Many professionals and executives have a desire to make radical changes in their career. But, do you know how to make a career transition?
The explosion of AI and other innovative technology has caused many people to proactively reconsider their career paths. Others are impacted by company layoffs, reorganizations, and restructurings, suddenly finding themselves without a job and questioning their next steps.
In this episode, you will learn more about what it takes to make a successful career transition. Our host and CEO Porschia, alongside our guest, Wes Rhea, will share their insight on planning and executing a career change.
Wes Rhea has had an interesting career, holding positions as a healthcare compliance executive, author, educator, and professional wrestler. His experiences laid the foundation for his book, Off the Top Rope: From Professional Wrestling to the Corporate World to the Classroom. Wes has taught undergraduate and executive MBA courses at Kennesaw State University, where he also served as a career coach. Wes holds a bachelor’s of Business Administration, a master’s of Business Administration, and Juris Doctor degrees.
What you’ll learn:
- When changing careers might be a good idea
- How Wes knew it was time to make a transition in his own career
- Tips on how to make a career transition
- The biggest mistakes professionals and executives make with their career transitions
- Importance of setting yourself up for success in your new role
As a thank you for listening to this episode of the Career 101 Podcast, we are sharing our FREE master class – Career 911: Solving the Top 5 Challenges Executives and Professionals Have! It’s a training based on solving the common problems our clients have experienced to reach their goals. You can get access to the master class here!
Episode Transcript
Porschia: [00:00:00] Today we are talking about Career Transition 101, how to make a career transition with Wes Ray. Wes Ray was born and raised in Marietta, Georgia. Throughout his career, he has been a healthcare compliance executive, author, educator, and professional wrestler. Wes started his career as a professional wrestler in the late 1980s, which ran through the mid 90s.[00:01:00]
while wrestling for various promotions throughout the Southeast. While in the corporate sector, Wes held executive level positions as a vice president, corporate compliance officer, chief information officer, and chief compliance officer in the telecommunications, financial, and healthcare industries. Wes taught courses at Kennesaw State University in the undergraduate and executive MBA programs, where he also served as a career coach.
Wes holds Bachelor of Business Administration, Master of Business Administration, and a Juris Doctor degree. Hi, Wes. How are you today?
Wes: Hi, Portia. Thank you so much. I’m doing great. How about yourself? I’m
Porschia: doing well. I’m excited to have you with us to discuss career transition 101, how to make a career transition.
But first we want to know a little more about [00:02:00] you. So tell me about seven year old West.
Wes: Thank you so much, Portia. It’s a pleasure to be here with you today. And I’m so excited to be talking about this topic. It’s near and dear to my heart. So, yeah, seven year old Wes was an interesting kid, I guess you could say.
He I was, I’m an only child. And so I had to learn the ropes no pun intended there, so to speak the hard way, I guess. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters to learn how to, hey, don’t do that that’s going to hurt, or you’re going to get in trouble with mom and dad if you do that. So, I had to learn, learn those on my own, either touch this or don’t do that or that’s going to hurt, or that’s going to sting, or that’s going to leave a mark, so in a way, though, it I’d say Porsche, it helped I guess in a way. get me going for the next, career for the career for me. It’s something that I’ve always, I got to try, I’ve got to try something, whether it works or doesn’t work. And I think that kind of set the tone for me in my life at the time, didn’t really know it, but going forward.
So, I’ve been one to say, there’s some job opportunity here or [00:03:00] try this or try us. I was going to do it. I didn’t want to go back and say, I should have done that. Or why didn’t I do that? So I think that kind of helped set the tone for me as a very athletic young kid and someone who was going to try something, just going to try and find out what was going to happen.
Porschia: Yeah. Yeah. You sound active and adventurous at seven. What did you want to be when you grew
Wes: up? That’s a great question. And this is going to probably be a, surprising answer. Maybe when I was a kid, I know a lot of kids like, I’m going to be a doctor or a nurse or a lawyer or a teacher or, police officer, firefighter, I honestly wanted to either be a.
Professional baseball player or professional wrestler. That is the truth. It was one of those two. That was really why I didn’t want Carol. I didn’t want to be the president of the United States or anything like that. I said, I want to be one of those two. Well, you made it Wes, you made
Porschia: it.
Before we get to the wrestling career, what was your first
Wes: job? [00:04:00] Yeah, my first job I guess if you go back to Probably in when I was in college, I played baseball in college and in between, seasons have a part time job. I worked for a really great gentleman in, actually in the neighborhood I grew up in, and he was work from home before work from home was even a thing.
He had a little bit of land on his, at his home, and he actually had a separate building where it was his office, and he was an architect. And so I worked there didn’t draw, I can’t draw anything. , but I, I printed off house plans, did a lot of operational sort of work helped with some bookkeeping, things of that nature just odds and ends, part time work.
there, but it, it was a great, it was a great experience for me. It was a great man. Really enjoyed the people that had, three or four people that work there and it was an opportunity to learn a lot about the home building industry and just learn a lot about that. And learning also about how to run your own business.
He had his own, his own business and literally he could walk probably. Two minutes from his front door to his office [00:05:00] there and it was, really great set up and it was just a really good man and a good family and had not, it was very flexible for me to continue, healthy, knew the importance of, finishing your degree and other things I had going on.
, but it was a great opportunity to do that. That was really probably my first job in college. And then, of course, hadn’t, yeah. Other jobs after we graduated and that sort of thing. But that was probably really the first job where I was able to have a good part time job in school without having to really balance school and get some work going too.
Porschia: Yeah. And we’ve had quite a few guests who said that, in their first jobs, they were supporting some type of entrepreneur and, or business owner, and they really got to see and learn a lot about business, through that experience. You have a very interesting background, Wes. It sounds like you actually have achieved your Two of your goals at seven, right?
The baseball and the wrestling. So you’ve done what most people can’t do. Most people, they, or haven’t done. [00:06:00] They don’t necessarily achieve that seven year old goal, but you have. What motivated you to have a wrestling career?
Wes: Yeah, that’s a great question, Portia. I’ll try to not be too long winded with it, for sure, on that.
Yeah as I said, as a kid, you have these aspirations of, being a professional athlete. I played all sports, whatever was in season. And I loved, professional wrestling. This was a long time ago, of course, back then. But, it was always that, that kind of good versus evil, bad guy and the good guy sort of thing, which is always, I was a Spider Man and Batman, Superman, man, growing up. I played all sports, went to college, played baseball at Kennesaw State University here in Georgia. I really wanted to play professional baseball, but they wasn’t in the cards.
I didn’t end up, did end up getting a, what they call a free agent. Tryout was a professional team, which didn’t work out. And I was like, Oh, wow. There’s my dream. . And then had the ran into a couple of friends that I [00:07:00] had went to high school with who had entered into the world of professional wrestling.
And this was in the late eighties and the professional wrestling in the late eighties, very different from what we see today as a kind of what I would say, more of a, a closed sort of business. She had to know someone who knew someone, the secret handshake to get in and all that. And so, I I was really intrigued, Hey, how did you get into this?
So I started asking a few questions and they started helping me out now this just give the. Give the folks who are listening a little bit of a visual. I currently I’m 6’2 about 190 pounds. Back then, I was like 6’2 maybe 170 pounds. Okay? And I don’t know what would possess a 6’2 175 pounds.
70 pound person that you can be a professional wrestler, but something did. So they were like, Oh, sure. They’ll, the TV will add 10 pounds to you. They’ll bill you too. And I was like, Oh, great. Yeah, this is great. Not thinking much of it. And they were both, they’re six foot six, two and well over 200 pounds, so, they ended up connecting me with someone and I, they were [00:08:00] like, okay, you can come up with the Saturday afternoon and Northwest Georgia to come and, have what they call a tryout.
I was like, Oh, this is great. And I’m going to finally be able to do all these cool moves you see on the TV and everything. And unfortunately I have to tell you, I went up there and for about an hour and a half, I was beaten up for free. And after about 15, 20 minutes into it, I was said to myself, okay, what have you gotten yourself into now?
What are, what have you done this time? But again, it goes back to that. I didn’t ever want to leave something out there that, And be that 60 year old person that says, ah, I could have been this and I could have been that, wanted to at least try it or other fail trying then not tried, so I did. So after about half hour into it, I said, okay, , this can’t last forever. You’re pretty athletic, just slow things down and start using your athletic ability, get through it. And then we. We got through it and I thought, okay, well, got my gear said, well, chalk that one up to, number two failure.
And you’re going to have to go. At least I had my degree at that point. So I had enough sense to at least listen to my parents [00:09:00] and get my degree as well as I was leaving. Also, the guy training said, hey, kid, come here. And that’s usually what they call you. And they can’t remember your name is Hey, kid, so he said, Hey, I can tell you’re athletic.
You got some a. You’re just not big enough, you need to get some weight on you. But if you can get up to 200 pounds, I’ll train you. And I’m, and Portia, I’m one of those, it’s like, just give me a chance, the door open, and it was if anybody’s ever seen the movie, dumb and dumber when Jim and Carrie said, so you’re saying there’s a chance, right?
And that was Kind of me. So I, I’ve always been a big plan person and been very disciplined from playing sports, which I think has helped me a lot throughout my career and being disciplined teamwork and working with others and competition. So as all I needed, it was a chance. So I went back home and it took about two or three days to recoup from the from getting beat up.
And then had a friend that had It was a somewhat of a competitive bodybuilder. His parents owned a fitness center and I had a friend and she was a nutritionist. So I started connecting with some folks and putting a plan together. And then, [00:10:00] yeah, so I put the 30 pounds on and actually said, you know what, I’m gonna make sure I’m too, I’m gonna get to two Oh five, just in case I lose a little in the, so I got to two Oh five, called him back and, Portia I can see it as clearly as.
You and I are talking right now and I went and called him back up and he was probably thinking, Oh, probably never hear from this, this guy again, but I called him back up and he said, yeah, come on back. And I’ll never forget when I walked in the door, he did a double take because he was like, wow, you did it, and so we started the training program. And then, next thing I know I’m wrapping up a training session. He’s like, Hey, go get your gear. You’re going to, you’re going to be on our, on the show tonight. And I was like, what? Yeah, it just took some time. It shouldn’t happen over two or three days, but it’s happened.
This happened over some months here. And then, got my stuff together and, I said to myself, just go out there. Be yourself, do it, and if nothing ever else comes out of this, you can at least say you did it, you did it, and then, luckily things progressed, we ended up getting on several promotions was able to get on some, We had a [00:11:00] particular promotion that I worked with there was on a Fox affiliate of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and had TV on that.
And it was just a, very different sort of a business, but it was, again, giving me that athletic outlet there. And it was a combination of what they call, again, sports entertainment. So it was great. I got to meet some really interesting people, got to do some things that, as, yeah.
Air quotes here. West Ray wouldn’t been able to do as the professional wrestler. So, I really enjoyed that piece of the puzzle being able to, do some helping people through some charity events and things of that nature, which is part of doing that. So I really did enjoy and love helping people.
So it was a great outlet for me both ways, but eventually as I got close to about almost about 30 there, the body just couldn’t handle it anymore. And I thought, okay, you gotta make. Plan B. Well, I’ve got
Porschia: a question before we move on to plan B. Inquiring minds want to know, were you the good guy or the bad guy persona, Wes?
Wes: Yeah, and Portia I was probably 90% of the time the good guy. I will [00:12:00] have to say though and I feel like I’m a nice guy in general, so that’s, hopefully my mom would probably agree too, hopefully, there was about 10% times of the time there, I did get the chance to, what they say, play a bad guy, and I have to tell you, Portia, it was really fun.
Yeah,
Porschia: let all of the, let all of the, the manners and all that stuff out the window.
Wes: It’s amazing. It’s amazing. What When you’re like, you’re, when you’re a bad guy, you want people to boo you. Yeah.
Porschia: Yeah. That’s the goal. That’s the goal. Well Wes, you started talking, alluding to plan B, which is where I was going to go.
You mentioned a little bit about your body, maybe feeling like it was breaking down a little bit, but how did you know it was time to transition from wrestling?
Wes: That’s a great question. I’ve had that asked before and I’ve, I’ve met a lot of professional athletes over the top over my years.
And that’s a question that I think. I’ve heard people, we, of course, the most recent maybe, the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom [00:13:00] Brady, he was going to retire. And the next thing he’s not retiring. And then finally, he did retire. I have to say Portia I started getting a little bit of.
Plans ahead and only about that last year. And I went to start work. I went to work for a customer service as a customer service agent for a pretty large telecommunications company. It was a 24, seven started at the bottom of the ranks. And I guess you could say, but the cool thing at that time is a 24, seven operation, very flexible.
So, and the manager having to hire me like the professional wrestling, we hit it off well, and it was a very flexible. So it allowed me to, as I was finishing up that last year, I started getting my foot in the door doing customer service and it allowed me to. Continue to do some professional wrestling at the time as I was wrapping this up because someone was telling them it’s just really, it was a full time job just to eat and keep my weight on.
So it was really starting to take a toll on my body. And and I have to say, Portia, I was in the ring on one of my matches and as we were finishing it up, something said, It’s it. You’re done. It wasn’t like, well, I was able to, I pretty much at that [00:14:00] point said, let’s just wrap this thing up and go ahead and get out while you’re, still walk and, and all those things.
Right. And it just really hit me. And again, I’d already had the plan somewhat in place, but it was really all of a sudden it just said, yeah, that’s it. You’re done. Yeah, and thanks
Porschia: for sharing that, Wes, because many executives and professionals that we work with, sometimes we hear them say, like, they feel like it’s time to make a career transition.
From your perspective, what is the best way to make a career
Wes: transition? A great question. And I can, a couple things I can tell you and how part of how I did it and also what I would think would be hopefully good for some others as well. When I was coming out of that I had to professional wrestling can take an inventory of my skills I said okay, what can you bring to the table okay Lisa had my degree I had a degree in business.[00:15:00]
- I said, well, I’ve been in front of cameras, I can present, I’ve been in front of hostile crowds a few times. So customer service was, hostile at times and people calling in, so I was able to come up with the skills that I learned interpersonal skills, negotiations, things of that nature, as a professional wrestler.
So I was able to help me do that and I transitioned into customer service and Portia for those who are listening and have ever worked in customer service, I mean, it’s a great starting point and it really is a great place to learn about it. I didn’t want to be a customer service rep for, all my career.
Right. So I started saying, what can I do? So, at the time there, I had an opportunity to, I got pretty good at the system we were using as a, on the, as a customer service agent. And I got to the point where I would start help train. new reps coming on. And by doing that, I started connecting with our technology team who would deliver the software builds or new software for us to train on.
And there was a group called quality assurance or software testing. And I got, and I [00:16:00] started building relationships with those folks. And then next thing I know, they were like, Hey, we’ve got an opening over here. Are you interested? Cause I might find an issue with the software from time to time. Hey, you know what happened here, guys?
Oh, we need to fix it. And they were like, and I got the job. The next thing I know, I went from, Customer service, and I’m in I. T. Which is a great field, a hot field. Right? And so that helped me transition there. And I think the biggest thing I could, I would always say to folks is, are you in a job?
Are you in a career? Right? And when I was in customer service, I have to say I was a job, did a job every two weeks. You got a paycheck. And then when I started getting into. Quality assurance software test. I said, okay, now I’m into what I think is a career. What can I do? So I start, I think the biggest thing would be start looking ahead.
Where do you want to go? You’re this, do you want to be a manager? Do you want to be a director? You want to be a VP? A C level? Look at those folks who are around you in those roles. What are they doing? What type of degrees do they have? Certifications? What are they doing? Right?
[00:17:00] Mentors. I think mentors is huge, and so, I started my career in quality assurance doing that and then ended up going and getting my MBA during that time because I knew, I said, I want to be in management. I wanted to be, go up the ladder at that point. So that’s what I did.
And that’s what I, I talked to some folks. It’s really trying to say, where do you want to go? Where do you want to be? Where are you trying to go? Right. Are you do you want to be a manager? Do you want to be a director? What are those next steps for you and start planning, you might have to get that, get more education certification things of that nature.
So that was what I did and what my advice would probably be to those who are looking to transition and really look at the skills you have. And the biggest thing. I see, and you may see this with some of your clients, and I see a lot of times people sell themselves short. They put the roadblocks or the barriers up themselves.
Oh, I can’t go do that. I’ve never been in that. Well, maybe you can, right? Let’s look at what you’re doing. Let’s make sure your resume is crafted. Correctly and telling the right story because you’re the CEO of you, right?[00:18:00] , you have to promote yourself. So I think really looking at what you want to do, and I’ve, I’ve always heard the, I think it was a quote that was if you really want to do something, you’ll find a way.
And if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse, right? I mean, there’s, and that, the whole. That I think that cliche of, a goal without a plan is just a wish, right? So I think it’s putting those things together.
Porschia: I agree. You said. A lot of great things there, Wes, that I want to just [00:19:00] make sure I like for the listeners.
You talked a bit about understanding your, what we like to call transferable skills, right? You pointed out your interpersonal skills, negotiations, training, all of that helped you To transition, from customer service into I. T. and quality assurance. And then really that idea of looking ahead, like you said and planning out where you want to go is so important.
And something that you touched on that I want to piggyback on. about degrees. So you have a Juris Doctorate in Law and a MBA. Many of our clients wonder if they should pursue an advanced degree. What are your thoughts on if executives and professionals should pursue advanced degrees.
Wes: I am a learner, Portia.
I love learning. And I’m, of course, a big fan of education and continuing to learn. I [00:20:00] truly believe my MBA and my JD, a Juris Doctor, has helped me tremendously in the roles I’ve been in. And also what I would say to folks who might, if you have I have aspirations of being at that, VP, senior VP, C level, go look at folks who are in those levels and see what types of degrees they have.
Most of them will probably have advanced degrees. He or she will probably have an advanced degree. And I can tell you from my own experience, I felt the MBA was going to help me tremendously when it did in. Again, being in management or, getting to that director VP level and as I started focusing my career in healthcare compliance, I was working for legal counsel and I didn’t want to be in a attorney, a really like a practicing attorney, that really was not my goal.
But I already had the background and the knowledge and the legal counsel I was working for at the time was, who became a mentor of mine, and he kept telling me, he said, if you go back and get your law degree, your JD, you’re going to be very marketable because compliance officers, healthcare companies have to have them.[00:21:00]
And a lot of times most people who go to law school to be attorneys don’t usually want to be compliance officers. That’s usually what not what they’re doing. So we had a good relationship with him. We kept he kept pushing me in that. And I think I’ve finally said, I tried to bring up the block, the excuse.
I mean, I was in my 40s at the time. And he said, Well, how old are you going to be three years from now? And I told him, he said, Well, you’re going to be That age with or without a law degree, I was like, okay, you got me. So, once again, though, when I have to say Portia, when I started it, it was like going back to that professional wrestling training.
That first time I was like, what have I gotten myself into again? It was, when I’m trying to work and go to law school at the same time, it wasn’t easy, but it was be done, but it, I have to say it. In this field of compliance and healthcare compliance and privacy and security, it was a game changer for me, getting that JD.
It opened doors up for me in that chief compliance officer space. It really cause as I was mentioning, most [00:22:00] attorneys do not want to be a compliant officer for the most part. They, so this was a nice. balance for me. I had the law degree, I had the background, the knowledge, and it was, it made a nice fit for me.
And then also being able to understand the business side, which is the MBA piece of the puzzle, helped me a lot. I think that was, and then having that technology background gave me that third piece of the puzzle there to be able to, okay, I can understand these things and where they’re going.
, I’m a huge fan of that, continuing to learn, certifications you, I think you gotta continue to learn and get your craft. I think a lot of people will spend time and money on their outside activities, which is great that you do away from work, but I think sometimes people forget that sometimes you might have to spend some money on certifications or something like that.
And a lot of times, some companies will pay for those things for you, yeah, so
Porschia: one thing I a question I want to ask you because this is a question that a lot of our clients ask me as [00:23:00] they are, thinking about advanced degrees. How do they know if getting that advanced degree, that master’s degree, or that JD, how do they know if it would be worth it?
Wes: Great question. And I think that is the question that, you know, and this again, my take, my opinion, right? So, There’s so many great schools out there, right? And there are a lot of schools that are very expensive, and I think a lot of it depends on where you are in your life, do you think you’re going to get a return on your investment?
I have to say that the law school I went to Did not cost me a, I guess, an arm and a leg, as they say, right? There’s lots of really great law schools out there that, can put you in, you can get yourself in some debt, and you may not recoup that. So I think what what helped me make the decision was I really knew where I wanted to go with my career.
And then also what I would say to folks who might be questioning, whether they’re, should they do this or not, is, If you’re wanting to be in a certain place or a certain [00:24:00] job, look at some job descriptions out there for that role. And a lot of times, I think a lot of companies are moving away from, MBA required or JD required that kind of boxes them in when they do that.
But if most companies will say preferred, and if they’re saying preferred, that usually means they’re going to lean towards a candidate, With those, and I’ve seen a lot of people who have great skills and experience, but may have missed out because they didn’t have that advanced degree or that other piece of or that certification.
And so what I would suggest is say, where are you? What jobs do you want? Look at those job descriptions, and if they are preferring an MBA or whatever the case may be, then go find an MBA that it doesn’t have to be the most expensive school. , there’s plenty of, you can get online now.
There’s all sorts of ways to do it, and what I’ve seen is the curriculum is a curriculum. It’s really what you [00:25:00] make of it, right? An MBA program from Harvard, from, from Any school, they’re probably going to be about the same. It’s just, they’re going to be a cost difference, right? So there’s all different kinds.
So I think it’s just looking at what makes sense to you, what’s convenient, how you can work it in. And I think the big thing is this, sometimes you got to start, and then before you know it, three years will be up or two years, right? But I’m a big fan of it. I think if you want to go up that ladder and that.
VPC level role area. I think usually I think an advanced degree is going to be very helpful or some sort of maybe certificate advanced certificate, they’re offering a lot of schools are offering those as well too. So that’s just, my take on that. Well, thank
Porschia: you. Thank you for sharing.
Yeah. Another thing I would love to get your insight on. What would you say are some of the biggest mistakes that you’ve seen either your students or just other people that you know make with their career
Wes: transitions? [00:26:00] Yeah, that’s a really good one. And I’ve been guilty of that myself. So I can tell you real quick.
One from my own mistake was when I did have that opportunity to be into a CIO chief information officer, I’d left the healthcare space and I’d been, I was comfortable I’ll be on, very comfortable. I had a lot of people I’ve worked with, a lot of good friends I’ve worked with and then had this opportunity to be a chief information officer.
I knew it wasn’t going to happen at the company I was at, fortunately, it was in the financial sector, in financial industry sector, and it was 2007 timeframe, eight, if anybody remembers what was going on around that time, we were having some Pretty bad financial things going on. And the company I, is perfect.
I was like, Oh, great. Finally getting this role went over there. Things were going well, about a year later, boom, the company had been, the products, they were using or selling really went down and they were acquired. And so there’s a lot of duplication of efforts, reduction in force.
So I immediately retreated, [00:27:00] let’s stay in healthcare, maybe I should stay focused, but so that was one where I think I probably took an opportunity and not really looking at the industry where I didn’t have a lot of my, again, Transferable skills, but it was a bad timing on that particular one.
And I think, in general, what I see a lot of times, people, some of the mistakes they make, Portia I, especially with students, I think just getting ready to graduate or maybe even if it’s an internship. The biggest thing I would see from them when I would have conversations with them, I think they would, would sell themselves short.
They just didn’t think they, well, I can’t do this, or I don’t have that experience, or I’m like yeah, you can, it’s okay. They’re going to help you learn. They’re, you’re, you have skills, that you’re showing them that you can learn, that you can, that you can be taught.
And I think it’s just really having that confidence that, yeah, you can. take that next step and, and do it. I’ve seen, I think a lot of times I see people I think get comfortable and they don’t, they get afraid to make that next step. And that’s, it’s a comfort [00:28:00] zone, right? It’s why they call it the comfort zone, right?
So I think that’s the biggest thing. And I think that probably the other thing I would see for when people do make that. And I think part something I learned to I think when you make that step is I think you nearly need to have kind of a 90 day plan. What do you want to accomplish when you get there?
And don’t, because next thing you know, like, well, why did we hire Wes for this? He hasn’t really done anything yet. So I think sometimes we go to a new company where, we Get them coast a little bit, they’re going to tell me where I need to do or what we need to do or what I need to do.
So I think it’s just really, I think putting a plan together is okay. When I get there, I want to accomplish A, B and C. I want to make connections with these people. I want to make sure the person I’m working for who may be very different from my previous manager, he or she may, I want to, how do you like.
Information given to you. How often do you want to meet? Those sort of thing. I think setting those cadences up. So I think just not being afraid to make that move. And then when you do make that move, make sure you have that plan in place to, those first 6090 [00:29:00] days. What are you going to do when you get there?
Yeah, I think
Porschia: those are all great tips, looking at the industry and the timing, not selling yourself short, having that confidence and then making that 90 day plan. One way that we talk about that with our clients West is I tell them that they need to create their own onboarding plan and the 90 day plan.
Definitely could be like an offshoot of that or in addition to that or perhaps altogether, but I definitely agree with that. So tell us about your book, Top Rope from professional wrestling to the corporate world, to the
Wes: classroom. Yeah, thank you so much, Portia. Yeah, this was it was an interesting journey.
I have to say, Portia, it’s one of those, I guess you could say something I really wanted to check off the list. I’ve always had a, I really wanted to write a book and just never could really, oh, what would be interesting to someone? And a friend of mine who I had a chance to know at, [00:30:00] University kept saying, you need to write a book on the, he was really intrigued with the professional wrestling thing.
And I was like, I, I wasn’t quite that famous where people are going to want to, he’s like, but hey, talk about maybe how you went from here to here. And I was like, okay, maybe you’re onto something. So, I started, dabbling a bit with that put a chapter together, pitched it to a publisher.
I got they got back to me liked it. They say, can you do nine more of these chapters? Like, well, I think I can So, you know really the goal was to I just love helping people I really do. I really love helping people like yourself and I really wanted the book to be you know a way to show people that you can do these things.
I went from, professional wrestling to getting into the corporate world and making it to some executive level positions and getting into the world of academia. And I think what I try to show through the book to Portia is that, here’s some things, I could add some steps in there that’ll help you, [00:31:00] some fields that are very hot, some certifications, schooling, education, as you mentioned, But, a lot of times, I think, where I really would try to get it, it does take some perseverance and hard work.
And part of the title is a little bit of luck. You do have to have timing with that. And also faith is a big part for me as well. And I think that played a big role. And the timing, as I mentioned, had bad timing in 2007 and 2008 and in late 90s, I had great timing when the Y2K was going on and the dot com days were going on.
So I had good timing there. And so I think it’s, a lot about those things to just, trying to let people know you can do it. It’s got hopefully a positive uplifting message that, if you work hard, persevere, don’t give up. And do the things you’re, do, put in the work, the education the experience and really have a plan for what you’re trying to do really is really what I’m trying to get across to people with, again, that, positive message that you can do this.
I think we have a lot of negativity, unfortunately, at times, and, don’t put that roadblock up on it. It might not be easy. It might not happen.[00:32:00] I think the Prince said it the best. It takes sometimes years to become an overnight success, and I think sometimes people see you where you are and don’t realize the road, or the journey.
And I just really hoping that maybe somebody will get a chance to look at that and go, okay, if that guy did it, I can do it, yeah. Yeah.
Porschia: I completely agree with all of that. Positivity is one of the core values of our company. And I tell. All of our new team members, similarly to what you said, I said, I generally say something along the lines of, most people, I mean, we get enough negativity in the world, right in real life on the internet everywhere, but I really feel as a coaching firm and also for our professional writing and clients, we might be the only positive person in their life that believes they can do it.
Right. I take that very seriously and that’s why all of our team members are really cognizant of that as [00:33:00] well. So thank you for pointing that out, Wes. Yeah,
Wes: no you’re right on, Portia and that’s so great to hear that you do that with your team. I mean, it’s. You’re right, because that might be the only connection to, like I said, a positive, that, I don’t know if you just real quick I don’t know if you’re familiar with Sarah Blakely, who invented Spanx, if you’ve heard her story before or not, but, for a long time, she didn’t tell anybody about her idea, what she was wanting to do, and a lot of people always, I would tell this to my students, and they would say, well, they, she didn’t want somebody to steal her idea, and it really wasn’t, she didn’t want anybody to steal her idea, she didn’t want people to tell her, you can’t do this.
This is going to fail. Why are you doing this? Here’s all the negativity, the wrong things with that. She didn’t want to really basically hear that and that’s a balance, right? So I think like you said, there’s so much that, you need that positive voice or that, person in your corner.
Porschia: Yeah, I agree. And I thank you for sharing that I did hear her talk about her story and I forgot about that part. So yes, , very insightful West. Well, we’ll be providing a [00:34:00] link to your website and your other social channels in our show notes so that everyone can find you online. But what is the best way for someone to get in touch with you?
Wes: Yeah, probably the best way would be through the through the website, offthetopropebook. com. That would probably be the best way to get me. There’s a way to contact me through the website, and if anybody’s interested in the book, it’s got a link to get you to all the, it takes you to, I think it’s to Amazon, but you can get Amazon, Barnes Noble, and any of the any of the outlets, or where your favorite books are sold.
I’ve always wanted to say that. But yeah, so that would probably be the best way, Portia, Off the Top Rope. book. com. I’m also Wes Ray author on Instagram so people can connect with and LinkedIn as well. Wes Ray on LinkedIn. I always love connecting with people on LinkedIn and helping people through, through that channel as well.
But those are probably the best ways to get in touch with me. And again, just can’t thank you enough for having me on today and hearing, get a chance to have that conversation with you.
Porschia: Absolutely. , that’s great. I want to ask you our final [00:35:00] question that we like to ask all of our guests.
How do you think executives or professionals can get a positive edge in their career?
Wes: That is a very good one. Get a positive edge in their career. I, I think the big thing is really surrounding yourself. with good positive people. I know you probably have had them. I’m sure portion your career and with the folks you work with.
I know in my, I look back a lot of times at my previous companies and jobs and I really, it was really more about the people, right? I mean, not that I didn’t enjoy what I did, but I was like, well, I really enjoyed the people. So I always tried to surround myself with very positive people. And also people who aren’t afraid to, Tell you, tell you what’s going on too, right?
That sort of thing. So that’s always been very important to me. Something, again, I try to always do is, I start my day off with faith and reading some very positive messages and things of that nature just to try to, get that day going, take some time for that.
I think just trying to, keep that Through reading and through people that you connect with and having that who can help give you that [00:36:00] positivity Because as you mentioned earlier, there’s just so much negativity going on It’s just it’s really nice to have people around you who are uplifting and positive And I think it just shows it helps with everybody and their you know, their demeanor and their personality So having those people I think are going to be the big things having those people around you What are those other outlets to that help you whether it’s reading or other things that might help?
Give you that list as well, too. But that’s always been very important to me is having those people around you. Well,
Porschia: Wes, you’ve shared a lot of insights with us today, and I’m sure that our listeners can use it to be more confident in their careers. We appreciate you being with
Wes: us. Thank you so much, Portia.
It was such a pleasure and I’m getting very impressed with you and your business and what you all are doing. And I just can’t thank you enough for having me today. It was a truly a pleasure and look forward to more conversations with you for sure. [00:37:00]
