Ask A Pro: Transformative Strategies for Your Tech Career with Special Guest Dr. Kyle Elliott

Discover your inner CEO and redefine your tech career trajectory with guidance from the unstoppable career-coaching trifecta - Laura, Mary and special guest Dr. Kyle Elliott.

This episode is a treasure trove of insights for tech professionals bracing against the current of tech layoffs and AI upheaval. Kyle doesn't just spotlight the problems; he equips you with the tools to carve out your own unique space in the tech industry. It's not just about being qualified; it's about being unforgettable in a sea of candidates.

And for those clinging to legacy skills, fear not; we're decoding the language of resumes to ensure your experience doesn't get lost in translation. Kyle's strategies are your ticket to convincing potential employers that you're not just keeping up with the times—you're leading the charge.

Wrapping up with actionable job search wisdom, you'll learn why treating your resume like a 'mad lib' can be a game-changer and how a diversified job search strategy is your career safety net. We share insider tips on leveraging LinkedIn's Easy Apply and the art of the follow-up. Get ready to be inspired, motivated, and yes, caffeinated, as we pave the way for your tech career to thrive amidst the AI revolution. So refill your mug and press play—your future self will thank you.

Kyle Elliott
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylecromerelliott/

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Transcript

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:02

Welcome to the Redefine Your Career Journey Podcast, where we help career minded professionals like you become the CEO of your career.

Laura Bashore: 0:11

I'm Laura Bashore and I'm here with my co-host, Mary Fain Brandt. Together, we have over 25 years of experience in career development and coaching.

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:19

We're thrilled to share our insights and expertise with you on this podcast.

Laura Bashore: 0:22

Grab your favorite cup of coffee, tune in and let's start the show.

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:31

Hey folks, we're here with another exciting episode and I think Laura and I are super excited for our next guest. He goes by caffeinated Kyle and you know what he had me at back? Caffeinated, yes, coffee. This is cup number two today.

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:49

We have a lot in common with Kyle he's a career coach, a coffee lover, and he is really about helping people secure the next career move in their career path. And Kyle and I we first connected and I have the date October 12th 2017. I looked that up on LinkedIn and he's been a guest on both my live show, bite Size Tips for Busy Entrepreneurs, 15 Minutes of Bane, and Laura and I are audio event, the B Show where we talk career tips and trends. So he's also this amazing Forbes contributor. I mean, I just saw on LinkedIn he's like part of this career group the Forbes contributor, an amazing resume writer, career coach, advocate for all humans, I feel and his specialty is the tech space and an interview expert. And his story of how he started and where he's at now is just amazing and we're going to have him share that with you because it will blow your mind. And, of course, he shares our love of coffee, which, laura, I mean anyone who shares our love of coffee, like we have to have him on the show right.

Laura Bashore: 2:02

Yes, then I can say that he's also a joy to be at conferences with, because we're both part of National Resume Writers Association, and last time I was with Kyle we were with our partners on a dinner cruise on in Louisiana, so on the Queen Mary. So it'll be fun to talk to him today and share his expertise. I really value his time, so looking forward to sharing it with our listeners.

Mary Fain Brandt: 2:31

You've got to meet him, so you're one upping me there because I have not had the pleasure of meeting Kyle, but I am inviting you, kyle, publicly, to come visit me in Arizona. It's wonderful here, it's like 70 degrees. So, kyle, welcome to the Redefine your Career Journey podcast.

Kyle Elliott: 2:49

Yes, thank you for having me, and I was just thinking about that, laura. We were in Louisiana. We got to go on that beautiful cruise. We're at the National.

Laura Bashore: 2:56

Resume Writers.

Kyle Elliott: 2:57

Conference together. I think you did like three different workshops there on quite a few different, really powerful topics. So I'm excited we get to continue those conversations today around job searching and how to stand out in the super saturated market, particularly for tech folks.

Laura Bashore: 3:15

Yeah, likewise, because I feel like my tech clients really need that extra understanding of how to work through it, because so many times they want to list the details and they're missing out on certain things. That's going to help them stand out as an individual, you know.

Kyle Elliott: 3:32

Yeah, and these tech folks are, oh sorry Mary, you go, you go.

Mary Fain Brandt: 3:35

No, no, you go.

Kyle Elliott: 3:37

Yeah, these tech folks are so talented, so amazing, so they're competing with these top-level people. And then all of these additional layoffs.

Mary Fain Brandt: 3:44

Mary, you were just mentioning a stat earlier when we were chatting 47 tech companies just had layoffs in the first 17 days of 2024. And so that's really, I think what we want to dive into, kyle, is what changes are coming down the pipeline. You know, get out your Magic 8-Ball, okay, everybody remember the Magic 8-Ball. What you know is coming down the pipeline what changes in tech specifically Because some of you know that I recently got my certification in AI, so I'm a certified AI consultant, and I just see this being part of possibly part of these layoffs Like how is AI coming into tech jobs and what do you see coming in 2024 for our tech career professionals?

Kyle Elliott: 4:34

Yeah, I love that you shared that stat. I know there's been a number of layoffs. I didn't realize there was that many already and just a handful of weeks here in 2024. There's going to be more In vision. There's going to be more. A lot of my clients are executives and some of them are being impacted and some are the ones doing the actual laying off, which is really unfortunate.

Kyle Elliott: 4:55

So if you're a job seeker or might be a job seeker, there's going to be more competition. There's going to be fewer open roles, more people competing. So I always tell job seekers, just being qualified isn't enough, particularly in tech. It's not just that you're checking off the items for those jobs the requirements and the preferences, but how are you different and more unique than the other people also applying? So today I'd love for us to talk about that.

Mary Fain Brandt: 5:23

That sounds wonderful. You know, in the tech industry I was having a conversation wrapped around AI and the job market and you know a lot of people are afraid it's going to. You know, ai is going to take the jobs away. Where I say it's going to take the job away from the person who doesn't understand how to use AI. So and I read a stat and I wish I had it right here. I was like on my phone but AI is going to remove something like 186,000 jobs this year, but it's going to create 192,000. So it's going to remove jobs but it's going to add jobs to the job market. So in that tech space, kyle, I was reading and someone said you really don't need coding anymore because you have AI. So I want to talk about have you worked with any clients or have you read anything that where the skill set of those in the tech industry is shifting?

Kyle Elliott: 6:20

Yes, I think what jobs? Jobs are being removed, but really they're being changed. Like you said, some of these jobs are being changed. I'm not saying a lot of jobs that are AI jobs, but instead AI is a lens or a layer of these jobs. For example, my clients, a lot of clients, work in supply chain or factories. So instead of people hand picking stuff, there's someone managing the robots, so you might see less people, not actually all factory, but then there's people who are managing the pickers, so you might see one or two people on the floor working with the pickers.

Kyle Elliott: 6:52

Someone had to create that picker. Someone had to then develop the entire supply chain for that picker. That led to that created the processes. So the jobs are just changing and I would think of them going a little more upstream toward the AI, the technology, the strategy. However, they're not pure AI jobs. A lot of times they're just AI enabled or have an AI lens to them. So if you're wanting to be competitive in the job market, I would go, follow your lead and get an AI certification, AI training, AI skills and that's going to help you Because, as clients share job postings with me, more and more are saying you need experience, exposure, skills, knowledge, certification in AI.

Mary Fain Brandt: 7:33

Okay and funny that you should mention robots. So my husband works for Amazon and the plant here. We moved here, he got the job at Amazon down in Goodyear and it was the first robotic warehouse. So when you say pickers and the robots, yep, he talks about the robots, you know, and the packages coming down and if they get I don't know all the fancy terms, but when they get backed up, right, they've got to, I don't know, adjust the robot, I guess, but someone is taking care of that robot up there. But yeah, so even logistics and facilities and these jobs that have always been very hands-on, they're transitioning into having some component of AI robotics, something like that. So I think that at least understanding what AI is and looking at it from a holistic viewpoint of how can we use AI in my job, in the market, in the organization, to be more efficient and more competitive, right, Exactly and really every role is going to see AI, even as coaches.

Kyle Elliott: 8:39

We're seeing AI being used to track clients and assess and assessments. I know the assessments I use leverage AI, so we're going to see AI everywhere.

Kyle Elliott: 8:49

I was just talking to my cousin who works in farming and they use AI to measure the soil, decide when to plant. So it's really everywhere and you can't escape it. So learning AI and getting comfortable with it you don't have to become an expert, but at least getting comfortable with it is really going to help you if you're looking for a job or even thinking that you might need to look for a job ever.

Laura Bashore: 9:13

Ever? Well, I think it too. We need to think about what the jargon is for the specific industry or company when you're applying, because that wraps into both of the points that you guys are making right here. So you need to be able to describe it on paper in layman's terms but still also have the actual technique that they're using it, because otherwise, whoever's screening your resume once it gets past the AI right, that human who's screening it needs to understand what you're talking about. You know, you can't just assume that you put AI as, like an area of expertise and then they're like oh yeah, I get it, you know, I think that's kind of a gap.

Kyle Elliott: 9:56

Yeah, connecting those dots is so important, so people understand that you know what they're looking for, not that you just have the skills, but you can actually speak it and then come in and actually do the work that they're hiring for as well.

Mary Fain Brandt: 10:11

So are there. I have a question Are there a couple skills that might be outdated? Let's say someone you know they're already in the tech industry, they're in IT or tech and they're mid-level and they want to go to that next level, or maybe they're starting off. So are there a couple skills that are outdated right now and maybe you've seen on a resume and you're like, oh no, let's remove that. Is there anything that you've seen recently that you're like, oh, that's really outdated, you shouldn't have that on your resume.

Kyle Elliott: 10:43

I think it's going to vary a lot. Actually, some people are going to feel like certain skills are outdated, but then certain industries, organizations like banking, for example a lot of them are really behind. So a lot of organizations have migrated to the cloud, but then banking they're still on premise. They haven't a lot of them moved to the cloud, so something that may feel outdated could actually really still be relevant if you go to an older organization. I'm at a client recently that was worried about that, but actually that was his strength having some of these older skills. So finding those organizations where it could be a benefit that you have been working a long time, have these older skills, maybe know these legacy infrastructures, have this legacy language knowledge could be a benefit. However, you want to know if they are moving to the cloud or if you're familiar with AWS or whatever platform that they're using.

Mary Fain Brandt: 11:36

I like that word legacy infrastructure. I just like the way that sounds. I just wrote that down in my notes. Thank you.

Kyle Elliott: 11:47

And I learned that from job postings. Like Laura said, speaking their language, I think of it like a recipe card. They're trying to cook something. So I hate wasting paper about literally print out the job posting that a client's applying for and then check it off and say if you use their language, you and them might be talking about the same thing, but if you're describing it a little differently and the recruiters looking at hundreds or thousands of resumes, they may not quickly connect the dots when reading it.

Laura Bashore: 13:24

Yeah, they'll just scan through and then pass it on, and I think that's something especially for those when we're talking about tech, because they'll feel like I'm just going to put everything I do on here instead of really looking at the job description and researching the company to see what is it that they want from you. They don't want to cipher through everything and go through four, five pages that you feel is relevant.

Kyle Elliott: 13:50

That's a really good point.

Kyle Elliott: 13:52

I see the longest resumes in tech. What you might do, too, is have a four or five page master resume and then for each job I like setting a timer, maybe for 20 minutes, setting a timer and removing all the bullets that aren't relevant to the job posting and just putting the relevant stuff. So if they're just a cloud organization, just putting your cloud bullets, or if they're just on premise, just putting those ones. So then they don't have to go through those four or five pages that Laura mentioned and read, read, read. Define the five bullets that pertain to them.

Mary Fain Brandt: 14:24

And I agree with that, with having a master resume, because if you were to go, let's say, for a federal or government job, sometimes they want that massive history. But if you and if you have a master resume, you can kind of see your progression. You know, sometimes you'll forget what you've done. So I am a firm believer in having what I actually call the master resume and then you have your IT entry level, maybe, if that's where you're starting, and then naming the resumes as you progress. But having that master resume and pulling, making a copy, leading everything you shouldn't have on there and then adding one of my missing that I have, that is in that job description, that is I just hope that everyone listens to that. Have a master resume. Because back in the day, when you have to go and create your resume and you don't have that master resume and you're like what was the years I worked there? Wait, what were those accomplishments? What did I do really good there? Having that master resume, you just pull those stories and those skill sets right off of it.

Kyle Elliott: 15:25

Yes, and I'll save you a lot of time, especially for those companies where they want you to upload, like you said, the federal government or any other organizations where they want every single detail.

Mary Fain Brandt: 15:35

Yeah, they want every detail.

Laura Bashore: 15:38

Federal resumes are basically a CV. So it's like, whatever you have in there is what you're going to put. So it is good to keep all of that information, because you never know when you're going to need to use it.

Kyle Elliott: 15:50

I think, speaking of that when you mentioned tech, something that I talk about with people often is what is tech? It's a simple question, but there's two at least main areas to go on. You could look for tech companies where we're seeing a lot of these layoffs, or you could go for a tech role in a non-tech company or a tech-enabled role in a non-tech company. I think of it as diagrams. There's quite a few different circles. You could do a tech role in a tech company, a non-tech role in a tech company or a tech role in a non-tech company. Look at these different options.

Kyle Elliott: 16:24

I'm horrible with finances. I have a financial planner, but the one thing I know is diversifying. So in your job search you can diversify and apply for one of the tech roles in a tech company, then apply for a non-tech role in a tech company and then go apply for a non-tech in a tech company and go switch around a bit. You don't want to be too all over the place where the roles are super different. They're pretty similar. You can diversify a bit. So then, if there's all of a sudden the 40-ish layoffs that Mary mentioned in a handful of weeks, you're then planting seeds in different places and diversifying that risk.

Laura Bashore: 16:59

I love that I agree. I have a client doing that right now. That's exactly what he said to me. He's like well, in these type of roles I'm more self-centric, but I also MSF or engineer can do this and want to transition into more of this work. So I think understanding that in yourself too, really being able to tell what those different skillsets are, makes it easy to have if you need two different resumes or if it's just a couple of little tweaks. It really depends on what you're doing.

Mary Fain Brandt: 17:30

That's a great question because I've been reading stuff and you guys know you guys are the resume experts like literally my go-to people, right, because that is not my skill set. I don't want to write resumes, I just want to do profiles and branding and your car statements and all that Resumes you too. But everything that you read, all these stories that a lot of people hit, I call it the easy button on LinkedIn, the easy apply, and I know so I want to ask Kyle right, the easy apply, how do you feel about that? On LinkedIn, a lot of people are like let me, just let me hit that apply button because I'm too lazy and don't want to go the other route. How do you feel about that, kyle?

Kyle Elliott: 18:13

For those who are just listening, I saw Laura Shutter, so I shutter a bit as well when I hear about the easy apply. You could diversify it, though. I think if we think of finances or stocks, or what I remember from my economics classes is you could have easy apply be like a fraction of your job search strategy. A lot of my tech clients are data driven too, so they're like I need to easy apply or I need to go look at jobs on Indeed. Sure, have that be 10 percent of the jobs you apply, or track it, and then we'll see what happens. I've had clients too I'm like oh, you need to apply for a more senior role or more junior role, and they disagree with me. I say let's have the data speak for itself. Have 50 percent of the jobs you apply for, follow your advice and 50 percent follow my advice and we'll see where the data leads us. So with easy apply, you could do the same.

Kyle Elliott: 19:05

Have some be easy apply and some I would go to the company's website directly. The reason why is it's going to be posted there first. Over 99 percent of the time, the very first place HR is going to post is on the company website before going to LinkedIn. That's one of my favorite reasons to go directly. The other reason is then you want to be in the ATS applicant tracking system and considered for other roles. Depending how it's set up on LinkedIn, you may or may not go into the ATS and be considered for other roles if you easy apply. If you just do easy apply, you may only be considered for that role and not other ones at the company, depending how their ATS is set up. They just attended an ATS workshop through the NRWA, the Resume Writing Association. Laura mentioned there's over 600 ATS so we can't say how every single one is set up. Some of them are set up where you have to go directly to the company website to be considered. So I went in doubt. I would go there.

Mary Fain Brandt: 20:03

I agree with that. I think the company website is a better road to take when you're applying. I feel like LinkedIn easy applies just that. It's like hitting the easy button. I'm not sure what the data is on that one, so I just wanted to get your take on it. I know how Laura feels, as you saw her face, and I do feel like in today's world it is a competitive market and our listeners are probably not going to want to hear this. But I feel like you need to tailor your resume and you have that master resume. And when I say tailor, it doesn't mean that you're writing a brand new resume for the 20 different positions. It means you have a master resume and one is I don't know regional manager in IT or whatever, and then there's a president or vice president level. You're going to have different levels of your resume, but you have to match them to the job description that they're posting so that ATS can pick it up right, Especially in tech.

Kyle Elliott: 21:04

Thank you, yeah, and customizing that language. I think, as we talked about earlier, if it's more global company, for example, using some of that global language compared, if it's a Only in one country and you mentioned global and global and global over, they may say, oh, this may not be the right fit unless you're really Emphasizing you, bring global experience and they're looking to expand to become a multinational company, for example, they may see it like it's a disconnect. I often encourage people to treat it like mad lives. You can go through your resume and have fill in the blanks where you literally fill in the spots With what they're looking for. So let's say they have some countries they operate in.

Kyle Elliott: 21:42

Those may be the countries that you Change, depending on which job you apply for, or a manager versus director. That's what you highlight. So you go through and you don't. Like you said, you don't rewrite the whole thing, but spend 20 or 30 minutes tweaking the words based on what they're looking for and the language in that job posting.

Mary Fain Brandt: 22:01

Yeah, I like the mad lives. I love your analogies like oh, I'm gonna use that, we're gonna do a resume, and then you're gonna have a mad libra resume where it's still in the blank because director and manager, you know, on a job description, you guys right, director, manager, um, senior director, senior manager we people call themselves what they want and and the people writing the job description, right. So a manager and a director could be the same thing at different companies though. So, but they're looking for a manager on one resume, and on the other one they're looking for the word director, and you need to have that To get through that ats and into the hands of someone who's reading it and saying, oh, they have director experience or oh, they've been a manager. So, yeah, that's my two cents on resumes.

Laura Bashore: 22:50

Yeah, I think one thing I just wanted to backtrack and say, like I know my face was oh no, easy apply. You know I, yes, I, I can't help that, just because, even when people go through, indeed, I always tell them if you have an option to apply at the website, go to the website first for the same things that you said, kyle. But if you do use easy apply, make sure that you have prime linkedin so you can get the information of the person who's in charge of that. Um, if there isn't a person set up to be in charge of it, then I would definitely not use easy apply, because they're not really using that as their main focus for getting candidates, you know. So think about, do your research and think about what you're doing. You know, does it make sense, do you have enough information so that making that will be beneficial? And, if so, send a follow-up email and say, hey, I just applied and put something in there about why you applied. Besides, I match all the skills.

Kyle Elliott: 23:47

You're right.

Laura Bashore: 23:48

I align with this.

Kyle Elliott: 23:50

I love that, laura. Again, it's only one part. You have this follow-up email, you have networking, you have your linkedin optimized. So hopefully, sourcer is people who are trying to find people to fill this role are reaching out. So this easy apply, applying on the website, sending email to the recruiter these are all just aspects of that diversified job search. So you're not putting all your eggs, you're not putting all the seeds you're planning into just one basket, but then you're spreading it out. So then if one seed doesn't sprout, you have other areas they might be sprouting and I think that's where people go wrong.

Mary Fain Brandt: 24:22

They do one resume, look at one title and they just go down this path right With their blinders on for those of you not watching, I'm pretending I'm a horse with blinders right now. Okay, I just want everyone to get the visual, because I'm such a visual person with my hands Um so, but they have those blinders on and they're missing out on opportunities. That might be A better fit for them. But because they're so focused on a title or a company or a location. And let's be real, I mean, if you have a family and everything, yes, you might. You might be in San Diego like Laura, right, and not gonna move, but for other people It'd be like why not go move to somewhere? Or with today's remote work, why am I not applying for bigger, badder jobs, better, I wanted to say badass jobs, I'm gonna say it that really, you know, can help you get to that next level.

Mary Fain Brandt: 25:18

Yeah, I just think, be bold.

Kyle Elliott: 25:20

Yeah, when I first started investing, like when I had my retirement, you could either have it Planned for you or you could choose the companies. And I googled and it was like g is the best company to invest in. So I put all my money in g, e and it went down.

Kyle Elliott: 25:34

It was everything I googled said g e goes up, up, up. It's like diversifying your stock. Well, right after I invested, went down year over year over year, and so the, for the first time ever, g e goes down, and I learned. This is why you diversify One why, you don't manage your own money and I hired a financial planner.

Laura Bashore: 25:51

It's the same thing in your job.

Kyle Elliott: 25:52

So if you only go over after. Big companies are only too easy apply. Things may in the past have worked to. A lot of clients say oh, I always got my job through networking or I always got it by recruiters contacting me. That may have worked in the past just like how g e always grew. But things happen just like airlines. No one ever thought airlines would go down and leave people off.

Kyle Elliott: 26:13

Or I love disney, the Walt Disney company had only closed one or two days, or the disney parks, and then all of a sudden the pandemic hit and they laid off, I think, 28, 30 000 people. So you want to diversify this job search, particularly in tech, because it's less stable. I love that.

Mary Fain Brandt: 26:31

I love that.

Laura Bashore: 26:33

And that really ties into Sorry, I was just gonna say that really ties into being in control of your career. You cannot Plan for what the people who are running the company are going to do. You can plan for how you're gonna react and be prepared for it. So you really have to understand these things so that you are the one who's in control and you're not just at the whim of whatever's happening in the market the market, with your boss, the organization, you know our whole thing.

Mary Fain Brandt: 27:03

Kyle is really inspiring people to become the CEO of their career, which means having a strategy, having a plan, being prepared at all times. Good CEOs, the ship is running smoothly, everything's going fine. You don't just kick back and be like, okay, my job is done. You're like what could possibly happen? Do we have enough reserves? Are we on track? What happens if the market does this? So, as a career professional, you should always have your resume updated. You should be on LinkedIn, you should have that updated and add things to it conferences, certificates, networking, you know, chamber meetings. Wherever you're out, you should always be networking. These are three things that you should always be doing. Even if you think I have the best job in the world, oh my gosh, nothing's gonna happen.

Mary Fain Brandt: 27:52

I think 2020 taught us stuff can happen. Yeah, that we don't even know that. Like, I mean that, like just slapped us 2020, like reached across the table and slapped us and said, nope, don't get comfortable. And you know, for me personally, even making travel plans, I'm still very hesitant because I'm like, ooh, what if the planes? You know? You know what if there's another outbreak? Now I'm like what if Laura and I are going to Florida, I'm like what if there's a storm and we get stranded again? Like what? You know, my friends got stranded in Florida. So I think that that taught us a lot of just always being prepared. So, laura, for our pod fest conference, you're gonna see my suitcase. I probably have three or four extra outfits just in case, because I'm gonna be.

Laura Bashore: 28:39

Oh, that's how I used to pack for, you know, going to things like Disneyland and the zoo when my children were younger. I thought the apocalypse could happen at any time. My dog's she's very I'm sorry there's someone out there. See, this is unplanned. What has happened here, miss Steve?

Mary Fain Brandt: 29:00

It's okay. This is real life, but I think we've all learned to give each other grace FedEx, amazon deliveries, dogs, kids but you guys, we really hope that you really got some value out of this episode with our dear friend, kyle Elliott. Please look him up on LinkedIn and get connected. You will not be disappointed in the content that he shares. I know that you will learn something from him and if you are in that high level tech space, you know and are looking for something. I always were. You know, kyle, you're my high tech executive person that I would have referred people to Laura and I can also help you. I don't do those resumes. I would send that to Laura or Kyle. But, kyle, do you have any last words before we? We have a little fun section to do at the end, but do you have anything that you wanna add on how to stand out in the job market in 2024? What's one piece of advice?

Kyle Elliott: 29:56

Yes, I think figuring out what's unique and different about you, that can be really challenging. I think of it like a bell curve when you're looking for a job and most of the advice out there, most of the steps people take their landing in the middle of the bell curve. But if there's a hundred or a thousand people applying, you have to be on the far right end of that bell curve and be those top five out of a hundred or a thousand If you wanna get an interview from that top one out of a thousand to land a job. So that's 99.9%. That's the uptime that a lot of engineers need to go for and figure out what sets you apart.

Kyle Elliott: 30:28

And if you're not sure what that fabulousness is, it's very simple. I share this with most people when I do podcasts ask people around you what makes me fabulous, get some insights and then weave that throughout your resume, your LinkedIn, when networking, when interviewing. So then it's not just check, check, check. I meet everything on the job posting. But here's what's unique about the other 999 people who applied for this role.

Mary Fain Brandt: 30:54

I love that.

Kyle Elliott: 30:55

You know, I love that so much.

Mary Fain Brandt: 30:57

I say what makes you fantastic? Yes, I give you the credit, kyle, because you're the one who I think you mentioned that the very first time. I interviewed you years ago and I'm like I love that, but now I had to make it my own. So what makes you fantastic? And I asked people you know text or email five to 10 people and ask them to give you three words when someone mentions your name and don't tell them why. The biggest thing is you, don't tell anybody why. I just need this. So, kyle, I just wanna say thank you, laura. Do you have anything before we go to rapid fire questions?

Laura Bashore: 31:34

Are you going to the conference this year? I have an officially booked day. Are you going to Rhode Island?

Kyle Elliott: 31:39

What's your I am not, no it overlaps with some other events of quite a few. I'm going to HR conference. I'm on the board of the gay coaches, so I'm going to that conference with quite a few other ones that are All in the same time.

Laura Bashore: 31:51

I know they always do it at the same time, right, it's like they all compete for that one weekend. Okay, just wondering, cause I'm like on the edge of it just because you know, I don't know it's cold.

Mary Fain Brandt: 32:02

You thought you were gonna see Kyle, that's why well I know right.

Kyle Elliott: 32:05

I'm so sad we don't gonna see each other. There will be another opportunity, though. There's so many Well now that Kyle's in Santa Barbara.

Mary Fain Brandt: 32:11

I'm thinking road to rip.

Kyle Elliott: 32:13

We're going up to Kyle's.

Mary Fain Brandt: 32:16

I'll fly into San Diego, laura, you and I will drive up there. We'll have lunch and wine with Kyle and just kind of-.

Laura Bashore: 32:23

I would definitely do that. You like how I'm inviting myself Kyle.

Mary Fain Brandt: 32:26

Oh, do it. It's amazing.

Kyle Elliott: 32:27

So much to do here. It's beautiful. We can go to Montecito and see some celebrities. Jb always sees them when we're not together, the like one time he gets coffee without me. He's like, oh, I saw Ellen today. And then like the next yeah, I was on the floor with Richie today. I'm like all right, yeah, so we'll make that trip happen.

Mary Fain Brandt: 32:47

We're gonna make that trip happen. Okay, kyle. So to end the show, we like people to really get to know our guests, so they know that you, you know what you do career-wise. So now we have the rapid fire questions. We have a little fun here, so you have to choose one. You can't add your own answers. I'm gonna give you two words and you have to tell me which one resonates with you. So, okay, you ready. Okay, beach or mountains.

Kyle Elliott: 33:17

Mountains.

Mary Fain Brandt: 33:19

Coffee or tea.

Kyle Elliott: 33:20

Oh, coffee.

Mary Fain Brandt: 33:22

Whiskey or wine.

Kyle Elliott: 33:24

Wine.

Mary Fain Brandt: 33:25

Baseball or football.

Kyle Elliott: 33:27

Neither I'm not a sport. I've seen one sports game in my life.

Mary Fain Brandt: 33:33

Okay, okay, reading a book or binging Netflix.

Kyle Elliott: 33:38

Netflix, for sure.

Mary Fain Brandt: 33:41

Dogs or cats.

Kyle Elliott: 33:42

Dogs.

Mary Fain Brandt: 33:44

Waterski or snowski.

Kyle Elliott: 33:47

Oh snowski.

Mary Fain Brandt: 33:49

Ooh, Okay. This one always gets people Rock and roll or country.

Kyle Elliott: 33:53

Rock and roll.

Mary Fain Brandt: 33:55

Okay, do you ever hit the snooze button.

Kyle Elliott: 33:58

Oh yes, I have like 12 alarms every morning.

Mary Fain Brandt: 34:02

Yes, I knew it Right here, okay, so thank you for playing the rapid fire question and more thank you for your time to really help inspire and educate our audience on how to take control of their career, and especially in the tech field. You are my go-to person, a wise one. Thank you so much for your time, and Laura and I will be booking the Airbnb with you sometime this summer to come see you in Santa Barbara.

Kyle Elliott: 34:32

Awesome. Thank you so much for having me. This was a great conference.

Laura Bashore: 34:35

Thanks for being on today. Bye.

Mary Fain Brandt: 34:40

If you enjoyed the podcast, show us some love. Please rate, review and subscribe to our podcast, and if you have any feedback, go ahead and share that with us too, because we want to hear from you.

Laura Bashore: 34:50

And don't forget to visit our website. You need to find your career journey that can help you take the next step in your career, Woohoo we'll see you next week with another episode to help you redefine your career journey.

Mary Fain Brandt: 35:02

Until then, stay focused, stay motivated and stay caffeinated.