I asked my good friend Ken Coleman
to join us, to lay down some wisdom
and create an action plan for getting the job that you love.
He is a best-selling author, host of The Ken Coleman Show
on SirusXM, and one of our Ramsey Personalities,
and a good friend of mine.
Please welcome Ken Coleman.
- Yes, Happy Birthday Rachel!
The big 3-0.
- Oh, Ken.
- Do these people know you're turning 30?
- Oh, they do. (laughs)
- Well, I wasn't about to come on your show
and not celebrate you, so there it is.
Look at that, I did not make it.
- It looks delicious.
- The crew brought this, so there you go,
and look at this, I'm gonna set it right here.
I'm getting it on my fingers.
- Is it good?
- Is it rude to lick your fingers?
- Is it good?
- Okay, look what I did.
- I'll do it.
- I've got two forks, so if you wanna try it.
I don't know, it's up to you, so there you go.
- I like the purple hat.
- Give it a try, oh you like the party hat?
- You know, I'm actually not a sweet tooth.
- Are you a salt?
- Oh no.
- Oh boy, it's on the furniture.
- It's gettin' bad, we're gonna stop it.
- Oh my gosh, it's on the furniture.
- I'm gonna stop it, okay.
Well, Ken, thanks for being here.
- I'm thrilled to be here.
I surprised you, didn't I?
- You did surprise me.
- I thought it was the least I could do.
- Just you and the glory of the party hat and the cake.
- One thing, you're turning 30.
- I am.
- People wanna know, I know they do,
so before you start asking me questions,
are you dying the hair yet, are you seeing any early grays?
- Oh.
- 'Cause I don't see any grays right now.
- My gosh.
- Are you?
- The grays are in, in full force.
- But they're not there.
- I know, I color.
- When did you color?
- A year and a half ago, when I was like 28 and a half.
- (laughs) 28 and a half, oh bless your heart.
- It's so bad. You brunettes out there, you know. You know.
Alright, well this was a great gift.
- Alright so this is great fun, we'll eat this later,
because we're gonna have to run this off.
Lindsey, can you come get this lovely birthday cake?
Oh and the party hat.
- Here, I'll give you that.
- There we go, oh you're so awesome.
- What a great gift.
- How 'bout that.
- Ken, thank you.
- Well there you go.
- Seriously.
- It's all about adding value.
- I think even a better gift though,
is if you tell everyone who's watching,
how they can find a job they love.
You have some great tips,
because you're an expert in this area.
- Where you want to start is,
you need to find out who you are.
How were you wired?
I believe that everyone was created
with two distinct elements that allow you
to find the work that you love and do it your whole life.
Those two elements are, first, your talents,
strengths, skills, all the same word,
but these are things that you do better
than anything else.
And then, we wanna look at passions,
this is what I love to do more than anything else.
We call it, on The Ken Coleman Show, the sweet spot.
It's where you're able to use your top skills
to do the work that matters most to you.
The work that gives you joy.
You see time begin to disappear,
you can't believe that two or three hours
have passed by, so we start there.
And once we figure that out,
then we can look within the sweet spot
for multiple roles, so you can actually
have two, three, four jobs within a career,
that are all technically dream work,
but you're gonna move up the ladder.
The first step is find that sweet spot,
where your talent and your passion intersect.
- That's good, and then it's all about searching
for the dream job right?
Finding it.
- That's it, once you get an idea of what the roles are,
now we are going to pursue this,
but only after we put a plan together.
We don't want you to just willy-nilly pursue,
because that can lead to a lot of frustration.
Let's talk about the plan.
Couple questions that you can ask,
that'll help you come up with a plan.
The first is, what do I need to learn?
Now, that I know what I need to do,
so let's just say, that you wanna be a teacher.
Well, what is gonna be required, where do I wanna teach?
Well, obviously I need a degree.
- It's like the tactical elements of it.
- This is tactical, what do I need to learn?
Then, who do I need to know.
You've heard the classic phrase,
it's not attributed to anybody,
so I'm gonna steal it today.
It's not what you know, it's who you know.
- And how true is that though?
- It's really true.
- Those relationships that you build in life,
those are the people that take you to the next step
and it's huge.
- It'll take you to the top of the resume pile.
- Yeah.
- It's about who you know.
First question, okay, what do I need to learn,
what qualifications am I gonna need?
Who do I need to know?
Now, two very practical questions,
how long is it gonna take?
How much is it gonna cost?
These are questions that the plan gets super specific there,
because we go, oh if I gotta get a degree,
well can I afford it?
I'm gonna cash flow it, so it may take me six years.
- Yep.
- That's where we get super specific on the plan,
before we just strike out.
- It's so good.
And you also say, I love this,
pursue on purpose.
Okay, so tell me about that.
It's very catchy. (snapping)
- It is, and here's another catchy little thing,
we call it the proximity principle.
- Ooh, lots of P's around here. (laughs)
- You like that?
Love, love the alliteration.
The proximity principle says this: in order to do
what I wanna do, Rachel, I've gotta be around people
that are doing it and be in places where it is happening.
- People and places.
- That's it.
The idea is, let's just say, we're on a TV set right now,
let's say you wanna get into the television industry.
That looks really intimidating.
- Yep.
- You think Los Angeles, New York,
I don't know anybody how am I gonna make connections?
Well, here's the deal, in those early days
you wanna just say, hey, can I hang out on the set?
Can I volunteer?
Can I bring the apples, and the grapes,
and the bottled water?
Can I just volunteer?
Do grunt work.
Be a production assistant, lowest level,
and then work your way up.
That's proximity, because you're around people
that are doing the work you wanna do,
and you're in places where it's happening.
And here's what happens there.
Two things, experience and relationships.
- Yes.
- That happens there in proximity.
You won't believe the doors that will open up for you.
- And then that kinda leads into your last point too, right?
Get in the right place.
- Once you're there, stay in the right place.
Most people, Rachel, I am the same way,
I get tempted by this all the time,
I always want progress to happen faster.
- Right.
- Happen now, happen now, happen now,
and the reality is if I get in the right place
with that proximity principle, and I stay there,
the right time will take care of itself.
You only need to worry about getting in the right place,
when you're there, you will find that opportunities
will seek you out.
And here's the best part, you're ready, you're there.
I wouldn't worry about the right timing,
I worry about the right place.
- Because, the hard thing is, a lot of people
they just want the outcome, right?
The dream outcome, I just wanna get here,
but it takes so much.
Even like with this show,
I started out with video blogs,
with a flip camera,
and a tripod that I did myself.
And I would go on my Macbook Air and edit the videos. (laughs)
And then, slowly we got views and then we kinda grew
a little team, and then we grew into our video blogs,
and then it turned into this.
- Well, you're 30 years old.
- Now, this would be awesome to have had six, seven,
years ago, eight years ago when I started,
but that's not reality.
- Well, you also weren't ready.
You wouldn't have been able to do this show,
at the quality level and the credibility level,
for the audience to go, hey I'm receiving what Rachel
is teaching and sharing,
and more importantly what she's modeling,
if you hadn't had that seasoning, that experience.
And I'll just say this to encourage people.
I started out, not on SiriusXM, hosting my own show,
or filling in for Dave Ramsey on the third largest show
in America, I started out doing high school football
play by play on the internet.
Two people were listening, the guy next to me,
and my wife because she's a good woman.
(Rachel laughs)
You gotta start somewhere, don't overlook
and don't look down on the humble beginning.
- It's so true, and it just prepares you
for the dream, right?
I love it, so good Ken.
Will you just come back like all the time? (laughs)
- Oh my gosh, anytime.
I won't bring cake every time.
- Oh, break my heart.
- I think that's too high of an expectation.
Is that cool?
- That's okay, oh yes.
- I'd love to come back.
- Yes, good, well if you guys have any more questions
about your dream job, you have
to check out Ken's daily radio show, on SiriusXM
or wherever podcasts are.
Now, one of the things that you want when you're
dressing up for your dream job, is to dress appropriately.
As I leave my 20s behind, I just wondered
if I should tweak my wardrobe a bit
to head into a new decade.
I reached out to my friend and stylist, Amanda Sears,
for some tips as my style grows up.
You love clothes Ken. You're gonna love this.
- I love, I love clothes. But you know what else I love?
Birthday cake, let's go eat some.
- Yeah, let's go.
(upbeat music)