December 22, 2023 • 39 mins
Ever wondered how a passion for gaming or vlogging could translate into a paycheck that rivals corporate salaries? Join our hosts, Pete Newsome and Ricky Baez, as they take you through the intricate maze of unconventional career paths.
This episode peels back the layers of careers once dismissed as hobbies and reveals how authenticity and dedication can spark a transformation into a thriving profession. From the thrill of professional gaming to the art and craft of content creation, they discuss the evolving definition of success and how passion is becoming an increasingly powerful driver in carving out a niche in today's economy.
But what about the nuts and bolts of making it all work? Pete and Ricky have you covered! They share the importance of financial planning and networking, the two lifelines of any unconventional career. Understanding the value of an online presence and the necessity of staying current is paramount to keeping your edge sharp in a world where AI and technology are constantly rewriting the rules.
Gear up for a dose of inspiration and practical advice that will leave you equipped and eager to navigate your own uncharted career journey!
Additional Resources:
- Is Freelancing Worth It?
- Career Guides
- Exploring Non-Traditional Careers: Finding Fulfillment Outside the Norm
🧠WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out https://zengig.com/
👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PeteNewsome
👋 FOLLOW RICKY BAEZ ONLINE:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/efrainrickybaez/
Blog Articles: https://www.baezco.com/baezco-blog
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Pete Newsome (00:00):
We're live All right.
So this is the Finding CareerZen podcast.
Thank you for listening.
Today I'm Pete Newsom e goingby Ricky Baez.
Ricky, how are you today?
Ricky Baez (00:08):
Ah, man, it's Friday , it's a beautiful Friday.
I just ah, I haven't startedshopping yet, Pete.
Pete Newsome (00:14):
Well, you're on the clock.
Ricky Baez (00:16):
I don't know what the clock is.
Pete Newsome (00:18):
It's an hour.
Ricky Baez (00:19):
It's an hour and a half yeah, yeah, you're right so
we're we're trying somethingnew today.
Pete Newsome (00:23):
We're trying, uh, for the first time, putting our
podcast on Twitter, so we'll seehow that goes.
I, I the features available tous, the options there, so we're
going to try and um and see howit goes.
Ricky Baez (00:35):
Excellent.
Well, I mean my mom.
My mom, she should be in therewatching.
Pete Newsome (00:39):
So if no one else watches, we can count.
Ricky Baez (00:41):
My mom will Perfect.
Pete Newsome (00:44):
So subject today so Finding Careers.
Zen is a podcast that uh, westarted after launching Zen gig
last year.
Zen gig is a career advicewebsite.
That's the easiest way todescribe it.
Uh, I wanted to launch Zen gigafter being a staffing company
owner for the past 18 years, andwe have realized over uh the
(01:04):
those years that there is a bigneed for better career advice
and content out there.
So we launched in gig about ayear ago and, um, our goal is to
to provide as much help andinformation that we think is is
relevant and high quality, andso we do the podcast once a week
, generally when we can, uh,when our schedules line up at
least, and, uh, our goal is toshare as much information as we
(01:26):
can.
That's valuable.
So, if you um are listening forthe first time and you're
unfamiliar with Zen gig, checkout the site.
We'd love your feedback.
You can always email us atquestions at zen gigcom.
Uh, more feedback the better.
So, ricky, let's get into it.
Uh, today we're going to talkabout unconventional career
paths and make a case for whythose are important.
What do you say?
Up for that?
Ricky Baez (01:48):
I am definitely up to that Cause.
Uh, if there's anythingunconventional, that's me.
That's, that's how we think ofyou, ricky.
Pete Newsome (01:52):
You are.
You are unconventional, so Iintroduced myself as a longtime
staffing company owner.
Ricky, maybe, um, you could dothe same.
Yeah, so, yeah.
So I'm Ricky bias.
I've been doing HR for about 22years.
Ricky Baez (02:04):
I own a boutique HR consultancy service here out of
Orlando, Florida, and I'm also aprofessor for human resource
management masters classes atRollins college and I also have
a podcast via HNHR podcast,which, by the way, Pete and I
were just talking about.
You're going to see Pete on thepodcast really, really, really
soon.
So all right, Professor, youcan see what we do is
(02:26):
unconventional, right.
Pete Newsome (02:27):
That's right, that's right.
Ricky Baez (02:28):
Well, uh, we try, so let's talk about so what?
Pete Newsome (02:32):
so what is that really?
An unconventional career path,and it's.
It's sort of a I guess it's anarbitrary term, but to me that
means uh, something that youdon't really have a traditional
college degree for that's new,didn't exist 20 years ago, and
so there's a lot of ways to makemoney today.
That um that when I was growingup we didn't have.
(02:52):
That a lot of parents probablyare skeptical of uh.
You know a lot of what we do onuh with Zingig.
Um, probably our primary focusis giving advice to young
professionals, students, peoplewho are trying to figure out how
to navigate their career.
Now we also know a lot ofpeople switch mid careers,
realize what they thought theywould like doing what they
(03:13):
thought they would like to dowhat they thought they would
like to want it to do for theirlife.
Ricky Baez (03:17):
They realize 10, 20, sometimes even 30 or 40 years
into it, I want to do somethingdifferently and there's so many
more options today availablethan existed in the not too
distant past and and and this iswhy I find this topic so
fascinating because, outside ofus doing this or anybody else
putting this information outthere, the only other
(03:38):
information people have about ajob and career could be coming
from home and, if it's comingfrom home, from their parents or
their mom or their dad or theirstep parents.
They came from an environmentwhere a conventional job career
path was fine at nine to fiveMonday to Friday, nine to five,
work there for 30 years and geta pension.
You don't hear about thatanymore, right?
Pete Newsome (04:01):
So I'm glad we're talking about this now.
But you know, a lot of that oldway of thinking hasn't really
kept up with all the changesthat that uh have have taken
place, certainly not with the,the digital age that we live in
now.
That's evolving rapidly, withAI changing the world day to day
, week to week right now, at apace that we've never seen
(04:21):
before, and that traditional wayof thinking starts to seem
really dated, and you know thisfrom so many discussions we've
had.
There's no worse words to sayto a young person, in my opinion
, is you know, get a job right,make a choice, get a degree so
you can get a job.
I mean, that to me, is justdemoralizing for a young person
(04:41):
to hear and you don't have tothink that way anymore, and
that's, that's what is, um, I'mI'm envious of of young people
right now as a result of that,or anyone in a position to take
a different path, do somethingentirely differently, because
there's so many great optionsand you can do it from anywhere
in the world a lot of them today.
Ricky Baez (05:01):
It's funny you say that you're seeing your envious.
Um, I'm not, I'm, I'm.
I'm happy where I'm at from amental perspective.
Here's why I I've experiencedthe previous conventional career
path and I'm experiencing thenew, unconventional one, so I
have experience to compare it tothe newer generation coming
(05:22):
into the workforce right now.
They have nothing to compare itto other than hearing two, two
old folks on the internet boxtalking about it.
Right, good point.
Pete Newsome (05:32):
Well, and and to and to that point, we know that
while working remotely, workingfrom home, working from anywhere
in the world, has so muchbenefit, there's also some
downside to that.
You don't get the exposure toexperience, seeing your people.
Uh, if you're young in yourcareer and so as much of a fan
of it as I am and I am all in onworking remotely and make no
(05:54):
mistake about that we have toacknowledge that there are some
downsides to it, and that, to me, is the biggest one.
You don't really get thebenefit of people who have more
experience.
So, like you just said, youknow what it's like to work in a
traditional office setting.
I know what that's like to gothe corporate route, and that's
great for a lot of people.
(06:14):
I mean, let's, let's, let's behonest.
We're going to talk about the,the benefit of choosing a noncon
, an unconventional career path,but one of the things that I
know from being in staffing forso long, and you know too, as an
HR professional, not everyonehas a self-discipline to do that
.
Not everyone, um, enjoys beingautonomous and on their own and
(06:39):
remote.
A lot of people need structureand that's okay.
But you have.
But if you don't have thatoption.
If you haven't experienced both, it's really hard to know which
side of that fence you fall on,I think.
Ricky Baez (06:50):
Yeah, I think so too .
And and look, and it's, it'sall about the evolving, the
evolving workforce, right?
Because that's that's.
That's one of the things thatmaybe people who are baby
boomers or Gen Xers right Likeus, that they they find the
hardest to be flexible with iswhat we're seeing right now as
(07:10):
far as what is the current stateof the workforce.
It's nothing like what we sawgrowing up, right?
So it's up to us, as Gen Xers,to be flexible and understanding
for the new folks that arecoming in that again, have
nothing to compare it to.
So that's what I think.
I think puttingmulti-generational, putting a
team together that comes fromdifferent generations, is the
(07:33):
best thing you could possibly dofor your team, because you get
different points of view,especially with what we're going
to talk about right now,because people coming into the
workforce do have thatunconventional thought process
because of how technology haschanged.
So I'm excited to go throughthis list.
Pete Newsome (07:47):
So I just happened to have lunch.
Let's start talking about someof these professions and careers
you can choose now.
I was at lunch yesterday withsomeone who was a career
guidance professional at thecollege level and we had a great
conversation about all thesedifferent options and she told
me that her neighbor across thestreet just bought.
(08:07):
There was a green Ferrari inthe driveway of her neighbor.
She went over assuming that itwas the people who own the house
, their neighbors.
Nope, it was their teenage sonwho had the Ferrari he has.
I think it's TikTok that he'smaking a considerable amount of
(08:28):
money on and that's his car hebought.
So social media influencer thatis a job that, needless to say,
didn't exist when we were comingup, and we know that when young
people tell their parents, hey,I want to be a professional
gamer, I want to be a socialmedia influencer, more often
(08:48):
than not that's not going to bemet very well, but you can't
deny the results and you can'tdeny the income that's out there
.
I mean, this is very real forthe right people.
Now, I think for so many jobslike this, you have to point out
that you don't just fall intoit.
Right, it's not about gettinglucky or just deciding you want
(09:11):
to do it and assume success isgoing to happen.
You know I'm a big fan of MrBeast, and the reason why I like
him so much is he is.
It quickly tells the story ofall the work over a long period
of time that he put in tobecoming the expert that he is
today.
And he said you know hismessage.
I'm paraphrasing, but Iinterpreted it as hey, if you
(09:32):
want to put in 10 years, 24hours a day, then you could
probably have success too.
But you have to be willing toclimb that mountain, and so it's
not a quick, quick win, but thepotential is certainly there.
Ricky Baez (09:45):
So I think I think the big difference with with its
employers and employees andcareer paths 40 years ago and
now is, I think, it's thepassion for it right.
So back then the goal was getthe career, get that job.
The goal now is, whateveryou're passionate about,
document it.
Whatever you're passionateabout, throw it out.
(10:06):
I mean, that's how you, that'show Mr Beast became to where he
is.
I mean, he is the number onetop rated YouTuber right now and
he's not even 30.
He's making millions of lovefor that Amazing right.
I'm pretty sure when he firststarted it he didn't have the
idea of I'm going to make moneyoff it.
I think when he first startedhe's like this is what I love to
(10:27):
do and it turned into anenterprise.
I think that's the key because,people, if you're trying to
find an audience, the biggestmistake you can do and I know
we're, we're, we're making aleft here the biggest mistake
you can do is trying to findsomething that would appease the
audience.
The audience doesn't respond tothat.
I think if you are focused onwhat you're passionate about and
(10:50):
you documented, the rightaudience is going to find you.
Pete Newsome (10:54):
Well, he, like you , said he was interested.
He taught himself how to begood at it.
I don't know that he wouldclaim he was a natural and it
because he talked so much aboutthe hours and hours and hours
over years that he put in.
I mean, he was obsessed withwith figuring out how to make
the best videos he could, andthen success followed right.
(11:15):
So I think that is an importantthing to acknowledge.
And then he wasn't worriedabout money, which I love that
part of his story and stillisn't Right, I mean.
But we also know that incomematters.
You can't ignore that either.
So when we look at some ofthese unconventional careers
(11:35):
travel, blogger well, okay, youknow I don't.
I don't have enough insight tosay that's something you can
just choose to become, but youhave to, you have to know what
you're getting into with that.
So I would do, I would do a lotof research before you declare
this is what I'm going to dowith my life.
Right, you have to have a basisfor, for starting out.
Ricky Baez (12:00):
So I, I think I'm the opposite end of that,
because, again, it has to bewhat you're passionate about,
right, and that authenticity isgoing to come across.
I got to tell you look, I'm 46.
You know what?
I go to sleep watching YouTubevideos of people who blog on
their travel experiences, andthat's how my wife and I come up
(12:21):
with where we're going to go to, because we've we've watched
all these videos.
So I get that piece.
But you know what?
You skipped over one that'sreally interesting to me
professional gamer.
I know you, you, you, youmentioned it.
That's a big thing.
Today, these gamers are makingmillions.
And I remember when I was inmiddle school, right?
No, elementary school, whenNintendo was big back in the 80s
(12:43):
, right, and my teacher wouldsay don't pay attention to those
things.
You're never going to makemoney that way.
She was wrong again.
She was wrong about that.
She was wrong about thecalculator in my pocket, right?
So there's a lot of things that30 years ago were seen as a
dead and lazy type ofenvironment, and today people
(13:04):
are making millions.
So what can we learn from that?
Pete Newsome (13:07):
That's what's so great, is that you, you, you can
.
You can really apply your likeyou said earlier your true
passion and turn it in to make aliving off of.
So you don't even have to lookback 30 years ago, right, Look
back a year ago, hey, when AIlook, look on LinkedIn now and
you see a feed.
Or on on on X, where we are now, you see a feed of nonstop
(13:27):
people talking about how they'remaking money in AI.
New jobs, new, new companies arepopping up every single day in
that space with things doingthings that you couldn't
possibly do a year ago, twoyears ago.
So the world's evolving rapidlyand career options are evolving
with it, which obviously we'rea big fan of.
(13:49):
There's some more traditionaljobs, though, that I think
people are really embracing nowand doing in a unique way and
charting their own course withthings like becoming a chef
right, A professional chef thosehave always existed, obviously,
but people who don't do that ina different way, personal chefs
(14:13):
there's so many shippingoptions now with food, you don't
even have to be in the samelocation.
So the world continues toevolve rapidly.
Ricky Baez (14:23):
You know who's hiring personal chef, people who
make you big as a professionalgamer, social media influencer,
travel blogger.
That's right, that's right.
They help each other.
Pete Newsome (14:35):
Well, but then there's things for young people
too, who don't even need a lotof experience, like becoming a
deckhand on a yacht.
Right, there's a super yacht.
Probably the same people whojust referenced that are the
professional bloggers who canafford it.
Being a photographer no oneneeds to go to school to do that
(14:57):
, right, but you have to havethe passion, you have to put in
the work and time and you canmake.
There's a guy who went to schoolwith my oldest child, who is in
her early 20s now, and this guyis out, lives somewhere in
Montana or Wyoming and he's aphotographer and I have no idea
(15:19):
what his income level is as aresult, but the pictures he
takes are amazing and they'republished.
He's got a huge following onsocial media because he pursued
his passion, and I know thathe's making a living just doing
that.
I mean, what a cool thing,right, that you can post your
pictures without having toanyone to do it for you, and
(15:41):
that's one of the things thatsocial media has allowed is you
don't have to get a publisher,you publish on your own account,
that's right.
On your own name.
There's no middleman anymore.
So all of these options are.
I think they're phenomenal.
Ricky Baez (15:54):
So what else do?
We got it's, I see.
What about a personal shopper?
That never existed?
Well, is that new?
Pete Newsome (16:01):
I don't know anything about that one.
I mean either I understand theconcept, but I would like that
you know just.
I mean, I have teenagers, so Iconsider them my personal
shoppers.
Ricky Baez (16:13):
Well, I think we have that now, right, I mean
down here in Florida, right whenyou and I are, we have Publix,
right.
Publix partner with Instacart,right, and that and I'll tell
you what that was that big, thatmade it big during the pandemic
right, they're in the pandemic.
That made that service justthat much more reliable and
sometimes not only the workenvironment but you're the world
(16:37):
can actually help you create ajob that could be unconventional
, because the other thing wehave right now Pete right,
shared driver like Lyft or UberI mean, I could say that never
existed before, but we've hadcabs forever right, robert
DeNiro did a great job in taxidriver right, so, but what, what
, a, what a, what a differentway to go about it.
Pete Newsome (16:57):
Yeah, choosing your own hours, being your, your
own boss.
You know you're not accountableto anyone but yourself.
And you know I love every timeI take, you know, uber.
That's my, that's my vendor ofchoice, if you will, when I need
a ride.
Each conversation in each storyis so unique, right?
So I mean people who will giverides just to and from their job
(17:21):
because they have a chance tomake extra income that way.
Others who've decided to leaveyou know, traditional employment
to do it because they want thefreedom that goes along with it.
So I'm a big fan of that too,and it's a better experience for
the user, right, that's thebest thing of all.
I mean, I don't know anyone whosays, boy, I wish I could still
(17:42):
take a cab, or had to take acab.
Right, nobody was a person.
That person exists.
I'd love to hear from them.
I haven't met them yet.
Ricky Baez (17:47):
I don't know.
I don't know if I shared thiswith you when I used to work in
Lake Mary, and for those of youwho don't know Lake Mary, it's
about an hour away from theairport.
I live by the airport right now, and when I used to work there,
I knew a guy who lived in myarea, who also worked in Lake
Mary.
Whenever he finishes his dayjob, his conventional job, on
his way home, he was an Uberdriver.
So he would spend three hourson his way home to just, you
(18:11):
know, just pick up a couple ofextra shifts as an Uber driver,
and that's how he paid for hispool, right?
And then some people do that.
Actually, it's quit their joband being Uber driver full time
and they're in charge.
This is important for recruitersto know.
This is important for people toknow because right now, if if
(18:31):
you're recruited listeningbecause I know this is a zen gig
, but if you're recruitedlistening right now You'd not
only have to worry about anotheremployer offering similar or
better benefits than you.
You're now a running up againstpeople's independence, and the
more people realize thatopportunity is out there, is
harder for the recruiter to beable to to.
(18:55):
I don't want to say justify it,but To challenge it, to say,
hey, come with us, it's.
I mean, come on, you can't payme enough money Against my
independence.
I mean, unless I was.
Pete Newsome (19:06):
Independence and freedom.
That stands in contrast to whathas evolved over the years and
do what I usually refer to asdependency employers dependent
on their employees to Did theyhave to?
You know, they control and anddirect in a very, you know,
(19:26):
intense way at times.
And same thing for employeeswho have been Become dependent
on employers.
To I'll say take care of them,for a lack of a better way to
put it, versus the growingfreelance market.
That is about freedom in yourcareer.
It is about a choice and notrelying on an employer to take
(19:48):
care of you.
And and you know this that I amsuch a big fan of the freelance
market because I think therelationships are so much
healthier, yeah, between theperson doing the work, trading
their time and skill for income,and the person on the other
side of that, or the group onthe other side of that, who's
paying for that skill.
I'm a huge fan of the freelancemarket, needless to say, me too
(20:12):
and all of these jobs Reallyfall in line with that right
independence, freedom in yourcareer.
So let's talk just for a minuteabout what's driving it.
Okay, the biggest one'stechnology, right?
I mean technology has enabledall of these things to happen,
as we always have to Go back to,as we talked about a few
minutes ago, ai.
Things that didn't exist even ayear ago Now seem commonplace,
(20:36):
almost so long list of careeropportunities associated with
that.
What other factors you thinkhave driven us over the past two
years?
Ricky Baez (20:45):
I mean.
So technology is definitely oneof them.
In in, I think, going furtherin technology right, it's giving
people the opportunity to beseen.
Now, remember, attention iscurrency and you you've heard me
say this in the past that I nowthis is my personal belief that
this country Favors attentionover intellect.
(21:06):
Right it's?
I've always said that right.
And if you're able to put Stuffout there and people are
willing to see and andadvertisers are willing to pay
for, then you found that perfectformula.
So I think it's the opportunityto put yourself out there more
or more people to consume whatyou are talking about, consume
(21:29):
what you're passionate about.
That is what's fueling thismore and more and more.
And it started With my spaceabout 15, 16 year.
It did, it did.
My space was the first officialSocial media.
I think that's what started thewhole social media craze.
Now you can, you can, you canargue that it started way before
.
Then.
(21:49):
It could have started withAmerica online, aol you've got
mail right.
Pete Newsome (21:55):
Yeah, a lot of that, you know certainly.
Look, it's led to where we arenow.
Yeah right, and so I think,technology, economic freedom, as
we talked about, and a chanceto make, you know, more money
with a lot of these people.
So there's a there's.
I think there's kind of twodifferent paths.
There's the one to haveWork-life balance and freedom
(22:17):
you have your time back to useas you choose.
And then others go down these,not on unconventional routes,
for the opportunity to make aliving and income that they
wouldn't have in a traditionalrole.
Ricky Baez (22:30):
Let me ask you this, pete, and I'm just gonna throw
this out there.
Let's say somebody's listeningor watching right now and
they're our age right, andthey're like man.
I spent so much time and efforton a college degree.
I spent so much time and efforton building my career for over
20 years, only to be making onefourth of what a 16 year old
(22:54):
with a green Ferrari Canaccomplish with social media.
What do you say to those folks?
Pete Newsome (22:59):
I Say it's never too late, right?
Don't don't be envious.
Make it, make that change.
The 16 year old Was just payingattention.
Yeah, and I think that's such aImportant thing to hold on to
as you get older.
I'm surprised pretty regularlywhen I have conversations with
friends about my age who I'venever even used chat, apt.
(23:24):
Yeah, you're gonna behard-pressed to find a 16 year
old who hasn't right.
Why?
Because they're payingattention.
I mean, that's that's, that'sreally it.
And so, if you think about it,that that person you'd subscribe
to is well into their careerand Went to college and is doing
whatever they're doing now.
They've gained a lot ofknowledge and experience along
(23:44):
the way.
That a 16 year old doesn't haveme, that's just reality.
But 16 year old is payingattention to what's relevant now
.
That's a really good footage.
So why people stop doing that?
I don't know.
I mean I, even.
I mean I'll tell you it's hardto keep up, right?
I mean it is.
I mean my, you know my teenage,yo, yo, kids, will you know?
(24:04):
Tell me that new things all thetime, every every week, that
that I'm surprised.
You know things that exist.
I'm trying to think of a goodexample.
Top my head.
Nothing's coming to me, but Ican't keep up and I'm trying to
pay attention.
I'm working to do that, so itis hard I could.
Ricky Baez (24:22):
I think I have an answer to that.
I think because it's I wentthrough that.
I went through that because I,I went through such a long time
to build up my career and tobuild up in it, to be
knowledgeable in my field, thatI don't want to see anything
that would combat that to saythat I wasted my time, right.
I don't know if that makessense or not, because I, I think
(24:44):
what a lot of gen Xers and babyboomers are holding on to is
it's what I went through has tomake sense and for some reason
it's not and they hold on to it,right.
I think flexibility and behaving an open mind in
Understanding is key, andexactly what you said, pete is
never too late is.
(25:04):
I saw the other day it's MarthaStewart.
I didn't know this.
Did you know Martha Stewartstarted her company at 50?
I didn't.
I know I didn't know that, butit didn't know.
That blew my mind.
I'm like, really, I think youwent to jail at 50.
I don't know you started yourcompany at 50, but okay, fine,
it's never too late.
It really is never too late.
So for those of you out therelistening like god, my career is
(25:25):
over.
It's not.
You have all the tools in frontof you and even if you're
afraid to use those tools isokay.
Right, because there's acollege out there, a free
college out there, calledYouTube.
Right, if you go on YouTube,you're gonna learn a lot of
things on how to do all thesethings.
You just got to invest the timeand effort into it.
Pete Newsome (25:45):
So there's another side of this coin.
We have to acknowledge that younot every profession.
If you want to be a medicaldoctor, you still have to go
down a traditional path, andthere's a reason for that.
There's, there's benefit tothat.
So but?
But I think the main thing isto really we used to be pretty
dismissive of the word passionas it ties to a career, because
(26:08):
you have to.
There's a lot of passionate,starving artists.
We know that right.
So it's not just about what youwant to do, you have to be good
at it, you have to have aptitudefor it.
That's a huge component.
And then the world has to valueit right and what you can do.
So there has to be anopportunity to to make income,
(26:29):
and the goal is to combine allthese things together.
So the downside has to beacknowledged.
If you go down a path, let'ssay let's just use the one that
we started with, right, you wantto be an influencer?
Okay, there's financialinstability that you have to
consider right there.
It's not a given that you aregoing to, you know, be rewarded
(26:49):
for that right.
I mean, you have to be good atyou have to have a Something
unique about yourself, you haveto have a reason that people
would want to be interested inyou.
So yeah, it's.
It's not a given right.
Ricky Baez (27:01):
No, it's not it but it.
You have to have that riskfactor, you have to be it's.
It is risky, right, because thebiggest thing people are afraid
of when they want to forexample, launching its social
media campaign or a YouTubechannel Is what if people don't
like it right and they don't tryit right?
How do you know that I like it?
Until somebody says, hey, yousuck, well I mean, yeah, there
(27:25):
is that.
Pete Newsome (27:26):
Hopefully you can figure that out quickly.
Yeah, the another thing is isBenefits, health care benefits
in particular?
You have to account for those.
So in America we've tiedemployment, traditional
employment to health care.
You know my feelings on that.
Well, that's a differentepisode, but Regardless, that is
the situation.
(27:46):
So you have to account for thethings that you will lose if you
get sick.
What will happen if you, whenyou take time off, you're not
getting compensated?
Ricky Baez (27:55):
young people.
Don't, don't, don't think about.
Pete Newsome (27:57):
Well, and they don't be a truth be told, they
don't have to as much, right,but you do want to look ahead
and then and that's a challengethe younger you are, the harder
to see in the future.
But that's a reality of thesituation and it just needs to
be considered if you're choosingan unconventional path to go
down.
So it's not about what's betteror worse, it's just about are
(28:18):
you looking at it holisticallyand and considering the pros and
cons that exist and then andthen choose accordingly, right?
Ricky Baez (28:25):
I want to get to the point in time it could be 50
years down the road, a hundredyears down the road, even 300
years down the road when peopleare looking back at our Monday
to Friday 9 to 5 and look atthat whole idea as archaic.
Right, I mean that's, I'm notlooking towards that Are we, I
think it's happening now.
I really now that the world gotsmaller, because again, it's all
(28:48):
about the internet andtechnology.
Now that the world got smallerbefore the internet, it was
almost impossible to have aco-worker across the world.
Right right now I can have a go, I can finish my job here at 5
pm and have somebody across theworld pick a right where I left
off at their 8 am and we canhave a continual 24-hour service
(29:12):
provided and I'm able tocommunicate with them, even if I
can't.
I think iPhone just came outwith the new iOS update that
it's a button push real-timetranslation.
If you don't know English andI'm and you speak Japanese, I
could talk on my phone.
It would let the person knowwhat and we can have a phone
conversation with translator.
(29:33):
This is where we live right now.
That's how technology isshaping the future of the
workplace.
Pete Newsome (29:40):
Yeah, and just that simple change you can.
You can see so many things thatcan transpire as a result of
that.
Right, I mean huge difference.
And I put a post up on LinkedIna couple days ago and Within 24
hours are people from multiplecountries commenting on it,
which I find is fascinating,right, I mean it's.
And Back to the freelance Wayof working.
(30:04):
It just leads, lends to thatvery, very well, where you don't
have to be local anymore.
We already know that, right,you don't even have to be in the
same, in the same city, stateor country anymore, and, and
that everyone wins as a resultof that right except for except
for, maybe, the government'sinvolved, right, who like to
collect taxes.
But Okay, everyone, everyonethat matters wins and and, and
(30:31):
that's a really important thing.
Another downside, though I dowant to acknowledge quickly is
is isolation.
That can happen and that issomething I worry about again
with young people who have, whomay live alone, who may not have
had the time and opportunity tobuild their own professional
network, let alone personalRight, because we know,
(30:52):
historically, a lot of yourpersonal Relationships are
formed through your profession.
So if you're not going to theoffice, if you're not out
meeting people, if you have ajob and there's so many of them
right now where you don't haveto leave the house, I am
concerned as a father, assomeone who cares very much
about the evolution of youngpeople who are critical for our
(31:16):
future.
I worry about that.
Do you think that's a realconcern?
Ricky Baez (31:22):
I think it is a concern, but I also think that
it's a matter of knowing whattechnology is out there to
mitigate that.
Because there is technology outthere to mitigate that.
It's all on how you structureyour workday, whereas who?
I feel bad for, pete.
I feel bad for people who arethe opposite of us.
You're an extrovert, I'm anextrovert.
This is so difficult.
(31:43):
Going out there and puttingyourself out there is very
difficult for somebody who's anintrovert.
Now, back to the pandemic.
That, really what you just said, really came to the top.
As far as people who don't haveexperience, people who do need
to have other human contact.
How do you mitigate that?
How do you bring that together?
(32:04):
Look, we're in a point rightnow, pete, where I don't know.
Have you seen those Oculus 3glasses?
Have you seen those things?
Yeah, those things.
Look, for those of you whodon't know, google Oculus is by
Metta.
You put those things on.
You can have a meeting withsomebody across the world across
the globe, because it's a globe, it's not flat on another show,
(32:25):
right?
And you can have a conversationas if you're right there in
front of the person having tea.
As time goes on, thattechnology is going to evolve
even more, and that's why I'mnot worried about those folks,
because I know where thetechnology is right now and
where it's heading.
We just have to know how totake advantage of it.
Pete Newsome (32:46):
Well, people still need to get together, Ricky,
For the future of our species.
They need to get togetherphysically.
So virtual is great, I'm a fan,but you need balance right
Balance.
Ricky Baez (33:03):
So all I'm thinking about is procreation via
Instacart, don't think aboutthat, all right.
Pete Newsome (33:08):
So let's wrap this up just with a couple of tips
for anyone who is considering anunconventional career path.
The first one is financialplanning.
Consider your income, how it'sgoing to happen, what the
downside is, what the risk is.
Everyone sees the upside.
That's easy.
We see all the success, butunderstand that you might need
(33:33):
to consider how you're actuallygoing to pay your bills, how
you're going to buy food and payyour rent.
So financial planning is a bigcomponent of going out on your
own down an unconventional path.
Ricky Baez (33:47):
Networking, networking.
So, yes, financial planningright, but you still need to
build a support system eitherway.
So you have to join thesecommunities.
You have to attend theseconferences, whether it's in
person or virtual.
Right, you have to find outwhat's comfortable for you.
But you cannot not do thatright, because you are going to
(34:08):
need somebody's help and younever know.
That's also marketing.
Networking equals marketing.
Marketing equals networking.
I just made that up.
I'm going to make a t-shirt.
I'm going to put a t-shirt.
It does Connect those dots,yeah, so yeah, because it does
right.
You're not able to actually besuccessful out there unless
people don't know what you haveto offer, right?
(34:30):
So networking is the best thingto do, and this is something
that I had is near and dear tomy heart.
Pete, some of the tips ontransitioning to an
unconventional career path.
If this is something you got todo, you can never, ever stop
learning right?
Don't ever get to a point inyour career when you're like
I've made it right, I knoweverything I need to know.
(34:51):
Because whatever knowledge youdo have, it's going to be
outdated.
The way things are going rightnow, it's going to be outdated.
Two years ago, the only AI wehad was Siri Mine's going to go
off here in a bit, right orGoogle, or now you've got things
that have conversations withyou, right, and who knows, later
(35:14):
on they might be a companion topeople who don't like to go out
, right?
And then that's a whole othershow.
Pete Newsome (35:19):
But I think that is a whole other show.
What was learning as key?
Continuous learning.
You have to evolve.
I think that's also part of thebenefit of networking.
You have to learn from others.
Don't stay isolated, don't stayon an island, so to speak.
You're not going to improve andevolve that way.
So networking is necessary.
It's not even a there's nooption there, that's for sure.
(35:42):
So, and then your onlinepresence and branding.
You just have to consider allof it.
You mentioned marketing.
Networking is marketing.
So is how available andaccessible you are online, how
you present yourself online.
You have to figure that out andunfortunately, there's no
guidebook for that right,because all of these things are
(36:04):
new.
There's a lot of experts whowill tell you how to gain
followers on every socialchannel, from TikTok to
Instagram to Facebook, but Idon't think it's that simple.
If there's a formula thatactually works, I'm unaware of
it I think the cream rises tothe top.
So if you have talent, if youhave something that you're
(36:26):
offering to the world that'sunique and that people want, you
will be found.
But you have to be conscious ofit too, right?
You can't just go sing in thewoods and expect to be found
that way.
Ricky Baez (36:40):
Okay, that was really specific.
Do you sing in the woods one?
Pete Newsome (36:42):
time.
I mean, I sing in the showersame thing but no one would want
to find me there, and if theydid, I don't think they're
paying.
But you have to be conscious ofthat.
I think that's something that alot of people will struggle
with.
Naturally, right, you mentionedit earlier.
Not everyone's an extrovert.
(37:03):
You have to be willing tomarket yourself and I know
that's uncomfortable for somefolks.
Ricky Baez (37:10):
I think I got the formula though I think the
formula is, I think I could bewrong.
Let's let everybody else decide.
I think the formula is whateveryou're passionate about plus
people willing to consume itequals success, right?
That's the only way that'sgoing to work.
If you're passionate aboutsomething, nobody cares you're
(37:32):
not going to be successful,right.
If people want to see somethingbut you're not passionate about
it, nobody's going to wantsomebody who's lollygagging
through something, right?
Both of those things have to bepresent in order for the
success to be the algo.
So I think that is the answer.
I think if you love egg rollsand you want to cook egg rolls
(37:57):
25 different ways, you're goingto find some people like me who
are going to watch that channel,right?
So now I'm going to start aYouTube channel on egg rolls.
Pete Newsome (38:06):
Right, we'll look forward to that one, but I think
we've covered all the bases,ricky, for the most part.
So unconventional career paths,more opportunities today than
ever in history, changingrapidly.
There is some downside, youhave to be aware of it, but
generally speaking, I think Ican speak for both of us and say
(38:26):
we love it.
We love what the future holdsand what exists in the present
as well.
So if you have talent, if youhave the desire and the passion,
go make it happen.
Throw it out there, go make ithappen.
Ricky Baez (38:40):
That's the only way you'll know if it is or it's not
going to work.
That's the only proof ofconcept.
That's it, all right.
Pete Newsome (38:46):
So look forward to hearing from you.
Questions@zengig.
com.
We'd love to hear from you Ifyou have thoughts or ideas on
things you'd like to hear oncareer advice content.
Let us know, we'll make thathappen, ricky.
Thanks and goodbye for now.
Have a good one.
Merry Christmas everyone.
We're live All right.
So this is the Finding CareerZen podcast.
Thank you for listening.
Today I'm Pete Newsom e goingby Ricky Baez.
Ricky, how are you today?
Ricky Baez (00:08):
Ah, man, it's Friday , it's a beautiful Friday.
I just ah, I haven't startedshopping yet, Pete.
Pete Newsome (00:14):
Well, you're on the clock.
Ricky Baez (00:16):
I don't know what the clock is.
Pete Newsome (00:18):
It's an hour.
Ricky Baez (00:19):
It's an hour and a half yeah, yeah, you're right so
we're we're trying somethingnew today.
Pete Newsome (00:23):
We're trying, uh, for the first time, putting our
podcast on Twitter, so we'll seehow that goes.
I, I the features available tous, the options there, so we're
going to try and um and see howit goes.
Ricky Baez (00:35):
Excellent.
Well, I mean my mom.
My mom, she should be in therewatching.
Pete Newsome (00:39):
So if no one else watches, we can count.
Ricky Baez (00:41):
My mom will Perfect.
Pete Newsome (00:44):
So subject today so Finding Careers.
Zen is a podcast that uh, westarted after launching Zen gig
last year.
Zen gig is a career advicewebsite.
That's the easiest way todescribe it.
Uh, I wanted to launch Zen gigafter being a staffing company
owner for the past 18 years, andwe have realized over uh the
(01:04):
those years that there is a bigneed for better career advice
and content out there.
So we launched in gig about ayear ago and, um, our goal is to
to provide as much help andinformation that we think is is
relevant and high quality, andso we do the podcast once a week
, generally when we can, uh,when our schedules line up at
least, and, uh, our goal is toshare as much information as we
(01:26):
can.
That's valuable.
So, if you um are listening forthe first time and you're
unfamiliar with Zen gig, checkout the site.
We'd love your feedback.
You can always email us atquestions at zen gigcom.
Uh, more feedback the better.
So, ricky, let's get into it.
Uh, today we're going to talkabout unconventional career
paths and make a case for whythose are important.
What do you say?
Up for that?
Ricky Baez (01:48):
I am definitely up to that Cause.
Uh, if there's anythingunconventional, that's me.
That's, that's how we think ofyou, ricky.
Pete Newsome (01:52):
You are.
You are unconventional, so Iintroduced myself as a longtime
staffing company owner.
Ricky, maybe, um, you could dothe same.
Yeah, so, yeah.
So I'm Ricky bias.
I've been doing HR for about 22years.
Ricky Baez (02:04):
I own a boutique HR consultancy service here out of
Orlando, Florida, and I'm also aprofessor for human resource
management masters classes atRollins college and I also have
a podcast via HNHR podcast,which, by the way, Pete and I
were just talking about.
You're going to see Pete on thepodcast really, really, really
soon.
So all right, Professor, youcan see what we do is
(02:26):
unconventional, right.
Pete Newsome (02:27):
That's right, that's right.
Ricky Baez (02:28):
Well, uh, we try, so let's talk about so what?
Pete Newsome (02:32):
so what is that really?
An unconventional career path,and it's.
It's sort of a I guess it's anarbitrary term, but to me that
means uh, something that youdon't really have a traditional
college degree for that's new,didn't exist 20 years ago, and
so there's a lot of ways to makemoney today.
That um that when I was growingup we didn't have.
(02:52):
That a lot of parents probablyare skeptical of uh.
You know a lot of what we do onuh with Zingig.
Um, probably our primary focusis giving advice to young
professionals, students, peoplewho are trying to figure out how
to navigate their career.
Now we also know a lot ofpeople switch mid careers,
realize what they thought theywould like doing what they
(03:13):
thought they would like to dowhat they thought they would
like to want it to do for theirlife.
Ricky Baez (03:17):
They realize 10, 20, sometimes even 30 or 40 years
into it, I want to do somethingdifferently and there's so many
more options today availablethan existed in the not too
distant past and and and this iswhy I find this topic so
fascinating because, outside ofus doing this or anybody else
putting this information outthere, the only other
(03:38):
information people have about ajob and career could be coming
from home and, if it's comingfrom home, from their parents or
their mom or their dad or theirstep parents.
They came from an environmentwhere a conventional job career
path was fine at nine to fiveMonday to Friday, nine to five,
work there for 30 years and geta pension.
You don't hear about thatanymore, right?
Pete Newsome (04:01):
So I'm glad we're talking about this now.
But you know, a lot of that oldway of thinking hasn't really
kept up with all the changesthat that uh have have taken
place, certainly not with the,the digital age that we live in
now.
That's evolving rapidly, withAI changing the world day to day
, week to week right now, at apace that we've never seen
(04:21):
before, and that traditional wayof thinking starts to seem
really dated, and you know thisfrom so many discussions we've
had.
There's no worse words to sayto a young person, in my opinion
, is you know, get a job right,make a choice, get a degree so
you can get a job.
I mean, that to me, is justdemoralizing for a young person
(04:41):
to hear and you don't have tothink that way anymore, and
that's, that's what is, um, I'mI'm envious of of young people
right now as a result of that,or anyone in a position to take
a different path, do somethingentirely differently, because
there's so many great optionsand you can do it from anywhere
in the world a lot of them today.
Ricky Baez (05:01):
It's funny you say that you're seeing your envious.
Um, I'm not, I'm, I'm.
I'm happy where I'm at from amental perspective.
Here's why I I've experiencedthe previous conventional career
path and I'm experiencing thenew, unconventional one, so I
have experience to compare it tothe newer generation coming
(05:22):
into the workforce right now.
They have nothing to compare itto other than hearing two, two
old folks on the internet boxtalking about it.
Right, good point.
Pete Newsome (05:32):
Well, and and to and to that point, we know that
while working remotely, workingfrom home, working from anywhere
in the world, has so muchbenefit, there's also some
downside to that.
You don't get the exposure toexperience, seeing your people.
Uh, if you're young in yourcareer and so as much of a fan
of it as I am and I am all in onworking remotely and make no
(05:54):
mistake about that we have toacknowledge that there are some
downsides to it, and that, to me, is the biggest one.
You don't really get thebenefit of people who have more
experience.
So, like you just said, youknow what it's like to work in a
traditional office setting.
I know what that's like to gothe corporate route, and that's
great for a lot of people.
(06:14):
I mean, let's, let's, let's behonest.
We're going to talk about the,the benefit of choosing a noncon
, an unconventional career path,but one of the things that I
know from being in staffing forso long, and you know too, as an
HR professional, not everyonehas a self-discipline to do that
.
Not everyone, um, enjoys beingautonomous and on their own and
(06:39):
remote.
A lot of people need structureand that's okay.
But you have.
But if you don't have thatoption.
If you haven't experienced both, it's really hard to know which
side of that fence you fall on,I think.
Ricky Baez (06:50):
Yeah, I think so too .
And and look, and it's, it'sall about the evolving, the
evolving workforce, right?
Because that's that's.
That's one of the things thatmaybe people who are baby
boomers or Gen Xers right Likeus, that they they find the
hardest to be flexible with iswhat we're seeing right now as
(07:10):
far as what is the current stateof the workforce.
It's nothing like what we sawgrowing up, right?
So it's up to us, as Gen Xers,to be flexible and understanding
for the new folks that arecoming in that again, have
nothing to compare it to.
So that's what I think.
I think puttingmulti-generational, putting a
team together that comes fromdifferent generations, is the
(07:33):
best thing you could possibly dofor your team, because you get
different points of view,especially with what we're going
to talk about right now,because people coming into the
workforce do have thatunconventional thought process
because of how technology haschanged.
So I'm excited to go throughthis list.
Pete Newsome (07:47):
So I just happened to have lunch.
Let's start talking about someof these professions and careers
you can choose now.
I was at lunch yesterday withsomeone who was a career
guidance professional at thecollege level and we had a great
conversation about all thesedifferent options and she told
me that her neighbor across thestreet just bought.
(08:07):
There was a green Ferrari inthe driveway of her neighbor.
She went over assuming that itwas the people who own the house
, their neighbors.
Nope, it was their teenage sonwho had the Ferrari he has.
I think it's TikTok that he'smaking a considerable amount of
(08:28):
money on and that's his car hebought.
So social media influencer thatis a job that, needless to say,
didn't exist when we were comingup, and we know that when young
people tell their parents, hey,I want to be a professional
gamer, I want to be a socialmedia influencer, more often
(08:48):
than not that's not going to bemet very well, but you can't
deny the results and you can'tdeny the income that's out there
.
I mean, this is very real forthe right people.
Now, I think for so many jobslike this, you have to point out
that you don't just fall intoit.
Right, it's not about gettinglucky or just deciding you want
(09:11):
to do it and assume success isgoing to happen.
You know I'm a big fan of MrBeast, and the reason why I like
him so much is he is.
It quickly tells the story ofall the work over a long period
of time that he put in tobecoming the expert that he is
today.
And he said you know hismessage.
I'm paraphrasing, but Iinterpreted it as hey, if you
(09:32):
want to put in 10 years, 24hours a day, then you could
probably have success too.
But you have to be willing toclimb that mountain, and so it's
not a quick, quick win, but thepotential is certainly there.
Ricky Baez (09:45):
So I think I think the big difference with with its
employers and employees andcareer paths 40 years ago and
now is, I think, it's thepassion for it right.
So back then the goal was getthe career, get that job.
The goal now is, whateveryou're passionate about,
document it.
Whatever you're passionateabout, throw it out.
(10:06):
I mean, that's how you, that'show Mr Beast became to where he
is.
I mean, he is the number onetop rated YouTuber right now and
he's not even 30.
He's making millions of lovefor that Amazing right.
I'm pretty sure when he firststarted it he didn't have the
idea of I'm going to make moneyoff it.
I think when he first startedhe's like this is what I love to
(10:27):
do and it turned into anenterprise.
I think that's the key because,people, if you're trying to
find an audience, the biggestmistake you can do and I know
we're, we're, we're making aleft here the biggest mistake
you can do is trying to findsomething that would appease the
audience.
The audience doesn't respond tothat.
I think if you are focused onwhat you're passionate about and
(10:50):
you documented, the rightaudience is going to find you.
Pete Newsome (10:54):
Well, he, like you , said he was interested.
He taught himself how to begood at it.
I don't know that he wouldclaim he was a natural and it
because he talked so much aboutthe hours and hours and hours
over years that he put in.
I mean, he was obsessed withwith figuring out how to make
the best videos he could, andthen success followed right.
(11:15):
So I think that is an importantthing to acknowledge.
And then he wasn't worriedabout money, which I love that
part of his story and stillisn't Right, I mean.
But we also know that incomematters.
You can't ignore that either.
So when we look at some ofthese unconventional careers
(11:35):
travel, blogger well, okay, youknow I don't.
I don't have enough insight tosay that's something you can
just choose to become, but youhave to, you have to know what
you're getting into with that.
So I would do, I would do a lotof research before you declare
this is what I'm going to dowith my life.
Right, you have to have a basisfor, for starting out.
Ricky Baez (12:00):
So I, I think I'm the opposite end of that,
because, again, it has to bewhat you're passionate about,
right, and that authenticity isgoing to come across.
I got to tell you look, I'm 46.
You know what?
I go to sleep watching YouTubevideos of people who blog on
their travel experiences, andthat's how my wife and I come up
(12:21):
with where we're going to go to, because we've we've watched
all these videos.
So I get that piece.
But you know what?
You skipped over one that'sreally interesting to me
professional gamer.
I know you, you, you, youmentioned it.
That's a big thing.
Today, these gamers are makingmillions.
And I remember when I was inmiddle school, right?
No, elementary school, whenNintendo was big back in the 80s
(12:43):
, right, and my teacher wouldsay don't pay attention to those
things.
You're never going to makemoney that way.
She was wrong again.
She was wrong about that.
She was wrong about thecalculator in my pocket, right?
So there's a lot of things that30 years ago were seen as a
dead and lazy type ofenvironment, and today people
(13:04):
are making millions.
So what can we learn from that?
Pete Newsome (13:07):
That's what's so great, is that you, you, you can
.
You can really apply your likeyou said earlier your true
passion and turn it in to make aliving off of.
So you don't even have to lookback 30 years ago, right, Look
back a year ago, hey, when AIlook, look on LinkedIn now and
you see a feed.
Or on on on X, where we are now, you see a feed of nonstop
(13:27):
people talking about how they'remaking money in AI.
New jobs, new, new companies arepopping up every single day in
that space with things doingthings that you couldn't
possibly do a year ago, twoyears ago.
So the world's evolving rapidlyand career options are evolving
with it, which obviously we'rea big fan of.
(13:49):
There's some more traditionaljobs, though, that I think
people are really embracing nowand doing in a unique way and
charting their own course withthings like becoming a chef
right, A professional chef thosehave always existed, obviously,
but people who don't do that ina different way, personal chefs
(14:13):
there's so many shippingoptions now with food, you don't
even have to be in the samelocation.
So the world continues toevolve rapidly.
Ricky Baez (14:23):
You know who's hiring personal chef, people who
make you big as a professionalgamer, social media influencer,
travel blogger.
That's right, that's right.
They help each other.
Pete Newsome (14:35):
Well, but then there's things for young people
too, who don't even need a lotof experience, like becoming a
deckhand on a yacht.
Right, there's a super yacht.
Probably the same people whojust referenced that are the
professional bloggers who canafford it.
Being a photographer no oneneeds to go to school to do that
(14:57):
, right, but you have to havethe passion, you have to put in
the work and time and you canmake.
There's a guy who went to schoolwith my oldest child, who is in
her early 20s now, and this guyis out, lives somewhere in
Montana or Wyoming and he's aphotographer and I have no idea
(15:19):
what his income level is as aresult, but the pictures he
takes are amazing and they'republished.
He's got a huge following onsocial media because he pursued
his passion, and I know thathe's making a living just doing
that.
I mean, what a cool thing,right, that you can post your
pictures without having toanyone to do it for you, and
(15:41):
that's one of the things thatsocial media has allowed is you
don't have to get a publisher,you publish on your own account,
that's right.
On your own name.
There's no middleman anymore.
So all of these options are.
I think they're phenomenal.
Ricky Baez (15:54):
So what else do?
We got it's, I see.
What about a personal shopper?
That never existed?
Well, is that new?
Pete Newsome (16:01):
I don't know anything about that one.
I mean either I understand theconcept, but I would like that
you know just.
I mean, I have teenagers, so Iconsider them my personal
shoppers.
Ricky Baez (16:13):
Well, I think we have that now, right, I mean
down here in Florida, right whenyou and I are, we have Publix,
right.
Publix partner with Instacart,right, and that and I'll tell
you what that was that big, thatmade it big during the pandemic
right, they're in the pandemic.
That made that service justthat much more reliable and
sometimes not only the workenvironment but you're the world
(16:37):
can actually help you create ajob that could be unconventional
, because the other thing wehave right now Pete right,
shared driver like Lyft or UberI mean, I could say that never
existed before, but we've hadcabs forever right, robert
DeNiro did a great job in taxidriver right, so, but what, what
, a, what a, what a differentway to go about it.
Pete Newsome (16:57):
Yeah, choosing your own hours, being your, your
own boss.
You know you're not accountableto anyone but yourself.
And you know I love every timeI take, you know, uber.
That's my, that's my vendor ofchoice, if you will, when I need
a ride.
Each conversation in each storyis so unique, right?
So I mean people who will giverides just to and from their job
(17:21):
because they have a chance tomake extra income that way.
Others who've decided to leaveyou know, traditional employment
to do it because they want thefreedom that goes along with it.
So I'm a big fan of that too,and it's a better experience for
the user, right, that's thebest thing of all.
I mean, I don't know anyone whosays, boy, I wish I could still
(17:42):
take a cab, or had to take acab.
Right, nobody was a person.
That person exists.
I'd love to hear from them.
I haven't met them yet.
Ricky Baez (17:47):
I don't know.
I don't know if I shared thiswith you when I used to work in
Lake Mary, and for those of youwho don't know Lake Mary, it's
about an hour away from theairport.
I live by the airport right now, and when I used to work there,
I knew a guy who lived in myarea, who also worked in Lake
Mary.
Whenever he finishes his dayjob, his conventional job, on
his way home, he was an Uberdriver.
So he would spend three hourson his way home to just, you
(18:11):
know, just pick up a couple ofextra shifts as an Uber driver,
and that's how he paid for hispool, right?
And then some people do that.
Actually, it's quit their joband being Uber driver full time
and they're in charge.
This is important for recruitersto know.
This is important for people toknow because right now, if if
(18:31):
you're recruited listeningbecause I know this is a zen gig
, but if you're recruitedlistening right now You'd not
only have to worry about anotheremployer offering similar or
better benefits than you.
You're now a running up againstpeople's independence, and the
more people realize thatopportunity is out there, is
harder for the recruiter to beable to to.
(18:55):
I don't want to say justify it,but To challenge it, to say,
hey, come with us, it's.
I mean, come on, you can't payme enough money Against my
independence.
I mean, unless I was.
Pete Newsome (19:06):
Independence and freedom.
That stands in contrast to whathas evolved over the years and
do what I usually refer to asdependency employers dependent
on their employees to Did theyhave to?
You know, they control and anddirect in a very, you know,
(19:26):
intense way at times.
And same thing for employeeswho have been Become dependent
on employers.
To I'll say take care of them,for a lack of a better way to
put it, versus the growingfreelance market.
That is about freedom in yourcareer.
It is about a choice and notrelying on an employer to take
(19:48):
care of you.
And and you know this that I amsuch a big fan of the freelance
market because I think therelationships are so much
healthier, yeah, between theperson doing the work, trading
their time and skill for income,and the person on the other
side of that, or the group onthe other side of that, who's
paying for that skill.
I'm a huge fan of the freelancemarket, needless to say, me too
(20:12):
and all of these jobs Reallyfall in line with that right
independence, freedom in yourcareer.
So let's talk just for a minuteabout what's driving it.
Okay, the biggest one'stechnology, right?
I mean technology has enabledall of these things to happen,
as we always have to Go back to,as we talked about a few
minutes ago, ai.
Things that didn't exist even ayear ago Now seem commonplace,
(20:36):
almost so long list of careeropportunities associated with
that.
What other factors you thinkhave driven us over the past two
years?
Ricky Baez (20:45):
I mean.
So technology is definitely oneof them.
In in, I think, going furtherin technology right, it's giving
people the opportunity to beseen.
Now, remember, attention iscurrency and you you've heard me
say this in the past that I nowthis is my personal belief that
this country Favors attentionover intellect.
(21:06):
Right it's?
I've always said that right.
And if you're able to put Stuffout there and people are
willing to see and andadvertisers are willing to pay
for, then you found that perfectformula.
So I think it's the opportunityto put yourself out there more
or more people to consume whatyou are talking about, consume
(21:29):
what you're passionate about.
That is what's fueling thismore and more and more.
And it started With my spaceabout 15, 16 year.
It did, it did.
My space was the first officialSocial media.
I think that's what started thewhole social media craze.
Now you can, you can, you canargue that it started way before
.
Then.
(21:49):
It could have started withAmerica online, aol you've got
mail right.
Pete Newsome (21:55):
Yeah, a lot of that, you know certainly.
Look, it's led to where we arenow.
Yeah right, and so I think,technology, economic freedom, as
we talked about, and a chanceto make, you know, more money
with a lot of these people.
So there's a there's.
I think there's kind of twodifferent paths.
There's the one to haveWork-life balance and freedom
(22:17):
you have your time back to useas you choose.
And then others go down these,not on unconventional routes,
for the opportunity to make aliving and income that they
wouldn't have in a traditionalrole.
Ricky Baez (22:30):
Let me ask you this, pete, and I'm just gonna throw
this out there.
Let's say somebody's listeningor watching right now and
they're our age right, andthey're like man.
I spent so much time and efforton a college degree.
I spent so much time and efforton building my career for over
20 years, only to be making onefourth of what a 16 year old
(22:54):
with a green Ferrari Canaccomplish with social media.
What do you say to those folks?
Pete Newsome (22:59):
I Say it's never too late, right?
Don't don't be envious.
Make it, make that change.
The 16 year old Was just payingattention.
Yeah, and I think that's such aImportant thing to hold on to
as you get older.
I'm surprised pretty regularlywhen I have conversations with
friends about my age who I'venever even used chat, apt.
(23:24):
Yeah, you're gonna behard-pressed to find a 16 year
old who hasn't right.
Why?
Because they're payingattention.
I mean, that's that's, that'sreally it.
And so, if you think about it,that that person you'd subscribe
to is well into their careerand Went to college and is doing
whatever they're doing now.
They've gained a lot ofknowledge and experience along
(23:44):
the way.
That a 16 year old doesn't haveme, that's just reality.
But 16 year old is payingattention to what's relevant now
.
That's a really good footage.
So why people stop doing that?
I don't know.
I mean I, even.
I mean I'll tell you it's hardto keep up, right?
I mean it is.
I mean my, you know my teenage,yo, yo, kids, will you know?
(24:04):
Tell me that new things all thetime, every every week, that
that I'm surprised.
You know things that exist.
I'm trying to think of a goodexample.
Top my head.
Nothing's coming to me, but Ican't keep up and I'm trying to
pay attention.
I'm working to do that, so itis hard I could.
Ricky Baez (24:22):
I think I have an answer to that.
I think because it's I wentthrough that.
I went through that because I,I went through such a long time
to build up my career and tobuild up in it, to be
knowledgeable in my field, thatI don't want to see anything
that would combat that to saythat I wasted my time, right.
I don't know if that makessense or not, because I, I think
(24:44):
what a lot of gen Xers and babyboomers are holding on to is
it's what I went through has tomake sense and for some reason
it's not and they hold on to it,right.
I think flexibility and behaving an open mind in
Understanding is key, andexactly what you said, pete is
never too late is.
(25:04):
I saw the other day it's MarthaStewart.
I didn't know this.
Did you know Martha Stewartstarted her company at 50?
I didn't.
I know I didn't know that, butit didn't know.
That blew my mind.
I'm like, really, I think youwent to jail at 50.
I don't know you started yourcompany at 50, but okay, fine,
it's never too late.
It really is never too late.
So for those of you out therelistening like god, my career is
(25:25):
over.
It's not.
You have all the tools in frontof you and even if you're
afraid to use those tools isokay.
Right, because there's acollege out there, a free
college out there, calledYouTube.
Right, if you go on YouTube,you're gonna learn a lot of
things on how to do all thesethings.
You just got to invest the timeand effort into it.
Pete Newsome (25:45):
So there's another side of this coin.
We have to acknowledge that younot every profession.
If you want to be a medicaldoctor, you still have to go
down a traditional path, andthere's a reason for that.
There's, there's benefit tothat.
So but?
But I think the main thing isto really we used to be pretty
dismissive of the word passionas it ties to a career, because
(26:08):
you have to.
There's a lot of passionate,starving artists.
We know that right.
So it's not just about what youwant to do, you have to be good
at it, you have to have aptitudefor it.
That's a huge component.
And then the world has to valueit right and what you can do.
So there has to be anopportunity to to make income,
(26:29):
and the goal is to combine allthese things together.
So the downside has to beacknowledged.
If you go down a path, let'ssay let's just use the one that
we started with, right, you wantto be an influencer?
Okay, there's financialinstability that you have to
consider right there.
It's not a given that you aregoing to, you know, be rewarded
(26:49):
for that right.
I mean, you have to be good atyou have to have a Something
unique about yourself, you haveto have a reason that people
would want to be interested inyou.
So yeah, it's.
It's not a given right.
Ricky Baez (27:01):
No, it's not it but it.
You have to have that riskfactor, you have to be it's.
It is risky, right, because thebiggest thing people are afraid
of when they want to forexample, launching its social
media campaign or a YouTubechannel Is what if people don't
like it right and they don't tryit right?
How do you know that I like it?
Until somebody says, hey, yousuck, well I mean, yeah, there
(27:25):
is that.
Pete Newsome (27:26):
Hopefully you can figure that out quickly.
Yeah, the another thing is isBenefits, health care benefits
in particular?
You have to account for those.
So in America we've tiedemployment, traditional
employment to health care.
You know my feelings on that.
Well, that's a differentepisode, but Regardless, that is
the situation.
(27:46):
So you have to account for thethings that you will lose if you
get sick.
What will happen if you, whenyou take time off, you're not
getting compensated?
Ricky Baez (27:55):
young people.
Don't, don't, don't think about.
Pete Newsome (27:57):
Well, and they don't be a truth be told, they
don't have to as much, right,but you do want to look ahead
and then and that's a challengethe younger you are, the harder
to see in the future.
But that's a reality of thesituation and it just needs to
be considered if you're choosingan unconventional path to go
down.
So it's not about what's betteror worse, it's just about are
(28:18):
you looking at it holisticallyand and considering the pros and
cons that exist and then andthen choose accordingly, right?
Ricky Baez (28:25):
I want to get to the point in time it could be 50
years down the road, a hundredyears down the road, even 300
years down the road when peopleare looking back at our Monday
to Friday 9 to 5 and look atthat whole idea as archaic.
Right, I mean that's, I'm notlooking towards that Are we, I
think it's happening now.
I really now that the world gotsmaller, because again, it's all
(28:48):
about the internet andtechnology.
Now that the world got smallerbefore the internet, it was
almost impossible to have aco-worker across the world.
Right right now I can have a go, I can finish my job here at 5
pm and have somebody across theworld pick a right where I left
off at their 8 am and we canhave a continual 24-hour service
(29:12):
provided and I'm able tocommunicate with them, even if I
can't.
I think iPhone just came outwith the new iOS update that
it's a button push real-timetranslation.
If you don't know English andI'm and you speak Japanese, I
could talk on my phone.
It would let the person knowwhat and we can have a phone
conversation with translator.
(29:33):
This is where we live right now.
That's how technology isshaping the future of the
workplace.
Pete Newsome (29:40):
Yeah, and just that simple change you can.
You can see so many things thatcan transpire as a result of
that.
Right, I mean huge difference.
And I put a post up on LinkedIna couple days ago and Within 24
hours are people from multiplecountries commenting on it,
which I find is fascinating,right, I mean it's.
And Back to the freelance Wayof working.
(30:04):
It just leads, lends to thatvery, very well, where you don't
have to be local anymore.
We already know that, right,you don't even have to be in the
same, in the same city, stateor country anymore, and, and
that everyone wins as a resultof that right except for except
for, maybe, the government'sinvolved, right, who like to
collect taxes.
But Okay, everyone, everyonethat matters wins and and, and
(30:31):
that's a really important thing.
Another downside, though I dowant to acknowledge quickly is
is isolation.
That can happen and that issomething I worry about again
with young people who have, whomay live alone, who may not have
had the time and opportunity tobuild their own professional
network, let alone personalRight, because we know,
(30:52):
historically, a lot of yourpersonal Relationships are
formed through your profession.
So if you're not going to theoffice, if you're not out
meeting people, if you have ajob and there's so many of them
right now where you don't haveto leave the house, I am
concerned as a father, assomeone who cares very much
about the evolution of youngpeople who are critical for our
(31:16):
future.
I worry about that.
Do you think that's a realconcern?
Ricky Baez (31:22):
I think it is a concern, but I also think that
it's a matter of knowing whattechnology is out there to
mitigate that.
Because there is technology outthere to mitigate that.
It's all on how you structureyour workday, whereas who?
I feel bad for, pete.
I feel bad for people who arethe opposite of us.
You're an extrovert, I'm anextrovert.
This is so difficult.
(31:43):
Going out there and puttingyourself out there is very
difficult for somebody who's anintrovert.
Now, back to the pandemic.
That, really what you just said, really came to the top.
As far as people who don't haveexperience, people who do need
to have other human contact.
How do you mitigate that?
How do you bring that together?
(32:04):
Look, we're in a point rightnow, pete, where I don't know.
Have you seen those Oculus 3glasses?
Have you seen those things?
Yeah, those things.
Look, for those of you whodon't know, google Oculus is by
Metta.
You put those things on.
You can have a meeting withsomebody across the world across
the globe, because it's a globe, it's not flat on another show,
(32:25):
right?
And you can have a conversationas if you're right there in
front of the person having tea.
As time goes on, thattechnology is going to evolve
even more, and that's why I'mnot worried about those folks,
because I know where thetechnology is right now and
where it's heading.
We just have to know how totake advantage of it.
Pete Newsome (32:46):
Well, people still need to get together, Ricky,
For the future of our species.
They need to get togetherphysically.
So virtual is great, I'm a fan,but you need balance right
Balance.
Ricky Baez (33:03):
So all I'm thinking about is procreation via
Instacart, don't think aboutthat, all right.
Pete Newsome (33:08):
So let's wrap this up just with a couple of tips
for anyone who is considering anunconventional career path.
The first one is financialplanning.
Consider your income, how it'sgoing to happen, what the
downside is, what the risk is.
Everyone sees the upside.
That's easy.
We see all the success, butunderstand that you might need
(33:33):
to consider how you're actuallygoing to pay your bills, how
you're going to buy food and payyour rent.
So financial planning is a bigcomponent of going out on your
own down an unconventional path.
Ricky Baez (33:47):
Networking, networking.
So, yes, financial planningright, but you still need to
build a support system eitherway.
So you have to join thesecommunities.
You have to attend theseconferences, whether it's in
person or virtual.
Right, you have to find outwhat's comfortable for you.
But you cannot not do thatright, because you are going to
(34:08):
need somebody's help and younever know.
That's also marketing.
Networking equals marketing.
Marketing equals networking.
I just made that up.
I'm going to make a t-shirt.
I'm going to put a t-shirt.
It does Connect those dots,yeah, so yeah, because it does
right.
You're not able to actually besuccessful out there unless
people don't know what you haveto offer, right?
(34:30):
So networking is the best thingto do, and this is something
that I had is near and dear tomy heart.
Pete, some of the tips ontransitioning to an
unconventional career path.
If this is something you got todo, you can never, ever stop
learning right?
Don't ever get to a point inyour career when you're like
I've made it right, I knoweverything I need to know.
(34:51):
Because whatever knowledge youdo have, it's going to be
outdated.
The way things are going rightnow, it's going to be outdated.
Two years ago, the only AI wehad was Siri Mine's going to go
off here in a bit, right orGoogle, or now you've got things
that have conversations withyou, right, and who knows, later
(35:14):
on they might be a companion topeople who don't like to go out
, right?
And then that's a whole othershow.
Pete Newsome (35:19):
But I think that is a whole other show.
What was learning as key?
Continuous learning.
You have to evolve.
I think that's also part of thebenefit of networking.
You have to learn from others.
Don't stay isolated, don't stayon an island, so to speak.
You're not going to improve andevolve that way.
So networking is necessary.
It's not even a there's nooption there, that's for sure.
(35:42):
So, and then your onlinepresence and branding.
You just have to consider allof it.
You mentioned marketing.
Networking is marketing.
So is how available andaccessible you are online, how
you present yourself online.
You have to figure that out andunfortunately, there's no
guidebook for that right,because all of these things are
(36:04):
new.
There's a lot of experts whowill tell you how to gain
followers on every socialchannel, from TikTok to
Instagram to Facebook, but Idon't think it's that simple.
If there's a formula thatactually works, I'm unaware of
it I think the cream rises tothe top.
So if you have talent, if youhave something that you're
(36:26):
offering to the world that'sunique and that people want, you
will be found.
But you have to be conscious ofit too, right?
You can't just go sing in thewoods and expect to be found
that way.
Ricky Baez (36:40):
Okay, that was really specific.
Do you sing in the woods one?
Pete Newsome (36:42):
time.
I mean, I sing in the showersame thing but no one would want
to find me there, and if theydid, I don't think they're
paying.
But you have to be conscious ofthat.
I think that's something that alot of people will struggle
with.
Naturally, right, you mentionedit earlier.
Not everyone's an extrovert.
(37:03):
You have to be willing tomarket yourself and I know
that's uncomfortable for somefolks.
Ricky Baez (37:10):
I think I got the formula though I think the
formula is, I think I could bewrong.
Let's let everybody else decide.
I think the formula is whateveryou're passionate about plus
people willing to consume itequals success, right?
That's the only way that'sgoing to work.
If you're passionate aboutsomething, nobody cares you're
(37:32):
not going to be successful,right.
If people want to see somethingbut you're not passionate about
it, nobody's going to wantsomebody who's lollygagging
through something, right?
Both of those things have to bepresent in order for the
success to be the algo.
So I think that is the answer.
I think if you love egg rollsand you want to cook egg rolls
(37:57):
25 different ways, you're goingto find some people like me who
are going to watch that channel,right?
So now I'm going to start aYouTube channel on egg rolls.
Pete Newsome (38:06):
Right, we'll look forward to that one, but I think
we've covered all the bases,ricky, for the most part.
So unconventional career paths,more opportunities today than
ever in history, changingrapidly.
There is some downside, youhave to be aware of it, but
generally speaking, I think Ican speak for both of us and say
(38:26):
we love it.
We love what the future holdsand what exists in the present
as well.
So if you have talent, if youhave the desire and the passion,
go make it happen.
Throw it out there, go make ithappen.
Ricky Baez (38:40):
That's the only way you'll know if it is or it's not
going to work.
That's the only proof ofconcept.
That's it, all right.
Pete Newsome (38:46):
So look forward to hearing from you.
Questions@zengig.
com.
We'd love to hear from you Ifyou have thoughts or ideas on
things you'd like to hear oncareer advice content.
Let us know, we'll make thathappen, ricky.
Thanks and goodbye for now.
Have a good one.
Merry Christmas everyone.
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.