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June 16, 2024 • 15 mins
Dr. Ndidiamaka Obadan welcomes Dr. Chaz Austin to delve into his expertise in the gig economy. They discuss the transition from traditional employment, adapting to modern workplace dynamics, and essential strategies in branding, marketing, and relationships.
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Episode Transcript

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(00:00):
Actually.
It's
it's yes.
Definitely.
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to our podcast.
And I'm gonna start by introducing myself.
My name is Doctor.
Indadi Amaka Obaden.
Also known as Doctor Didi, I'm a mom, aphysician, entrepreneur, a speaker, a metallic

(00:21):
speaker, and now up podcaster, and I have theamazing doctor Chad Austin here.
I'm gonna let you introduce yourself, sir.
Oh, you would like me to introduce myself.
Happy to.
Yes.
I am Doctor Austin.
I hold a, an EDD from, Pepperton University inorganizational leadership.

(00:48):
My specialty is two areas.
1 is advising leaders on how to treat theirpeople and use social media to, get the word
out on their companies.
And the other is to, work with coach and trainworkers, for the gig economy.
To teach them how to, create their brand and beout there always selling it.

(01:14):
So those are the two areas I work in.
I have 3 courses on LinkedIn learning on how tofind, keep, and leave a job.
I have a TEDx Talk And I have 2 books and athird coming out.
Wow.
That's that's amazing.
Congratulation.
You have a lot.
You have a a lot of stuff that you've beenWorking on.

(01:35):
And and, so tell me tell me your story.
Like, how did you get here?
Well,
I It it was over time that I, as a collegeprofessor, which I've been doing for 20 years.
I was teaching a myriad of courses, everythingfrom a criminal, justice to, the history of

(01:59):
rock and roll.
But maybe but in 60 different courses, not justclasses, courses over time.
And and then I know that
sounds criminal.
Like, yeah, that's like, such a rock and rollto, like, what what?
Tell me more about that before you continue thestory.
I don't mind.
I have to interrupt you every day because let'sdig deeper.
Honestly not a good fit.

(02:21):
Some of the colleges and Universities I taughtat, they just try this.
Try this.
Can you teach that?
Yes.
I'll try it.
That was not a good fit, that that criminaljustice.
My main focus, though, after a while, after Igot my feet wet was, communication at business.

(02:42):
And as I was teaching more and more businesscourses, I saw a real chasm.
There was there was nothing really there totrain people after college.
What you've got a degree.
You you passed all your exams.
Now what?
And people would be just sort of left hanging.

(03:03):
So I thought that's a sweet spot, and that'swhere I can really help people.
And I started to develop over time.
And I'm I'm very grateful for the, the Dean'sand department shares that I reported to who
allowed me to workshop all this and createdcourses specifically in training people how to
market themselves and train them in the gigeconomy.

(03:26):
And that's been my specialty since, I don'tknow, 10 years.
That's how I got there.
It was overtime and just practice practicepractice until it got better and better and
better.
And behind that were the two book and then the3 LinkedIn learning courses and a a lot of
things I've contributed to.
I've considered some of the somewhat of aspecialist in the gig economy and how to work

(03:51):
with people.
Yeah.
Training people and how to market themselves inthe gig economy.
That is that is so impactful.
You know?
What tell me about that.
Tell me what what is your let's segue a littlebit into how what what's your take on the gig
economy?
What do you mean by that?
I mean, like, as a communication specialistyourself, I wanna make sure we're same page on

(04:14):
on 1.
I actually have a master's in communicationsfrom San Francisco State.
So it it it's all part of a process of peoplehave to realize that the the workplace has
changed dramatically since the 20th century.
Yeah.
There's really no more corporate loyalty.
People still live in the past.

(04:35):
I wanna be treated the way I would.
My parents and grandparents were treated.
Where I got a degree and, or diploma, and Istarted working for a company.
And I was loyal, and I worked hard.
And over time, I I was rewarded.
I got to retire.
I moved up in the company before I did.

(04:55):
I have a pension.
I have health insurance, etcetera.
And people now graduate school and expect thesame thing for themselves.
And it's changed enormously.
Companies don't do that anymore.
They don't wanna pay health insurance.
They don't wanna pay benefits.
So what works for them because they're they'reprofit driven, obviously, is to hire people, on

(05:18):
a part time and temporary basis, to, outsourceto other countries where labor is cheaper
because the most expensive thing in a companyis labor.
To to bring in robots to replace you.
So suddenly, I've I've worked for this companyfor 20 years.
I've been a loyal employee, and they they gotrid of me.

(05:40):
What do I do now?
So Yeah.
Everybody's everybody's upset at and I'veworked with people from 14 to 84.
On this.
Regardless of the age, regardless of theindustry, people don't know why to do now
because that safe harbor is gone.
Yes.
The safe harbor is gone.

(06:01):
And and and, you know, but now you're teachingpeople how to survive in the gig economy.
So it sounds like so it sounds like you prefera system where there's some predictable.
What I'm hearing you say is that you per youprefer a system where there's a a predictable
flow rather than us having the gig economy.
Or Right?

(06:23):
Is that it?
Well, well, it's it's 2 different environments.
There's the old fashioned 20th century, oldschool corporate environment.
You have one boss and you make sure thatthey're happy with you and you keep your job
and you move up in the company and you make alittle more money that's secure.
Yes.

(06:43):
And that's I say that's what's gone.
So now suddenly you're you're drifting.
What do I do?
I did all the right things.
I got a degree.
I know how to dress and speak in an interview.
Yes.
What's going on.
So there's a lot of shame around this.
A lot of people think there's must be somethingwrong with me, and it's and I have to reassure
them.
There's nothing wrong with you The rules havechanged.

(07:07):
I am the person to tell you these are the newrules, and you're gonna have to develop skills
you never even thought you needed before.
Which is self marketing and
Right.
And knowing that you're a brand and and mystudents and my private clients, and I work
with private clients all over the world It'slike, what?
I'm a brand.

(07:28):
I I have to market myself.
I don't know anything about that.
I'm a chemist I know.
That's yes.
And you have to market yourself.
I'm a college professor, and you have to teachyourself.
Everyone's into marketing, which is another wayto say you're selling your skill set.
Yeah.
So
Marketing is selling your skill set.
And but what about Brandy?
Okay.
So now let's segue into the things.
Like so this was gonna be the next segment.

(07:50):
I was gonna ask you teach our audience?
What are the three things that are importantfor your audience to, you know, for our
audience to take away from this podcast?
Here's what here's what if you work with me,whether you're a private client, I if I teach
you whether you read my books or or LinkedIn,learning, courses, It's all the same.

(08:11):
And the 3 teachables are this.
Number 1, you're a brand.
And I know you don't like to hear that, butthat's the way it is.
You're a brand like Coca Cola, IBM, apple yourbrand.
What's the brand?
How do you define it, articulate it, and thensell it?
That's number 1.
Number 2 teachable, you're always marketingyourself.
Like it or not.
So they will have 2 jobs.

(08:32):
Whatever you do, chemist, college professor,whatever.
Yes.
The other job is you're always marketingyourself because you cannot expect that, oh, I
I gotta I got some work.
I'll be there for 2030 years.
Not gonna happen.
It's really all short term gigs.
Hence, the gig economy.
So that's number 2.
So so that's you have to be okay with change.

(08:53):
You have to be okay with change.
Yeah.
And there's enormous resistance to this.
People hate hearing this.
They honestly hate it Why can't it be the wayit was?
Well, it can't.
So deal with it.
The 3rd teachable is it's always, always aboutrelationships.
It's knowing people, not just who you know, notjust what you know, but how well people know

(09:16):
you and how often you stay on the radar so thatwhen a project comes up, when a gig comes up,
they think of you and you continue to get work.
So so you, that's what you rely on.
That's your network.
That's what replaces safe harbor of thecompany.
I go to every day and have for 30 years, and Ijust do my job.

(09:38):
So it's a it's a new way of thinking, and it'sa new way of behaving.
And those are the teachables.
That's some yeah.
Those are those are lovely.
I mean, you're a brand.
And you have to always market yourself andrelationships are important.
Amazing.
Yes.
People companies don't hire you.

(09:58):
People hire you.
So you start to develop your skill set.
You start to upskill, and you're always therewith people in your industry so that they know
I've added this to it.
I've gotten a new certificate.
I've gotten a new degree.
I can I can deliver this for you?
It's always about your target market.

(10:18):
What can you do for me specifically?
Not I'm a hard worker and I'm a good teamplayer.
Not enough.
Do you know this program, that program?
Could you speak this language, that language?
Do you have success, proven success, andaccomplishment in a way that I feel comfortable
hiring you, and I know that you will deliverfor me.
And if you start doing that, consistent way,you'll get more and more work.

(10:43):
I I love that, you know, I love how you have itsuccinctly put and and and I wanna ask, you
know, with all your experience as the professorand all the years of going through different
transitions, what would you say is the biggestmistake that you ever made?
Biggest mistake I ever made.

(11:07):
Well, hindsight is our only perfect science.
So
if I look back, had to do it over again, Iwould have perhaps discover this a little
sooner, this whole idea of the gig economy, butthen I say, well, it happened, what had
happened, I couldn't start talking about thegig economy before it existed.

(11:27):
So, perhaps that's it.
I wish I would have done it a little sooner.
But, Karma squad said it's not there yet.
You have to do it when you do it.
And when it's when it's actually there and youhave something to talk about.
Got it.
Okay.
And and what's your favorite thing to do rightnow?
What is your most favorite thing to do rightnow?

(11:52):
You mean in terms of a hobby?
Yeah.
In general right now.
In general.
General right now, my my wife and I, went downto Cancun for vacation, and she just she
discovered pool.
And so she and she's actually quite good at it.
It's not just beginner's luck.

(12:14):
She's she's actually quite good at it.
So what we're doing now is lure is shootingpool on a regular basis, and watch a it's a joy
to watch her improve, and we match up withother teams and we win and she's elated.
It's it's really fun.
I mean, and that's part of my teaching.

(12:34):
It's really fun to help her train her teacher.
And I actually a few weeks ago, and then she'sonly been playing for 3 or 4 weeks.
I said, I said to her, I've taught you all Ican.
You need to work with better pool players soyou so you improve your game, just like
anything else.
The the better the competition that the thebetter your game is going to get.

(12:57):
So that's something new that we've discovered,and it's it's great fun.
I love that.
Yeah.
That's that's very interesting.
Cancun, Mexico, and pool.
Oh, in your Do you play pool yourself?
Are you a pool expert?
No.

(13:18):
Okay.
Okay.
I'm this much better than my wife.
Uh-huh.
That's the old joke in education, an expert issomeone who's three pages ahead of you in the
same book.
So I'm slightly better than her, but that's whyI told her, a week or so ago, I said, do you
need to be around better players than me?
I've really taught you everything I could.

(13:41):
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
So so how are you recruiting this new people?
We just go to pool halls and play, and thereare always other people who wanna play against
us.
So let's do it.
And that and she gets to learn things bywatching more experienced better players than

(14:03):
I.
Well, thank you so much for being on the show.
This was really, really fun and enlighteningand full of a lot of knowledge.
And as we round up, How can people how can ouraudience find you?

(14:23):
If Doctor Chaz Austin, CHaz, e u s t I m.
The best way to contact me is through LinkedIn.
And it's
got it's got my email address.
It's got tons of resources Okay.
Well over a 100 articles that I've posted overthe years on specific things dealing with how

(14:46):
to navigate this new, new workplace in the gigeconomy.
So I I invite people to contact me.
Happy to help him and I do this deliberatelyout.
What's what's comfortable for you in terms ofaccessing information that I can deliver?
I have books.
I have online courses.
We can do in person.

(15:07):
We can do in Zoom, whatever you need.
I'm there to help.
So I want your viewers to feel free to contactme through my LinkedIn page.
Okay.
I will put those in the short notes.
Yeah.
We'll put those in the show notes, and we'llalso put all your books and everything in the
show notes.
And this was a wonderful experience.
Thank you so much for joining.

(15:27):
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