361: Discover Your Strengths to Find Your Ideal Career

Kirby Verceles 00:18
That's why so many people change careers. If you get few test drive everything until you finally find something that you are very content with.

Introduction 0:48
This is the Happen To Your Career podcast with Scott Anthony Barlow. We help you stop doing work that doesn't fit you, figure out what does and make it happen. We help you define the work that's unapologetically you and then go get it. If you're ready to make a change, keep listening. Here's Scott. Here's Scott. Here's Scott.

Joshua Rivers 01:12
One of the big things that we talk and teach about the strengths. Specifically, we help people identify their signature strengths. There are a lot of people that seem to minimize the importance of identifying and understanding their strengths. But it really is one of the most important pieces to find or create your ideal career. Today, we're sharing a conversation that Scott had with Kirby Verceles. At the time they recorded, Kirby had worked through a lot of the resources we had, and was able to make a great career change. Now, since the last time we spoke with Kirby, she left that job that she had at the time and did another big life reflection of her professional and personal life. And we have seen this with a lot of the people that we work with going through the career change process doesn't necessarily lead to your forever career. Because change happens, your company changes, industries change, you change and grow. But when you learn to make the changes to work that fits, you're able to apply that experience in future changes as well. Anyway, Kirby took a big leap and landed a new job out of state. Kirby went from working for a big corporation to a nonprofit that aligned with her values and moved from Los Angeles to Colorado, which was another goal of hers. Then after about three and a half years at the nonprofit, she realized that her values were more aligned with her side job and worked her way to full time status there. Currently, Kirby is the marketing director of Bossed Up working with Emilie Aries, who is also a past guest on this podcast as well. Now without further delay, let's jump into Scott's conversation with Kirby.

Scott Anthony Barlow 03:03
Kirby, I am way excited to have you on the Happen To Your Career podcast. And I've been looking forward to this conversation for some time. So first of all, welcome.

Kirby Verceles 03:14
Hi. Hello, everybody.

Scott Anthony Barlow 03:17
Hello. But the reason I've been looking forward to it is really because you have, you've got a pretty interesting story. And I think it can be really, really helpful to all the HTYCers, and I want to talk about it. So we're gonna do that today. But I'm really interested to get into a few different things because when you and I first met, let's talk about that first, right, like we met over email.

Kirby Verceles 03:48
Email.

Scott Anthony Barlow 03:49
Yeah, right. I got to... I think you'd emailed Mark at first, I want to say, and then he was transitioning out right at that same time, is that right? How did that happen?

Kirby Verceles 03:59
Well, it was probably... it's already July, so the beginning of this year maybe, is when my oh, you know, I came to a standstill at work. And also outside of what I was feeling about my job. The company I worked for, got sold to another company so already like all these balls in air, I don't know what I'm going to do with my life. And I had been listening to your podcast and so I just sent an email in asking, "you know, what do you think I should do? Or this is my situation and I think I need to know."

Scott Anthony Barlow 04:44
So, you get a whole bunch of stuff going on because not only was the company getting sold, but you were... if I remember correctly...

Kirby Verceles 04:55
It was kind of like a dead end job. I was not happy where I was going. It was... I wasn't growing in the position that I wanted to be in. So it, yeah, I was just not happy. And it was bringing everything down on top of like, the whole mess that was going on with the selling of the company.

Scott Anthony Barlow 05:16
So at the time, what were you doing? And...

Kirby Verceles 05:20
Freaking out probably. Looking at job boards, crying and just... it was a mess. It was... I mean, a very rough time. It was confusing. So, you know, you just like, look for everything, like, explore all your options. And yeah, it was. I think about it now, it's just, that was a rough time.

Scott Anthony Barlow 05:50
It wasn't that long ago either. I mean, it feels like forever go a little bit, in some ways, but yeah, so what was your job title at that time?

Kirby Verceles 05:59
At that time I was, my title was public relations manager, but I worked for a small company. So job titles at that point really don't matter.

Scott Anthony Barlow 06:10
You do everything.

Kirby Verceles 06:11
I did everything. Yeah, pretty much I was office manager, executive assistant. It was a company where there were 10 people in the office. So it was do whatever needs to be done to make this company function.

Scott Anthony Barlow 06:28
So I'm guessing just, you know, having been in that environment before and around that environment before that, you probably didn't necessarily have an average day. But if you did, what would that look like? Like how...

Kirby Verceles 06:41
Yeah, it was just an average day, I'm coming up first, answer the emails, and just do all the tasks I needed to do and things would come out of nowhere. And then, you know, just deal with, it was a ever expanding, never ending to do lists and things just got piled on top of each other. So it was just like trying to get through and make sure everyone was happy. It was... I worked with a lot of different personalities. So it was very hard to please everybody.

Scott Anthony Barlow 07:14
So let's go back a little bit even before that, and I'm really curious how you got into that job in the first place. What's the story behind that?

Kirby Verceles 07:23
So I went to school for accounting, and I became a staff accountant for a video production company out here in LA and then I actually left that job and move to Ohio for a little bit. And I worked in the accounting department there and then I realized accounting was not for me because I just can't sit in a room full of cubicles, looking at spreadsheets and not talking to anyone. So I left Ohio, came back to LA and at that time, my old boss at the video production company left and started his own company, and an opportunity to just to get a job came up. So I started working for him doing HR and office management. And then once more people started getting hired, I was able to transition out of that and then start working as a touring crew coordinator. I got to, you know, interact with a lot of people and that was fun. That was very fun for me. And...

Scott Anthony Barlow 08:30
So for people who have no idea what a touring crew coordinator is, what is that?

Kirby Verceles 08:35
So I was a, live entertainment industry. So we do concert tours, and I work with a lot of roadies, and I was point person to assign roadies to jobs and get them places and make sure their travel was scheduled. So and do some payroll. But that was my job and then another opportunity open where we needed a website to be managed. And I thought, "Hey, I could do that." So my company was nice enough to put me through a certificate program in Public Relations at UCLA. And so I got that certification and became the PR manager, but there wasn't enough trust in my abilities there. So I think that also, you know, that's where I felt stuck.

Scott Anthony Barlow 09:32
So, what do you mean when you say not enough trust in your abilities? Because I think a lot of people might be in that same place, but I'm curious, what do you mean by that?

Kirby Verceles 09:40
So I went to school, and I have proven myself in my classes and then got all A's but because of where I'd started in the company, I think that my abilities, they didn't believe in them. They didn't trust that I knew what I was talking about. When I did, they're kind of also very traditional in their public relations and marketing and this industry. So it was trying to convince people what they needed when they really didn't know what they needed. So it was difficult to convince the higher ups that I could do it, what I knew I could do.

Scott Anthony Barlow 10:29
So how long did that go on?

Kirby Verceles 10:33
I probably went on for seven months. And there were a couple people who totally believed in and what I could do, but it was... they were not high enough to give me the okay to do what I knew I could do. So it was a struggle. It was really hard because there was no one higher up in like, marketing or public relations position in the company I work for since it was small.

Scott Anthony Barlow 11:01
Yeah. So I'm really curious then. So what's like something that you really wanted to do but, you know, you kept bumping up against that barrier of, "no, we... you really don't know what you're doing anyway, I kind of knew this and you know, we're gonna do it this way."

Kirby Verceles 11:17
It was a social media. It was introducing social media into the marketing mix that they don't see how the tool could benefit them as a company. So I mean, I just went off and went gorilla, and I did a social media campaign on my own and it was pretty fun. People loved it. So...

Scott Anthony Barlow 11:44
I love that you did that. I totally go for the, let's ask for forgiveness later.

Kirby Verceles 11:51
That's one of our mainly as a company. That's what we all knew as employees like, just do and ask for forgiveness later. Like what can you do?

Scott Anthony Barlow 12:01
But I think that's so great, though, because I mean, I don't know, I've been in those traditional, very traditional entrenched environments. And I think as, I don't know, as people were kind of very resistant to change when we get comfortable too in the first place, and especially if there's been any amount of success associated with it. And, I don't know, you get into that type of situation and I think that's what you have to do, because that creates innovation and especially if you have any results with that, that's kind of the only hope for change, right?

Kirby Verceles 12:38
Right.

Scott Anthony Barlow 12:39
That's so cool. So what happened then?

Kirby Verceles 12:43
That's also the point where there were already, like closed door meetings. And so we already knew that something was happening with the company.

Scott Anthony Barlow 12:53
Something's going on.

Kirby Verceles 12:53
Yeah. And so like, you're just... it's like an unsettling feeling when usually your office environment is so open and friendly and then all of a sudden, your bosses are shutting doors and having secret meetings or not even secret because you're sitting right there. And you see people come in and then you hear the rumors because the industry is so small. So yeah, so for six months, it was, everyone like... it was just you hear the talk, and then they try to convince you otherwise, but everyone starts giving off the weird vibe. But yeah, I mean, after that, it was just, "alright, well, what am I... what are the waves now?"

Scott Anthony Barlow 13:40
So how did that tie into... how long was that happening before you, well, it sounds like a bunch of that stuff was happening all at once to some degree.

Kirby Verceles 13:51
Yeah, it was around last September is actually when it really, there were... I think there were offers being made for the company and so everyone in our company was just, I don't know what to do. We had people, you know, quitting and joining competitors, because they also heard the rumors and weren't willing to write it out and take a risk of what was going to happen at the end. So it was, yeah, I've never been in a situation like that before. This has pretty much been like the only industry I worked in. So it was a little scary. But you still have, you have to do your job, and you get paid to do a job. So that's when it became a job. Like you're just working to work and you no longer enjoying it. Because in the meantime, you're also looking at job boards, exploring all your options because something's happening that no one's talking about. So, yeah. But so that was September. December, actually, after the holidays is when they told us that they sold the company and yeah, and so that's when I contacted you.

Scott Anthony Barlow 15:15
So then that's when we met. And I remember getting an email from me that's just like, "hey, I've been so overwhelmed with everything that's happening, you know, I don't even know where to start. I don't know how to..."

Kirby Verceles 15:27
And this, it's just all a stress.

Scott Anthony Barlow 15:30
Yeah. And I think that's what happens too. And I mean, I've been there, too. And I mean, I've told the story a lot on the podcast, but when I was in that exact same place, it just, I don't know, I sort of ended up there. In really similar way, like I took a job that was sort of right in front of me, it led to something else and blah, blah, and boom, now I'm in this place that felt like I didn't have any control and I'm overwhelmed. I don't know what to do and like not looking forward to work every day but you've got the conflict of, "hey, they're paying me to do this and I need to do this, but I have to force myself to." and oh, yeah, geez, all that stuff. Totally get. So you and I had exchanged a couple of emails. And then what happened from there, because it seemed like a lot of events happened very, very fast over the next like 2, 3, 4 months.

Kirby Verceles 16:21
Yeah, well, so outside of like exploring all the other options and having all these other old co-workers saying that they could find me a job if I needed one. I was also trying to... oh, because I wasn't guaranteed a job at this new company, I found out that the marketing department for this big corporation that is buying the small company had probably four people and one of my co-workers that trusted my work had also, like we just strategically gameplan how I was going to weasel my way into this marketing department. So I... without my boss knowing, contacted the marketing, the Vice President of Marketing and, you know, convinced him to let me work with him and help him transition our current video company into what he was working towards with this big company, this big corporation in the industry. So I actually, he looked at my work with the website that I helped put together, and he liked it. So I started working for the marketing department on like a trial basis and that went on for a couple months. I wasn't offered a job right away, but it was geared more to what I wanted to do. So, I mean, he interviewed me. And I mean, it all fell into place. I don't even know how to explain it, it all magically happened, but it was... I put a lot of work into it. They're based in the East Coast. So I would wake up every morning at five o'clock, and I would be in the office by 6:30 because they had daily marketing meetings at seven o'clock, my time. So, I mean, I put in a good three months of doing that. And then finally, they offered me a job. So...

Scott Anthony Barlow 18:37
Okay, I want to back your way. Because there's a ton of stuff in here that I'm just so curious about and we had one conversation beforehand where you told me a little bit more of the story, but now I want to know everything. So you, you know, back in December, January, you're in this place where you're like, hey, am I overwhelmed and you don't know what to do and you're looking at job boards and nothing, you know, nothing looks good. And I don't even know where to begin that whole type of deal. And then you jump fast forward, like, what, five months ahead. And then, now you've got this job that actually works really well from everything I understand with your strengths, and what you've wanted to do, and even some of the types of environment and stuff that you were looking for. But there's a whole bunch of stuff that happened in between that too. You...

Kirby Verceles 19:33
Yes, there is. There's a lot of crying and a lot of soul searching.

Scott Anthony Barlow 19:36
So let's talk about... Yeah, let's talk about that piece too. And, we both got to know each other a little bit through Figure Out What Fits, our course. But I know you were really trying to figure out like, yeah, I think at one point you thought, "hey, I'm going to leave this company, I just need to figure out what it is that I really want to be doing." So tell me about that process because it seemed like they were is a good month and a half or so there where you are really, what is the right thing for me. Right?

Kirby Verceles 20:06
Yes, I was. When I emailed you very lost and confused so I did all the, you know, Strength Finders test. I am a self improvement junkie so I was very open to taking all these quizzes and trying to figure out, you know, what my strengths are and where I like my core strengths, not just personality based quizzes but what you have, what you recommended the Strength Finders test, the disc test, I took them all.

Scott Anthony Barlow 20:45
So you did all of them.

Kirby Verceles 20:46
I took all of them because I wanted to get this right.

Scott Anthony Barlow 20:50
And for, you know, people that are listening that may not know like how that happens behind the scenes when you go through one of our courses called Figure Out What Fits, one of the supplemental or optional things in there is you can enhance the experience with like Strength Finders and like the disc profile which Strength Finders helps you understand your strengths and the disc profile helps you understand some of the areas how you communicate and a little bit your personality too, is probably easiest way to explain it. So how did you come out? What are your... I have my own guest but what were your disc profile results? Do you remember?

Kirby Verceles 21:31
I don't remember my disc profile results. But the Strengths Finders when I scored high in the strategic focus self assurance relator and learner strengths. So I mean, and those were spot on, I read them to my friend and he kind of freaked out. He's like, "what is this? Which crap you're taking?" Because they're spot on these. The strengths are something I told you, when I took these tests and I got the results, I would wake up every morning, like when I'd go to sleep, like pretty upset, not having a job or a future not knowing anything, but I'd wake up and I'd read all of my strengths over and over. So I wouldn't forget, you know, what I'm good at. And, yeah, that helps me a lot. Like it helped me have more confidence and, you know, believe that something was gonna come along that matched my strengths, where I would be happy. So...

Scott Anthony Barlow 22:49
So, that's so interesting, and I think also hard for people to comprehend too. I mean, but that's a lot of what we end up teaching, is really understanding yourself first. And then once you understand yourself, you can start to get clear on what it is that you want. And then once you get clear on what it is that you want, then miraculously or feels like miraculously opportunities start popping out to some degree because there's there all the time, it's just you don't always see them until you understand those couple of pieces.

Kirby Verceles 23:23
Right.

Scott Anthony Barlow 23:23
So how did that work for you then? Take me forward a little bit.

Kirby Verceles 23:28
Well, it's funny because I tell people, I like in this whole entire soul searching and learning about myself. It's, you know, it's like, you have to be whole to go into a relationship. You also have to be whole to like, go into a career that you're going to love for the rest of your life. It's the same thing. So before you go into a relationship, and you're ready, you have to know what you want out of it, and then go for it. And that's really when like, you see those opportunities, and those people like rise out of nowhere that, hey, they have the same goals as you. It's the same thing as finding a job and a career. You just have to know yourself, know what you want, know what you want put up with. And then then you will magically be paired up with a career and an organization that will, you know, appreciate your strengths and what you, what value you can bring to the team and organization. I don't know if that makes sense.

Scott Anthony Barlow 24:38
Well, it totally makes sense to me and kind of the way that I interpret it, is if you really first understand yourself...

Kirby Verceles 24:48
Right.

Scott Anthony Barlow 24:48
Then you are able to direct, you know, how... not only how you experience life, but also even like how you add value to an organization or your job or, I don't know, in other people's cases like their own businesses in their customers and stuff too. And there's no way that you can really do that if you don't understand 'you' first.

Kirby Verceles 25:11
Right.

Scott Anthony Barlow 25:13
But that's hard. That's easy to say, it is hard to do.

Kirby Verceles 25:16
It's hard to do.

Scott Anthony Barlow 25:18
So. What? Oh, go ahead, please.

Kirby Verceles 25:21
Go ahead. I'm sorry.

Scott Anthony Barlow 25:21
I was just gonna say, what made it easier for you as you went along? Or because there's, I mean, there's, you know, when you started listening to this podcast, you were in that place. But there's lots of people that are listening to this, that really truly are in that place where they're in a job that they know that they don't want to be in forever, and they're struggling to figure out what it is that they want and they don't necessarily know themselves to the degree that you're talking about in order to get clarity to be able to move forward. So what did you find that made it easier for you?

Kirby Verceles 26:01
I think that, you know, self reflection and just you have to ask yourself those tough questions and make yourself sit there and answer them. Like nobody wants to sit there and answer hard questions, especially if it's about yourself, and what you want to do or any goals you have, but it's worth it to take the time because, like, you don't want to waste your time at a job that you don't want to do or why would you waste your time being unhappy? Just take a personal day, take eight hours and answer all the questions. I think that the course that you provided, and all those questions really helps me determine what made me happy in a job or what I actually enjoyed doing. So, it's a hard place to be at but you have to, you just have to make yourself answer questions, answer the hard questions, or you're just gonna be stuck. If you want to change your situation, you have to change it. And I don't know, those first, I mean two or three months and being confused about a career, which is such a big part of life, like you don't want to be, you don't want to jump from job to job like you want to find something that you wake up early in the morning, excited to go to. So...

Scott Anthony Barlow 27:44
So what's life like now? 'Cause we talked about...

Kirby Verceles 27:47
Very... That's why this podcast interview has been delayed.

Scott Anthony Barlow 27:51
Yeah, we, I guess behind the scenes, so we scheduled and then we rescheduled and I think, I don't know, I think I rescheduled. Oh, even we had a... we chatted on the phone. So when you got into, oh, my goodness, I forgot about all this completely. Yeah. So this has been a long time coming, because you and I were going to chat as a part of you signed up for our Figure Out What Fits mini course back when we were testing it, way back when. And then as a part of that, it's like, "hey, you know, here you get a free 30 minutes a bonus coaching." And then by that time, you'd already made a transition into what you wanted. So you're just like, "oh, hey, let's just talk anyways." And we rescheduled back and forth for that a couple of times. And then I got on the phone with you and heard your story is like, "oh, we have to get you on the podcast. Would you please?" And then we reschedule a couple of times. This has been, yeah, it's been like, seven months in the making or something crazy. No, don't feel bad about it at all too. I mean, part of it is my nutty schedule as well. But yeah, so life is busy.

Kirby Verceles 28:55
Life has been busy and exciting. You know, I like coming to work in the morning and I like the people I work with. And I don't know, I don't even know what to say. It just all worked out. But getting here was hard. I'm not gonna even fluff that up because it was difficult.

Scott Anthony Barlow 29:18
Do you find that for the things that in your life have paid off the most do, is it always like that, where you have to go through the hard stuff first? Or is it different for careers?

Kirby Verceles 29:37
I think it's with everything. It's just life, I think. You do have to go through that, you have to. I'm a big goal setter. So I mean, and I write it down, you have to write it down. And don't ever forget what you're working for or what you want to achieve. But yeah, there's gonna be some valleys in those before you reach the peaks. But I think that is with everything. That's like friendships, relationships in general. And your job, the company you choose to work for, it all has to align with your core values. So it's hard to find something that fits, like, that's why so many people change careers. If you get few test drive everything until you finally find something that you are very content with. But that's everything.

Scott Anthony Barlow 30:44
Yeah, truly is too. Like a lot of the way that learning, especially self reflection happens is through experimentation to some degree, right? It's experimentation. So you got the input of information, but then because otherwise you don't have anything to go on. But then it's the reflection. So, how do you get that information and actually use it. I want to shift gears a little bit here though. I am really curious how you got the nickname Kirbeast.

Kirby Verceles 31:12
Kirbeast. That's funny. It's because I'm naturally very competitive. And I CrossFit. So I'm at the gym all the time. And people always want me to be on their team for competitions. So when I train, I trained pretty hard. So yeah, that's my nickname at the gym.

Scott Anthony Barlow 31:42
That, I saw that and like that.

Kirby Verceles 31:45
Nobody else knows that.

Scott Anthony Barlow 31:47
Now everybody does. So tell me about CrossFit. And how do you think that has or has that had any impact on your career in it? I'm curious if there's like any, no pun intended, but crossover, you know...

Kirby Verceles 32:04
I think... everything is related.

Scott Anthony Barlow 32:05
So tell me about that.

Kirby Verceles 32:09
So my core strengths here in the Strength Finders test. One of them is strategic. And the... it's funny because in these CrossFit competitions, you have to be strategic about your game plan because you're part of a team and someone's going to be a weak link, but you have to work around it. So everyone always look towards me to, you know, lead the team a little bit and be the person that's going to like lay it all out and be straightforward about our strategy and our, how we're going to do something. But that translates into my job now. I am hired to, you know, rein in everyone that's working on projects, and just make sure that we're organized and that we don't lose our focus on our main goals, which is, you know, the same as a competition like you want to win, marketing, you want to make sure that you get the same, the correct message out to your audience. And it's, I am like... that I'm hired to do what I am good at, which is raining people in and making sure we don't lose our focus. So, I mean, I think in every aspect of where I invest my time, whether it's a CrossFit competition or at my job, I do the same exact thing, because I'm good at it. So if you align yourselves with your core strengths, I think it just naturally crosses over in your life and that makes you better at what you do.

Scott Anthony Barlow 34:02
So I'm right there with you and obviously, you know, I mean, you you've been through a bunch of our stuff and know that we teach that and everything like that but it's such a weird and sort of surreal phenomenon, at least I found it to be like, when you are doing things or spending time in the way that not only with the things that you are good at, but with the things that you enjoy, because a lot of your strengths you typically enjoy I mean, there's a reason why it comes naturally to some degree, right? But, I don't know, like that's...

Kirby Verceles 34:37
It is very weird how that works. But, makes you more experienced and better.

Scott Anthony Barlow 34:43
And then it... I've always looked at it is when you're doing those types of things, you have like this ridiculous edge over everyone else that those are not their strengths, but they're doing that anyways because there's so many people that are mismatched, you know, job versus what they are really great at or have the potential be great at in their core strengths and what we call signature strengths, right? So, yeah, it's... I've been struggling with that one for really a concise way to describe that, but it's a very... and I'm not doing any better now. But the, I don't know, how would you describe that? Because it's an interesting feeling, it's a different level of fulfillment, I'd say to some degree.

Kirby Verceles 35:29
Yeah, I think that we have talked about too, how you can be good at a lot of stuff because you are educated in certain things and you never fail the class like I am good at math, and I went to school for accounting, and I can easily get an accounting job and probably do a great job because I'm good at it. But it's not something that aligns with my core strengths which are more geared to relating to people and getting things organized. So, I mean, I'll be great. And I will excel even more, doing things that my core strength signature strings are aligned with, and I'll be happier doing it because those are your natural abilities, I guess, you know, you don't... it's kind of not even a learned thing. Your strengths are just things that you're born with, that you're good at naturally. Whereas, you know, yeah, you can be schooled on something and be good at it, but not enjoy it because it gets repetitive and you grow tired of it. So.

Scott Anthony Barlow 36:47
I don't know if I've thought about it in that exact same way too. But I really think that you're right. My CrossFit question was a little bit also self indulgent because it's selfish because I am considering, I've been looking into CrossFit and the whole idea just seems like fun to me. So I'm curious, any wisdom or advice or anything like that. How long you've been doing CrossFit?

Kirby Verceles 37:17
Sure. This is probably my fifth year into it. So, I mean, I'm still in it. I enjoy it, and it's not boring and does not repetitive. It's completely varied. And it's fun. It is fun. And I'm also very competitive. So it gets all of my work angst out so.

Scott Anthony Barlow 37:43
So, if you weren't doing CrossFit, what would you be doing?

Kirby Verceles 37:50
Probably, being... I would probably just be outside, I played for... I played soccer for a little bit on a co Ed team. Which was pretty fun for a couple years. And then also it just running around kind of got tiring for me. But now I like being outdoors and I like going on hikes and just going out into nature and that's where you do a lot of self reflection when you're out there by yourself.

Scott Anthony Barlow 38:24
I love that too. So like we live, we used to live on the lake, now we live, we moved about a year and a half ago and then we lived just off Moses Lake like we can sort of see it out of our front window and everything. Anyhow, when you're out there like kayaking, or we love stand up paddleboarding. It sort of takes you away from everything and like you're forced to deal with yourself.

Kirby Verceles 38:51
Not falling off the board.

Scott Anthony Barlow 38:52
Yeah, well, yeah, not falling off the board, so there's that piece. But I mean, it removes all of those other distractions unlike you're on the water or you're, you know, it makes me think of what you're talking about when you're talking about being outside. And I absolutely love that because, yeah, you get some of those self reflection moments or just even different thoughts in your head than what you have otherwise. So, how have you found that to really benefit you then? In reality like that being outdoors.

Kirby Verceles 39:29
I'm a journal keeper. So I like being alone. And being with my thoughts and reflecting on everything and learning how I can be better or, I mean being outside is it just quiets everything so you are able to answer all those questions and appreciate where you are, and know that there's bigger things out there and probably like, this problem I have is tiny compared to everything else that exists in the world so it's nice to... this is a different perspective. It's very relaxing and yeah, I enjoy self reflection. I just like to improve myself. I read, the only books that I read are self improvement books.

Scott Anthony Barlow 40:23
I don't know we have so much in common. I went years where like those were the only books that I picked up or touched or wanted to talk about or anything else along those lines. This is funny. So are you, I'm just taking a stab in the dark based on a couple of things that you told me but, are you normally an introvert by nature kind of like to feel yourself or kind of gathered that.

Kirby Verceles 40:48
Which is funny, but I enjoy talking to people. Like I enjoy and try and grow my friendships but I do like to be by myself and just recharge.

Scott Anthony Barlow 41:00
Yeah, and I'm very much the same way. And actually the best definition of like introvert versus extrovert ever heard was from this guy who does some consulting, near our area in Tri-Cities, Washington, anyhow, he was talking about how, like if you're an introvert or if you're an extrovert, then you draw energy from being around other people. But if you're an introvert, then you draw that energy from being by yourself to some degree and you have to recharge almost if you've spent tons of time around other people and that's very much what I identified with because I'm very much an introvert but I absolutely love having like, I don't know conversations like this or, you know, people are hearing their stories or whatever else.

Kirby Verceles 41:46
Yeah, me too. I do. I like learning about people. I just, I'm a learner. I like to learn things. And when I talk to people will try to learn more. You can always learn something from someone.

Scott Anthony Barlow 41:58
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm curious about, not just curious about on you again. But I'm really curious about along the lines of self development and stuff too. I think at one point you'd sent me an email that said, "hey, someday I'd love to do the type of thing that you're doing." And I can't remember if you referenced podcasts or something else. I forget, it's been quite a while. But is that still on your horizon is potential in the future or something along those lines? Or...

Kirby Verceles 42:28
Maybe just because I enjoy it so much. I like helping people, I mean, yeah, I give a lot of advice to my friends, but there's just... being, there's one of my strengths is pretty funny. The self assurance strength. It says that, by nature, you're generally pleased with life when you can reinforce sort of fight or toughen someone up, which is definitely what I do.

Scott Anthony Barlow 43:08
I could totally see that working in CrossFit.

Kirby Verceles 43:12
I was like, "oh, that's really funny. I really do enjoy that." It's like, when I'm at the gym, I automatically, if someone looks like they need help, I'll just go up to them and coach them through stuff. Only because people don't know how strong they are, and how strong they can be. They just need a little... they just need a little push sometimes. And usually, I'm the person that people go to, to make sure that someone gets the correct push, like, just because my personality, I will tell you straight forward. And I'm not afraid of what you're going to say back to me, because I'm just trying to help.

Scott Anthony Barlow 43:53
Yeah. But I think that puts you at a in a position that most people aren't in because a lot of people either aren't concerned about that, or that's not their natural strength or whatever else. So this has been a long time coming. And I really, really appreciate you making the time to share your story. Because I, not only you know, do I think other people can get a lot out of what you did, because you did some of the hard things and taking the time to figure out what's important to you, what your strengths are, and going through that type of process and it's paid off for you big. And along the way, you've been able to, you've been able to work through all the stuff that, you know, sort of life throws at you and I think that is so cool, but I really appreciate you taking the time.

Kirby Verceles 44:39
Yeah, no problem. I hope that helps people.

Scott Anthony Barlow 44:43
I think that it really does and if you're not used to it, like oh man, it's... that's another thing that's sort of surreal, like getting on and sharing your story, that's something I struggled with for a long time and like nobody cares about that.

Kirby Verceles 44:59
Right.

Scott Anthony Barlow 44:59
But it truly can, because everybody has had different successes in different areas of their lives. And this is obviously one, we spent a lot of time talking about. And you just happen to have had some really good successes in these areas. And just like you said, you know, you and I both enjoy learning things from different people. And this is something that I think people can can take from your experience and learn a whole bunch and take away.

Kirby Verceles 45:28
So the program that Kirby took a few years ago is called Figure Out What Fits. Now since that time, we've taken that program and added to it improved it many times over. Now we call it Career Change Bootcamp. You may remember hearing about it in past episodes. In fact, just a couple weeks ago, we made an announcement that career change boot camp was getting ready to open and we were inviting you to be able to get in the line early to be able to make those changes in your life. Well, we want to let you know that today, we have officially opened the doors to CCB to be able to help people like you get the resources and support that they need to make their next career change to work that really fits them. Now, CCB is a four month program that takes you step by step through our proven career change framework. And along the way, you're gonna have access to one on one sessions with one of our career coaches. And if you'd like to see if CCB might be right for you, you know, go ahead and schedule a call with Phillip, our Director of Client Success. He will have a conversation with you to help you figure out if CCB really is right for you. If it's not, he'll help you figure out what will fit you. All you need to do is text, MYCOACH, one word, mycoach to 22444. All you need to do just enter your email address and we'll send you the link to be able to schedule that conversation with Phillip. As a bonus, if you register for CCB by June 11, you'll be able to get an extra month of coaching. So you'll get five months of support instead of four. Now, for the past few months, we've been sharing two episodes a week. This was primarily to give you extra help during these difficult times that we've been in. But it was also partially an experiment, we want to provide you with helpful content. But at the same time, we don't want to overwhelm you with too much information. So for the next month or so, we're gonna be going back to just one episode a week, we want to be able to provide you with even higher quality content. If you've been enjoying the extra episodes, let us know. This podcast is for you after all. We want to provide you with what helps you the most. Now don't forget to text, MYCOACH to 22444 to be able to schedule your conversation about the career change bootcamp program and to see if you're the right fit. Now we'll talk to you on the next episode of Happen To Your Career.