Dream Job Podcast

29/11/2021

He's back! When we had (former) CIA analyst / (former) college roommate / (current) novelist, Dave McCloskey () on the podcast at the start of Season 2, we promised to have him on again at the end of Season 2 to discuss the release of his debut novel, Damascus Station. Unfortunately, Season 2 didn't survive long enough to see that day. But a promise is a promise! So we cobbled together an unplanned, unprepped mid-hiatus podcast to check in with Dave. A merry late Thanksgiving to us all! We chat with Dave about how sales are going, how it feels to have a novel with his name on it "out in the wild," and how book #2 is coming along. Check it out! And, if you haven't read it yet, make sure to add Damascus Station to your Christmas list. Painful though it is to admit...it really is a great book.

18/08/2021

We talked with (Director of Amazon's Editorial Team) this week about the fervent "evangelism" that a good book can inspire. This quote from "The Fault In Our Stars" captures it better than I ever could.

What's the best book you've read this year? Drop it in the comments for the rest of us. Like I tell my two year old 20x a day: sharing is caring.

16/08/2021

Finishing an amazing book is kind of like going on the : if you don't tell everyone in your life about it, you're probably not doing it right. But that's honestly one of the coolest things about books. They have a way of turning readers into evangelists. It's also one of the coolest things about our guest this week's job: she gets to recommend great reads to literally millions of people each month. And she gets paid for it!

As the Editorial Director of Amazon's Books division, leads the team of writers, readers, and content creators who read and recommend hundreds of books each year for Amazon.com shoppers. Because we can't leave your next book entirely in the hands of the robots

Sarah stops by The Dream Job this week to talk about her earliest literary memories, what it was like interviewing Chelsea Clinton, and how she manages to read nearly 100 books a year. And, of course, since she's in the "recommendation business," we make sure to get her recommendations for the books you MUST be reading with what's left of your summer. Give it a listen! And then instead of getting back to work...get back to reading!

13/08/2021

It may be Friday...but Sunday night is coming. And the fact that the are such a persistent and pervasive reality is why this podcast exists. It's also why is on the mission they're on to train 1 million leaders. Checkout our conversation with their CEO, Matt Tresidder, this weekend while you're waiting for that familiar sense of growing dread to overtake your every waking moment.

11/08/2021

Your work should not consume your life. But if you're worried about work/life balance, (1) you're probably creating a false and unsustainable dichotomy between your work and your "real life," and (2) being a startup CEO probably isn't for you. Actually really liked the way Matt Tresidder (CEO of ) framed his response during our recent conversation. It's not an excuse for workaholism or a justification for a lack of balance in your life. It's an exhortation to find something you care about enough that you don't NEED a break from it.

09/08/2021

At the age of 26, he became VP of Sales at , leading a team of 100+ sales reps and account managers through four straight quarters of record breaking and unprecedented growth. By the age of 30, he was so burned out he needed a 6 month break just to feel human again. And now, at the age "early 30s" (I'm not actually sure how old he is), Matt Tresidder is once again swimming in the deep end of the startup pool. This time serving as CEO of as they wrap up their Series A and get ready to step on the gas even harder.

Matt joins us this week to talk about wins, regrets, culture drift, imposter syndrome, the endless hamster wheel that is sales, and his philosophy on working with friends: "don't suck at your job and we'll get along fine." :) It's a great conversation with a guy who has taken the concept of "learning on the job" to new heights, and who has all the scars, perspective, and leadership chops to show for it. Give it a listen! And then get .

06/08/2021

We expected there to be 2 or 3 additional zeroes at the end of this number by the time we hit our 50th episode. (Which we just aired this week!) I mean, how hard could it *actually* be for two white guys with no previous media experience or credibility to build a following the size of a small nation on an oversaturated medium? Turns out, quite a bit harder than we thought.

That said, we're incredibly thankful for every person who has given The Dream Job a chance over the past year and a half. Whether you downloaded one episode or 50, we're grateful for every one of you.

04/08/2021

Same.

02/08/2021

It only took 50 episodes, but we finally booked [local] celebrity , Derek Buikema, on the podcast! Just kidding. He's not a celebrity. How could he be? He's not even on Instagram. But he IS the amazing Lead Pastor of and he does share some fascinating insights into what life looks like from behind the pulpit.

He also attempts to derail the conversation by bringing up the story of Kent's disastrous audition for the Wheaton College Improv Team. But Kent gets things back on track long enough to talk about the time Derek did four funerals in a single week, the time he cried while sitting by himself on an airplane, and a bunch of other uplifting stories. It was a true delight. And we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

29/07/2021

Think you're too far committed to a job you hate to turn back now? Think if your was out there you would've found it by now? Think again.

's dad was forty when he landed his dream job. He's now 70 with no plans of retiring anytime soon. (He also might be among the best educated Port Authority managers in the country.)

If this podcast has taught us anything, it's that dream jobs come in all shapes and sizes and they often involve meandering paths that only make sense when viewed in hindsight. So wherever you land on the job satisfaction spectrum [joy despair], enjoy the journey and know that every lesson is transferable.

26/07/2021

Imagine approaching the finish line of a marathon and thinking "halfway there!" If you can say that, you're probably either (1) delirious, dehydrated, and a few seconds from losing consciousness or (2) our guest this week - .

Jacob is a six-time national champion in cross-country, road and ultra championships, and has three national trail 50K championships to his credit. He also happens to be an incredibly kind, thoughtful, and generous person. All of which comes through loud and clear over the course of our conversation that touches on everything from raising kids outside to mid-career pivots to his 70 year-old dad.

23/07/2021

Here's one more great excerpt from our conversation with James Carbary this week. Visionary leaders can sometimes become victims of their own creativity. Or, more often than not, it's their employees who end up bearing the brunt of the repeated pivots, curveballs, and visits from the "good idea fairy."

Was fascinating to hear about some of the systems James has implemented at Sweet Fish Media to ensure that his drive for "the next big thing" doesn't become a distraction or a burden on his team. Would love to see more startups implement the same!

(Note: "Visionary" is a technical term from the Entrepreneurial Operating System . It's not a superlative James has self-applied.)

21/07/2021

If you (like us) get a little nauseous when you even contemplate the idea of attending a "professional networking event", our guest this week () has some thoughts on how you can make meeting new people suck a little less.

In the immortal words of Smalls from Sandlot: "Don't be a goofus." Easy as that. Now go forth and collect some LinkedIn connection requests!

19/07/2021

didn't invent podcasting, but he's been hosting and producing them since the dark days when the only people with podcasts were Bill Simmons, Marc Maron, Ira Glass, and a bunch of Breaking Bad fans.

Since then, James has founded a B2B marketing company, executive produced 100s of podcasts that have been downloaded millions of times, written two books, gotten married, and has somehow found time to continue recording 100s of hours of podcast content each year.

He joins us this week to talk about (1) how to unplug when your work is also your "hobby", (2) the importance of "the Goober Ratio" at any networking event, and (3) how to turn your passion into a business without losing your joy (or your soul) in the process. Give it a listen! And then get .

16/07/2021

With races occurring in scenic locales around the world, being a professional triathlete is easily one of the most Instagrammable jobs around. But it's not all scenic vistas and mountain lakes. Loved what Pedro Gomes shared this week about the long days, lonely rides, and less-glamorous sides of life on the IRONMAN circuit that make it even more challenging and even more rewarding at the end.

14/07/2021

All four of these men are professional athletes. But only one of them can swim 2.5 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles in 8 hours. That man () joins us on the podcast this week. Give it a listen.

12/07/2021

Have you ever gone for a long bike ride or swam laps in a pool until you felt like you were going to puke and then thought, "Man...I should run a full marathon right now?" Yeah. Us neither.

But for professional triathlete and Portuguese demigod, , it's what he's ALWAYS thinking. Pedro has been competing professionally on the circuit since 2010; most recently placing 3rd overall at the Ironman in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in June.

Pedro takes a break from his insane training schedule this week to chat about how he turned his passion into his profession. We talk about some of the "high highs" and "low lows" that come with life as an endurance athlete and get hyped for Pedro's quest for the ever-elusive sub 8-hour Ironman. Put it in your ears when you need some extra motivation for that half-hearted 2-mile loop you're running through your neighborhood.

01/07/2021

Looking for a break from the presidential memoirs and vampire erotica that typically fill your summer reading lists? These two gems by are a great place to start. And checkout this week's show notes for some additional recommendations from J Ryan.

30/06/2021

What do you do when no one's hiring for your dream job? You find a way to make ends meet until you can find someone to pay for the thing you love. Or at least that was what did before his novels started showing up on bestseller lists. Hear the full story on this week's episode.

29/06/2021

Of all the job-related superlatives that can precede one’s name, “New York Times Bestselling Author” has to be right up there with the best of them. (Maybe right behind “United States Ambassador to Fiji” and “TGI Fridays Employee of the Month”.)

And it’s one our guest this week, J Ryan Stradal has been hearing ever since his debut novel, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, hit the NY Times bestseller list in 2015. That was soon followed by the national bestseller, The Lager Queen of Minnesota, in 2019. He joins us this week just as he has put the finishing touches on the manuscript for his third novel. It’s a warm and wide-ranging conversation with the writer of warm and whimsical books. Give it a listen! And then of course…get .

25/06/2021

Do you ever find yourself staring blankly into the abyss, questioning the meaning of life, and welcoming the day when we all return to dust? Well good news: you don't need to find God, or a therapist, or an incredible podcast about . Just take a 5 minute quiz on a website and your problems will be solved. Happy Weekend, everyone.

23/06/2021

The secret to staying sane as a professional parent is actually the same as staying mentally healthy in any profession: get outside! Mike Voth, certified stay-at-home dad and our guest on the this week, shared some eminently applicable hacks for parents of all abilities and ambitions. Have a backpack permanently packed. Trails make excellent pens. And a popup van might be the best investment you ever make. Hear the rest at the link in bio.

21/06/2021

There was a time when being a stay at home dad sounded like our . But then we had kids. And now there are few things that sound worse. Not so for Michael Voth. When faced with the stark contrast between the the joy he felt raising his three boys and the drudgery he felt at his various jobs, he made the call to ditch his 9-to-5 and dive headlong into fulltime fatherhood. And he hasn't looked back since.

For this special, Edition of the podcast (aka: ), we chat with Michael about the good, the bad, and the exhausting of his life as a stay at home dad. Does he ever miss working? Does it feel weird being the only dude at the park? How he stay sane while spending 90% of his waking hours with three people under the age of 8? All this and more on this week's episode. Check it out!

18/06/2021

The Internet could exist for 1,000 more years and it would be hard-pressed to produce an interaction more perfect than this.

14/06/2021

She didn't exactly start in the mail room, but she DID go from a Team Lead to the CEO of a $2 billion company in less than 5 years. Was an absolute delight to chat with this week about her journey to the CEO office at . Hit on everything from imposter syndrome to work/life balance to the challenges of staying connected in an all-remote-all-the-time world. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

11/06/2021

Never do business with family? Larry Stap of begs to differ. He's a fourth generation and his greatest joy in life is getting to work alongside the 5th and 6th generation of Stap every day. Find something you love doing and then find a way to share it with those you love! (Listen to the full episode at the link in our bio!)

09/06/2021

Think COVID threw your business for a loop? Imagine if your entire distribution network was cutoff in an instant but it was literally impossible to stop production. That's what happened to when grocery stores stopped accepting their trademark glass bottled milk due to safety concerns.

Unfortunately, they couldn't tell their 250 cows to stop making milk. Twin Brook's owner, Larry Stap, shares what happened next. (Get the full story at the link in the bio.)

07/06/2021

Waking up at 4:30am to spend 10 – 12 hours performing manual labor 7 days a week, 365 days a year sounds more like a prison sentence than a job to most people. But for Larry Stap, it’s how he’s spent nearly every day for the past 40 years. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Larry is the owner/operator of , a dairy farm in Lynden, WA. Working alongside his wife, his daughter, his son-in-law, a growing crew of grandkids, and, of course, 250 cows, Larry produces, bottles, and distributes more than 500,000 gallons of milk each year.

On this week's episode, Larry shares many of the critical lessons he’s learned over his nearly 50-years as a , makes a strong case FOR doing business with family, and tells a crazy story about what happened last spring when COVID hit and Twin Brook had to switch their entire bottling plant from plastic to glass in less than 48 hours. Give it a listen! And then get

04/06/2021