Your Career 2.0 Launchpad Episode 107 with Jim Doliber and Brian Stranko

In this episode, wildlife conservationist Brian Stranko explains how he shifted careers paths while still trying to help the environment. Career coach Jim Doliber describes the process and helping guide Brian along.

From the article https://jdoliber.esourcecoach.com/wildlife-conservationist-pursues-wild-new-opportunity/ on The Entrepreneur's Source Blog https://entrepreneurssource.com/podca...

From the article:

Career ownership coaching from The Entrepreneur’s Source® gave Brian Stranko the tools he needs to achieve financial freedom and pursue his passion for preserving wildlife in Africa.

Stranko dedicated his career to helping the planet as a conservation leader. Most recently, he served as a strategy and fundraising consultant for nonprofits in Africa as they struggled to secure funding during the pandemic. He also spent 11 years working for The Nature Conservancy as the director of the nonprofit’s water program in California.

Inspired by the decline in wildlife tourism during the pandemic, Stranko started a new nonprofit in July 2021 to fuel conservation efforts. Rather than rely on tourism funding, Afri-Vet hosts online veterinary and wildlife care education programs created by African wildlife sanctuary staff. The videos are designed to help grow sanctuary resources and provide scholarships for limited-income Africans. Afri-Vet’s mission is to raise awareness for wildlife veterinary medicine and care to promote conservation.

Having spent his career in the nonprofit industry, Stranko knew he needed to secure a steady income stream to be able to achieve his goals and support his family. Jim Doliber, a Career Ownership Coach™ for The Entrepreneur’s Source®, helped Stranko discover a new path to achieve the American dream. “I wanted to be able to have some sort of Plan B,” Stranko said. “Jim [Doliber] totally understood my need to maintain my work with my nonprofit and find a business that fit.”

Doliber began his coaching career with TES in 2019 after spending more than 25 years working corporate jobs in product and real estate management and franchising. His past experience in franchising helped him recognize the importance of helping entrepreneurs discover a Career 2.0® that achieves their goals.

TES coaches help people open their minds to new possibilities. The nation’s leading career coaching franchise uses an education-based program to help people identify their Income, Lifestyle, Wealth and Equity™ goals to achieve financial freedom and self-sufficiency. “I’ve had to know myself before, but it has been a while. It was nice to revisit it and understand how I operate, determine my interests, and my likes and dislikes,” Stranko said.

In addition to achieving financial freedom, Stranko envisioned a future where he could continue his role as Afri-Vet’s executive director. He also needed his new career path to offer flexibility and further his conservation vision. In addition to his career as a conservationist, Stranko has three daughters who keep him on his toes. To stay grounded, his family likes to spend time together traveling. While current events forced them to put travel plans on hold, the family fondly remembers their last vacation where they relaxed and watched the wildlife at an eco-lodge in Playa del Carmen in Mexico.

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Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:03):
Welcome to your career 2.0 Launchpad presented by the
entrepreneur source, my name isMike toper. And it feels like
it's been a matter of timebefore I get these guys here to
join me. I'll introduce them.
We've got Jim and Brian. Andwe'll start with Jim, just give
us an introduction of yourself.
Good morning. Thanks, Mike. Jimdolliver with the entrepreneurs

(00:24):
tours, I'm a career transitioncoach for the entrepreneur
source and just happy to behere, especially with you,
Brian. He's, he's a neighbor,almost a neighbor. We sit at
opposite sides of a mountain inthe San Francisco Bay area. So
if if I had the ability to be adrone, or jump on a drone, I

(00:47):
could probably Brian's house andminutes. But it is a 4000 foot
hill slash mountain depending onwhere are audiences listening
and viewing us. But someday,Hey, Brian, I love to climb
mountains. As you know, I climbmountains all the time. I have
no excuse. I should climb overthe mountain and come and visit
you. So anyway, JD you alreadyknow ain't no mountain high.

(01:15):
This is gonna be the commonthread throughout this video
podcast is Mike singing to us.
Thanks. Thanks. Thanks forhaving us.
We got the coffee going. Brian,could you tell us a little bit
about yourself here?
Sure. I'm Brian stratco. And I'ma client of the entrepreneurs
source. And I am now a proudowner of a no H two O franchise.

(01:42):
As Jim said, I also live in theBay Area near this really great
mountain. And what I really loveto fly fish. And so that's how I
get out into the world and seethings I probably wouldn't see
otherwise.
Excellent. And Brian, let'sstart with you. First of all,

(02:03):
can you just tell us a littlebit about your work history?
Before tea? Yes,sure. Yeah. I I'm a longtime
wildlife conservation person aswell as a water conservation
person. So I've been in thenonprofit space for over 20
years. Most recently, I workedat The Nature Conservancy, and

(02:25):
was the Water Program Directorfor California. And then prior
to that, I worked at Californiatrout, which does help the
waters of California too. But ofcourse, it's related to fly
fishing, which is another reasonI was there. And prior to that I
have a history and in working inin Africa.

(02:50):
Yeah. And speaking and that'sthe transition there. Obviously,
with water, you know, in yourcareer, when did you come to the
point where you felt like youneeded to change? Or I should
ask what inspired you to looktowards a new venture and to
reach into something different?
Well, it was a couple of things.
I think, first of all, I, duringCOVID, I was home a lot, and I'm

(03:13):
sure this is the case with a lotof people home a lot. Seeing my
kids, I have three wonderfuldaughters, beautiful wife, two
dogs. And I lived in a greatplace. And I was able to spend a
lot of time with them. And forme, that was really important.

(03:35):
And prior to that I wascommuting an hour and a half
each way, almost every day. Andwhile I love the work that the
Nature Conservancy does, it wasit was time for me to think
about some something else to bemore with my family. And then
the second reason I would sayis, is because the work in

(03:57):
water, especially in California,and places as dry as California
can be really taxing. It's hardto make any headway. It's very
politically fraught. And Iwanted to try something new that
would help me feel like I wasmaking a difference on a more

(04:21):
frequent basis.
Excellent. Yeah. I certainlyyour background that you
described has been rich in inmaking a difference and, and
let's move over to JD, ourcoach. Now. How did you meet
Brian? And what were theconversations like with him when
he came and said, You know, I'mlooking to try something new

(04:42):
here.
Right, right. Well, Brian, Briancame to me. You know, we really
kind of found him through aLinkedIn sourcing messaging. And
you know, he was one of theseindividuals that you don't get
very often as a coach, but itjust the way he respond 100 was
sure, yeah, let's let's gettogether. And you know,

(05:04):
sometimes at this beginningpoint, there's there's some
questions, there's somehesitancy. But Brian wasn't that
way. Well, suffice to say thatthe next few months of
conversations were just similar,very, very accommodating, very
friendly. Brands, just one ofthese guys that almost

(05:25):
immediately go, I can hang outwith this guy. Now, there were
some real commonalities. Wetalked a lot about church and
our involvement in our church,we come from the East Coast. So
we kind of have that, you know,East, coming all the way west.
And now we're in California,we've been in California long
time. We have that connection tothe east coast. But we love it

(05:49):
out here in the West. And therewas just something about
everything. You know, he talkeda lot about his family, I talk
about my family, which isn'ttypical of a coach, it's more
about you, not about me. And Icould, I could feel this
commonality we talked about hisBachi games on, you know, the
week and, and it was just fun.
And, and then of course, as Isaid, he's relatively close to

(06:12):
me in geographically. So wecould talk a lot about the world
around the San Francisco BayArea, and the outdoors, as you
know, we're both outdoorsy inour, in our heart and soul, fly
fishing, I tell you what, ittakes high intelligence and
patience to be a fly fisherman.

(06:35):
I don't have high intelligence,and I have no patience. So it's
kind of kind of odd how weconnected but somehow we did. So
anyway.
And you can you talked a littlebit about just going off along
that How important was thatrelationship? Because you guys,
for those listening? Can Can youdescribe that a little bit you
guys kind of develop thisrelationship, like you said,

(06:55):
where you felt like youconnected? You know, how
important was that and, andtrying to explore something
different?
Well, go ahead, Brian, because Istarted started into it, but
maybe from your side.
Yeah. As JD said, we connectedon LinkedIn. And I was kind of
looking to see if there weresome things out there. I had

(07:18):
recently started a smallnonprofit, and I knew that
wasn't going to make enoughmoney for our family. And I was
still looking for something.
And, you know, once we talkedthe first time, it was it was
like, we were kind of oldbuddies or something. We were
able to just get along from thestart. And, and I gotta say, JD

(07:44):
has been was really open to justbeing patient. And to making
sure that my needs were beingmet. And honestly, this this
came from I knew it was comingfrom the heart. I knew I could
tell that he was doing thisbecause he cared about people.

(08:09):
And then because we got along sowell. That he actually had my
interests in mind.
Yeah, that's fantastic. And andfor you JD What was it like?
Mentoring Brian you mentionedyou know, he's a he's a go
getter you know, right. He knewa lot about what he wanted to

(08:32):
tackle something What was itlike mentoring him?
Yeah, um, you know, I sent thisto some of my fellow coaches we
were talking a little before wegot on live and we get together
some of us get together andcollaborate together as coaches
to become better coaches andvery positive very positive

(08:52):
mindset in these these weeklycalls, Zoom calls. And I was
describing this quite a fewmonths ago about Brian and the
journey and as I said, it was itwas almost too simple. It was
almost too simple. It was almostlike you know breaking bread
with them every more it youknow, there are times when I

(09:13):
look at my schedule for the nextDaniel Bryan's on it this is
great because you know we'reprogressing well of getting to
know his you know, his goals inlife and truly what what drives
him and what is his goals are upagainst lifestyle and income and
wealth and equity but it wasreally you know, waking up in
the morning all right, I gotBrian today so it wasn't as

(09:37):
though it was you know, complexin any way. It flowed well never
had this feeling like oh, boy,are we you know, are we moving
along? Because sometimes clientswill go you know if they've got
a certain we call it a DISCpersonality disc communication.

(10:00):
But But Brian was always I know,we've got things to accomplish
today and we want to beproductive. He always held to
the I get this, I know we haveto be productive every week. But
at the same time it was, let'sget to know each other. And I'm
going to really let you get toknow what drives me. He talks
about, you know, this, thisimportance of being around his

(10:22):
family and his friends. And Icould really get that as we
progress through each and everyweek. But I don't know if I was
patient, Brian. But But I am,I'm pretty patient, and I let
this journey really unfold. So Inever have a timeline. But Brian
seem to know that there is atimeline and there is a time to

(10:45):
be productive throughout eachone of these. These meetings.
Does that answer the question?
Mike? I don't know.
Yeah, Jack. Okay. No. 100%? Andfor you, Brian, you know, let's,
let's look at can you can youdescribe for us how know, h2o
is, is going for you and how youfeel that? You know, I guess

(11:06):
your overall career and your inyour work life is right now?
Well, me, first of all, I haveto say that JD, because we had
that, that immediate pour, itwas easy to feel trust, I think
both ways. And when you're in aplace where you're not sure

(11:28):
where your life's going, and youreally do want to come up with
something kind of new. And I hadnever stayed home and worked all
the time, you you really need acoach. And I think for every

(11:49):
part of the journey, and thepatients I talk about is that JT
always talked about it as anexploration. And that really
sang to me. And that's what Ineeded to do as an explorer. And
then we went we found no H twoO. And I got to talk to some of

(12:13):
the folks at Fastlane. Andthought about my water
background and nonprofitbackground. It really is one of
these opportunities to do goodwhile doing well. And it's hard
for me to see myself doing justwell. And meanwhile, I could

(12:38):
spend more time with my family,I could continue to have
camaraderie with JD, and he'llfollow this I know for a long
time. So it's going well at noage to Oh, it's it's definitely
a Scurry. It's we're it's a it'sa startup in a lot of ways here

(13:00):
in the United States. Butsomehow that matches my
personality a bit. I like tobreak through barriers and try
to find new solutions. And whatI'll say to is everybody at no
h2o in the headquarters,including Emmet, right at the
very top, they see the value inus as franchisees improve

(13:24):
helping provide ideas,solutions, move the company
forward, not just be afranchisee, and that I think, is
paid a lot of dividends. Lastthing I'll say is I I'm one of
the original few franchisees inthe United States for for no

(13:47):
h2o. And to be able to have thatground up relationship with the
company, I think is reallyhelpful for me, because we're
all kind of in this together.
And, and that it makes me feellike they got my back if I need

(14:07):
something, and I have theirs.
Yeah, that's excellent. That's,that's what makes the dream
work. Right. One last thing Iwant to ask and this is for you
JD you know, obviously, you'vebeen in this position as a
coach, but you know, what kindof advice would you have for
somebody like Brian who may beseeking a career change and, you

(14:30):
know, maybe in something withyour passion, something
completely different. Is thereany advice you would have for
somebody?
Yeah, thanks. Let me go backreal quickly, Brian, I love
that. Doing good while doingwell. I've written it down I'm
going to share it. You know,Mike, Brian, what I do in life
is a steal shamelessly fromothers. And I will always give

(14:52):
you guys the credit because Idon't I can't come up with
anything creative andinnovative, but it's Something
that I really love to do andgive you credit. So I love that
because there's so much to thatmeaning but to your to your
question Mike and I do get topoints eventually, is the fact

(15:15):
that we're most of us reallyrely on the people we love and
respect the most. But when itcomes to potential pivots in
life, especially from our careerperspective, sometimes those
people are just too close,they're, you know, they're just

(15:36):
too close to the subject matterto you as the as the as that
person. And they love you, butthey protect you. And they don't
want you to veer too far right,or left or forward or backward.
They want to keep you safe. AndI think, as as a coach, and
again, I'm surrounded by amazingcoaches and entrepreneurs

(15:58):
source, it was the great one ofthe greatest decisions of my my
life outside of marrying mywife, Liz. But it really was an
incredible decision. Because asa coach, I look at it and I say,
I can be that person with nobiasness don't know you at all,
and be able to just, you know,provide you some feedback while

(16:22):
asking you some questions aboutwhat's what's most important to
you? What's most important toyou moving forward? What are the
some of the things that youdon't, you know, don't want to
do as much if you had yourchoice if you had a magic wand?
And were able to say, what if Ihad that magic wand? You know,
what do I want to do more ofwhat I want to want to do less
of what do I want to accomplish?
As Brian just said, you know,doing good while doing well.

(16:46):
It's it's relying on somebodylike myself, to just, as Brian
said, eventually, possibly trustto me, that I'm here to just
help even if it's this much, Imean, to be honest, you know,
the majority of my clients willfind some fit a new job, the

(17:06):
startup gets going, where youdon't have to pivot to an a
business, whatever it is, butit's helping out even if it's
just a tiny bit helping out withthat, that pivot in their lives,
to find the good fit for them.

(17:29):
And that's, you know, that's mygoal, and it fits my personal
mission statement that willnever change. And I just love
helping people out. And, youknow, Brian told me to get out
of the way eventually, by theway, I'm a very conservative
person, and I make people dotheir time I make them do their
validation, and he literally didtell me, I got this. I remember

(17:54):
the word, Jim. JD I got this.
It's like, No, you don't have ityet. But he did. He did have it.
Much so much brighter than me.
So I finally had to say, I gottaquit coaching. I gotta quit. You
know, being so conservative.
He's got this.
You know what, and doesn't takea mountain to divide. You're

(18:15):
free to come together. Oh, goingonward and upward here. So
that's human, Brian. This hasbeen your career 2.0 Launchpad
presented by the entrepreneursource. My name is Mike Soper.
Hope you got something out ofthis. And JD and Brian, thank
you so much for joining us.