an interesting place because you've just moved through it. So I'm always really interested in people's opinions. Like, I'm a research not in this way. But what do you feel like were some of the key either events or things that had to happen in order for you to be ready to make this type of change and look at it in a different way? As you look back, what were some of those for you? I think it's a little bit different for everybody, but I’m curious.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 15:36

Yeah, absolutely. I think 100%, like phase one was figure out what the heck I wanted to get out of my career. What I wanted to get out of this next phase in my life, and I think everybody has to do that before they can be successful in anything period. And you can go through life, you can go through your jobs and be successful. But to truly get every drop out of the experience, and more positive obviously than negative, you got to figure out what makes you tick. And what's gonna keep you going 100%.

Scott Anthony Barlow 16:08

Well, let me ask you even a little bit before that, what caused you to get frustrated enough to the point where you wanting to do it differently than you had done it before? I know that you'd mentioned, hey, there was this move to London, and it seems like the opportunity time, and certainly timing had happened. But I know plenty of people that have made a move abroad or move to a different country. I've interacted with those people over email that aren't to the point and level where they're necessarily going to take action on it, if you will.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 16:38

Got it. Absolutely. Well, as I mentioned, I was working in television production and entertainment. And what I didn't mention is I was living in Los Angeles prior to moving to the UK. So being inundated in the entertainment arena, again was great stepping stone. It's gotten me to where I'm at today. But what it really quickly does is it frustrates you by the amount of ego that needs to be managed in throughout if its artists, producers, etc. The one thing that I through my search my profile, I've really understood that I'm very good at being that person that can morph myself into different situations. So I’m the very good at flexing and being supportive of others. And I was doing that more to it an extent where it was more detrimental to me and my career health.

Scott Anthony Barlow 17:32

That's interesting.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 17:32

Yeah, I was giving out more to others than I was getting back. So and you know, okay great, this me choosing to do this. But the consistency of doing that year over year and feeling like, well yes, I was progressing in my career in terms of title. I wasn't getting anything back in terms of support, or just even if it was just a little kudos, “hey, by the way, great job” nothing, just nothing in that regard. And it didn't make me feel good, at the end of the day while you have the event, the project, the festival, the concert was success, I was still kind of at a, we can say 1 to 10, I was always at a 5, in terms of what I would get out of it. So I was absolutely frustrated with that. And every job even moved through different arenas, from television production to festival thinking, okay, maybe something new and different will happen here. At the base. I really did like a lot of the work that I was doing, it was just this overarching piece that I thought I could change up and unfortunately, it wasn't working, at least in that entertainment festival TV arena. So with the move, I knew I wanted to put a stop to that cycle and that I wanted to get a lot more out of myself and out of what I was doing for others and I wanted to be more empowering to a community but also something that I could feel proud of and say, “hey, Mom, Dad, take a look at what I just produced” you know, instead of some random show on MTV. So that was the impetus behind me really starting the journey. London was the conduit, and Happen To Your Career was the platform. So, yeah.

Scott Anthony Barlow 19:11

I love that, I'm gonna borrow that. Several look, it might change from London, I don’t know.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 19:18

Absolutely, no, but that's exactly, that's my story on the front end into a nutshell. And then other thing, it’s just in terms of what else had to happen to make this happen was very quickly, I've always been into yoga. I've always been into health and wellness, or have it been though ‘whoo’ you know, 24/7 type of person. But it's always been very integral in my life. No matter where I'd been. If I'd been on the road, I would always take out time to go to the gym, maybe take a yoga class, go to the wide, walk around the park or whatever, you know, have a good meal, that's always been a foundation of who I am. So, which was great. But I didn't have the network here in London. So the other part is I really had to establish a network and put my face out there, take those leaps that didn't feel comfortable and maybe present myself at an event where I knew nobody, and with business cards and a handshake, just make people know me like, I'm here yet again. And I did that and did with a couple of key influencers in the health and wellness market. And it just resonated. So I put myself in front of yoga studios and actually said, “hey, by the way, if there's an opportunity, I'd love to volunteer and help out and once a week, or if it's event based, I'm here.” And I actually got signed on with one of the largest yoga studios here in London.

Scott Anthony Barlow 20:40

Really?

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 20:40

And funnily enough, this is a little secret, but funnily enough, we're going to try to see if we can get them on board at Wanderlust because it's such a great studio and I have all the contacts and now.

Scott Anthony Barlow 20:49

Hold on. That's it. This is something that is really interesting that happens with nearly everybody that goes through this process is, and it's so fascinating to me, you go through, and I'm gonna call it just doing the work, you're putting in the reps, for lack of a better phrase. And inevitably, you start to build relationships.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 21:09

Absolutey.

Scott Anthony Barlow 21:09

And then as you build those relationships, you don't know where or when necessarily, but those actually end up becoming useful or mutually beneficial for…

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 21:20

Like one degree separated.

Scott Anthony Barlow 21:21

Yeah, exactly. For a variety of different reasons, not necessarily just, you know, transactional, that's gonna get me to my next job, or whatever it happens to be. But this is super, super, super cool. So now, you not only got to know these people, and it sounds like people that you were really interested in knowing anyway, based on the work that you had done and said, hey, this is kind of where my values and interests and everything else fall. But then now it sounds like you're getting to work with them continuously or possibly, right?

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 21:51

Absolutely. And you're right, the people that I have met just by doing that, the world is large until it's not, you know, and the health and wellness industry in the UK is booming. But it's still I mean, compared to the US, it's still fledgling, so the people who shine and actually take an active part and participate, you will see them over and over again or you know, or maybe you recognize another person at the next event. So having the touch points with the yoga studios, having the touch points with the gyms, having the touch points with the great health platform aggregator that just kind of brings in the health, wellness news and not regurgitates that brings it in a nice condensed package to the consumers and they also have events, I would go to their events where you would meet influencers in the health and wellness arena, whether it's clothing lines or food products, etc. So just a bunch of different POV’s in this arena. Then, you know, afterwards you'd get to meet them, cards or exchange and so forth and so on. And that's just what I was doing. And I kept building and building and building so much so that with Wanderlust, you know, a big part of any event is the ties into the community and obviously for the the consumer draw, but also what can we present to the consumer that they're gonna like and appreciate. So having gone to all of these wellness industry events, where they presented the new and upcoming trendy thing or what's resonating, I already know, all of this stuff, the research is done. Now we just have to go out and engage them. So I could not have made this up, even if I tried. But no, really I couldn't. But just staying on top of it even when I know, here in London, the rain, you know, rainy day didn't really feel like doing anything. I didn't really feel like going up to Soho to go to an event but I just, you know what, Tanya, at the end of the day, what do you have to lose and just did it and every single time I've walked away saying, “oh my gosh, I got this person's contact. I had a great time. I learned more about X, Y, and Z out of everything, and nothing has been too small or too big.”

Scott Anthony Barlow 24:01

Let me ask you about a couple of different pieces of the process, for lack of a better phrase, like your journey, we'll call it that. You mentioned earlier, you'd sent an email and connected with one of main people for events. Right? So, I'm curious for people, we touched on that earlier, but I'm curious what you actually did in that particular case and why you feel that particular email, contact, etc. actually worked? What about it?

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 24:30

Ah, this is a great question. So it wasn't as simple as I, you know, wasn't as streamlined as that, what happened was, I came out of, I forget what week it was in the boot camp, and I was like, “Eureka! I know what I want. And I want to work for Wanderlust.” And again, I just started looking at a my network first and foremost to see if I had any ties with the Wanderlust. And on the first level, I didn't think that I did. And I just started mentioning it to everybody again, I'm trying to manifest it. So I'm throwing it out there. And every person that I met, or the person that I had worked with, I said, “hey, by the way, you know, I'm really interested in working with Wanderlust. Do you know anybody? Or have you been to one? Etc.” So I actually landed on a coworker who had, she said, I don't know anybody directly at Wanderlust, but I think I know somebody who's good friends with one of the founders, and I was like, you've got to be kidding me. So based upon my relationship with this woman, which was fantastic, my co workers, she then introduced me to reached out, yes indeed, that this other woman had a relationship with the co founder, and then in turn, based upon their relationship introduced me on the weight, the strength of my work, my ethics and just what I could bring to the party. So then this woman took it upon my friends word that I'm badass and introduce me to the founder. Now that was great. I've now got an email address. I have somebody who's setting this up. That was a big part. But what really sealed the deal, and this is something that Lisa and I had gone through, and you're sending these emails out to people and they're getting a crap ton of them day in day out, you've got to differentiate yourself one, but you also have to say, look, this isn't just about me trying to get something from you. I want to give something back to you as well if possible, and it's an information exchange first and foremost, and I know I'm a little, but you need to know what that means. And I think the person help in this your transition moving overseas. So more succinctly and more deeply than I've just kind of articulated it. I sent a really bad ass, excuse my French, email to Sean outlined all of this. And he said, “Yeah, you do seem like the best person. Let me introduce you over to the EMEA people, people dealing with Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Scott Anthony Barlow 26:55

Very cool.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 26:55

And that's how that transpired. It was really cool. But I don't think he would have given me the time of day if “A”, is the intro, weren't as strong as they were on me, from my friends, but be in terms of the written communication from myself. If that had lacked or didn't really show my enthusiasm, then I'm getting one of many, as much as I'd like to think I'm amazing, which I am.

Scott Anthony Barlow 27:20

I agree.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 27:21

On paper that can fade and fizzle fast if you're not scintillating, or you don't kind of let them know that you're really willing to be the brand, or you're really into their brand.

Scott Anthony Barlow 27:32

Especially recently, a lot of research on how these types of connections are made and why they're so effective at and first of all, it's so interesting that most, not all, but most, might someplace in the range of 70 to 80% of these types of opportunities, these types of it's my dream job type opportunities are found based on interactions through weak ties.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 27:58

Yes.

Scott Anthony Barlow 27:59

Yeah. Meaning that it is not necessarily somebody you know, in your immediate network, because if it's somebody you interact with all the time, or somebody who you regularly see or regularly talk to or whatever else, then you're probably already aware of any people or opportunities that they know immediately. However, it's usually in the less strong ties and less strong relationships where you begin to find those type of things that aren't known to you when you're seeking it out. In this case, it was a former co-worker who…

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 28:30

Yeah.

Scott Anthony Barlow 28:31

Yeah, and...

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 28:32

Absolutely.

Scott Anthony Barlow 28:33

People underestimate. I have, I did for many years underestimated the weight that is carried behind a strong recommendation and some of the psychological reasons that trust and credibility are already there when you have that initial weight behind it for somebody that you know and like already, and it just, it adds like 150 pound weight to whatever force you're already carrying. So you're really awesome written communication that you had sent off was, I don't know, it's like a parachute or something along those lines or sailboat or something like that. And all of a sudden, you get this huge gust of wind behind it in New Year's cruise and is struggling for an analogy, but we'll work on that.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 29:11

No, 100% agree. And again, it was just articulating, it's like, look, I am looking for a job in this company, or with this type of company or with this particular company in general. Do you know anybody or just keep me in mind? And again, that was my mantra.

Scott Anthony Barlow 29:26

Yeah. This is so amazing for so many different reasons. I'm really curious, because we've got so many people that listen to the show that are in the place that you were not that long ago, where...

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 29:40

I was that person listening to the show.

Scott Anthony Barlow 29:43

Yeah, yeah. Exactly.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 29:44

In the same position. Absolutely.

Scott Anthony Barlow 29:46

Yeah, you're been in the cycle. You're there and you're frustrated, and you're not entirely sure what to do differently. But what advice would you give that person who's in that place?

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 29:58

Don't let the hard days or the days where you don't think you're moving forward or that nothing's happening, stop you or slow you down. I think that for me was the really, really, really tough part when I didn't see the end of the rainbow. You know, there the end in sight. I couldn't necessarily get that particular connection that I wanted, or I already gotten some sort of negative feedback or no feedback. Don't let that stop you. If anything should double down in your efforts. And I know it's harder to do than say, but you know what? Caffeine and chocolate will get you through it. Just do it. You've got to do it. Because I worked so hard that when this happened, it felt so friggin sweet, that much sweeter and I would have been happy no matter what. But knowing that I made this happen. It wasn't somebody coming to me. It wasn't me trying to throw my resume into a random lotto of 100 million other people for the same job. This was me networking. This was me, keeping my ships. This is me, top of me just kind of sticking with it when even when I wasn't getting a response on an email or a phone call, I was just calling back and making sure that they knew who I was. So stay strong, kick ass. And just remember that you are who you are, and you bring a lot to the table.

Scott Anthony Barlow 31:20

Absolutely love it. You did such a great job. And I so appreciate you taking the time and coming on and being able to share your story so that everybody else can benefit from it too. And firsthand, congratulations. I hadn't even told you that yet. But… over your email. Yeah, very, very cool.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 31:39

Oh, gosh, I'm staring up at the sky and I'm still kind of flabbergasted. So thank you. Thank you guys. This was an amazing journey. You know, you held my hand along the way, and you've got me to the other side. And for that I will be eternally grateful.

Scott Anthony Barlow 31:55

Well, I appreciate you letting us take along for the ride. Tanya, thank you again.

Tanya Malcolm-Revell 32:02

Thanks, Scott.

Scott Anthony Barlow 32:03

Here's something else that's not obvious from listening to this conversation with Tanya. So I actually recorded this conversation quite a while ago. And since then, Tanya has actually transitioned into another organization. And here's what's really interesting about that. I think this is fascinating, because one of the biggest questions we get, or one of the biggest fears we encounter as it relates to career change is, well, what if I choose the wrong position? What if I choose the wrong position? What if I choose the wrong company? What if I... with all the what if's, right. So Tanya, actually went, got this great opportunity with Wanderlust which you heard about and then was there for about a year. And then it turned into, through a variety of events, turned into a situation that was no longer great for her. So she took literally everything that she learned through this process of career change that we got the opportunity to help her with, and use all of that to relatively quickly, far more quickly, make a transition into something that was even better. Pretty cool, right? So worst case scenario, that's what's so interesting about this process. I wish that we taught this in schools, because what is so interesting is that you can use this the entire rest of your life, these types of skill sets are worth developing, because they make everything else that you want possible, even when life gets thrown at you. So great job to Tanya, first of all, and if you want help, or figuring out how to make things that seem impossible happen in your situation, that's what we're here for. So here's what I would suggest, just open your phone right now and open your email app and I'm going to give you my personal email address, scott@happentoyourcareer.com just email me and put a 'Conversation' in the subject line. And then when you do that, I'll introduce you to the right person on our team. And you can have a conversation with us. We'll try and understand your goals and what you want to accomplish in your career no matter where you're at. And we can figure out the very best way that we can help you and your situation. So open up right now and send me an email with 'Conversation' in the subject line scott@happentoyourcareer.com

Chris Bene 34:29

Basically, I've been doing this for free since I've been in high school.

Scott Anthony Barlow 34:33

That's Chris Bene. He lives in Vancouver, Washington, which if you don't know is across the river from Portland, Oregon. But for a long time, he was involved in business development in the corporate travel industry. However, he had this hobby he called "car consulting."

Chris Bene 34:50

And it's just started off that people would say, well, "I'm thinking about this type of car" and I would start to talk to them and do that, but I really always hesitated from going into the car industry because I'm just gonna say outright and very track it's like kind of a sleazy industry that people, they've been through the strategy of spending five to eight hours in a dealership, just being drug through the mud on buying a car, it shouldn't be that hard. And it's actually a strategy of theirs that they're trying to used to wear you down to where you're just buy this car from them.

Scott Anthony Barlow 35:27

Now, I want you to fast forward here or 10 months after Chris had been working on his career change. Here he is, again.

Chris Bene 35:34

What I'm going to be doing is going to be a consultant for triple A Oregon. And this is their services they call the auto source, and it's a car buying service. And what's great about it, Scott, is that they're able to talk to me and I am not a dealer, they'll be able to talk to me as a consultant, just to talk them through the types of cars that they're looking for, or possibly like I said, selling and just to give them some great insight information on that. This is something I would, it would not be a job. And this is what you've always talked about Scott, "it's really not a job that I'm going to, it's just something that I'd like to help people with." And I feel I'm pretty effective with that.

Scott Anthony Barlow 36:16

Okay, let's break down. What led up to this change? And how this hobby that he now gets to do for career, actually happened? All that and plenty more next week right here on Happen To Your Career. Make sure that you don't miss it. And if you haven't already, click Subscribe on your podcast player so that you can download this podcast in your sleep, and you get it automatically. Even the bonus episodes every single week, sometimes multiple times a week. Until next week, adios. I'm out.

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