(upbeat music)
- Hello, everyone, and
welcome to Boss Talks,
a series featuring candid career advice
from some of the best in the business.
Today, we're gonna focus
on turning your passion
into your profession.
While some folks are happy
to channel their passion
into hobbies and volunteering,
others are driven to turn
it into their nine to five.
In fact, now more than
ever, people want their jobs
to align with their personal
strengths and their values.
And the great resignation
is really proving that out.
But in today's modern workforce,
not only is it possible to turn
what you're passionate about
into your day job,
it can also help you change
the world while you're at it.
To help me explore this topic,
I've invited someone who
makes this all look so easy.
Ryan Gall is the co-founder
of Global Citizen Platform & Festival,
and the founder
of the production
company Crooked Highways.
Ryan, welcome to Boss Talks.
- Thank you, Ebony.
It's great to talk with you today.
I definitely love this topic.
So really happy to be here to chat.
- Good, good.
Well, let's just jump right on in.
So Ryan, the story behind Global Citizen
expresses today's topic perfectly.
You saw an opportunity
to bring together two worlds
you're passionate about,
charity and entertainment,
and then build it into a company.
Tell us more about that moment.
- I obviously kind of
drew a lot of inspiration
from Live Aid, and I remember
seeing Live Aid as a kid,
and then Live Earth and Live 8.
And, but I hadn't, it kind of hit me
that no one had kind of done
a revamped version of that,
and really taken advantage
of sort of this new generation
of people and kids out there that really
care so much about these issues.
And they wanna learn about them.
They also are very
demanding of the companies
that they work for,
making sure that the
companies stand for things,
and the corporations that they buy from.
We knew we didn't wanna
run just a typical sort of
fundraising event.
We came up with the
idea to have the tickets
be something that you had to earn,
and that really kind of
gamified the whole thing,
and it allowed our platform
to be something that kind of
could see actions all year round.
You could take different
actions, get points,
and then use those points
to get into either our festival
or different concerts throughout the year.
- So you have quite a few
things going on these days
between Global Citizen,
your production company, Crooked Highways,
and the nonprofit
organization, Hope Campaign.
I just can't believe it.
So for passionate people like yourself,
zeroing in on just one thing
can sometimes be a little bit difficult.
So what are your tips on finding focus?
- You know, I can't lie.
This is something I have
trouble with sometimes.
I think in order to be really successful
you definitely need to be laser focused.
Your targets can't be all over.
And, but also to not burn out, you wanna,
you gotta try new things
and take new chances,
but you just can't say yes to everything.
That's definitely something
I'm learning more and more
as I get a little bit older.
Having the most incredible
team you can try to put together
is essential.
I do a little bit of meditation.
I think that can help.
When you're a little scattered,
that can help kind of
bring a little bit of focus
to kind of what's the
most important thing.
- There is also a balance between
doing what you're passionate about
and needing to earn a paycheck.
So what's your advice for people out there
who need to really consider this?
- My advice would be, if you can,
and obviously not everybody can,
but if you can, start,
the passions project side
or the passion projects.
When you're young, obviously,
when you have a little more time,
or if you're older, when you do have time,
maybe on the weekends
you start small, and start slow,
and try to grow that project
or grow what your
capabilities are around it.
I know from just having a
kid that once you have kids,
your time is just so precious.
It's really, it's hard to do anything,
but make sure that you have that paycheck
to cover everything because
your expense is double.
And so I guess, either
start when you're young
or down the road when
you've kind of figured out
how to have some free time to be able to
put towards something like that.
- So Global Citizen has
some really big goals
around defeating
poverty, demanding equity,
and defending the planet.
Something I really love about your work
from your music festivals
to your documentaries,
is how you inspire people to get involved.
So what are your tips for
motivating others
to make change?
- So one of the big ones
for us at Global Citizen
is really trying to show
people that change is possible,
that actions can make a difference.
It's very easy to think that these issues
and these problems are so big that,
how can a one little thing that I do
actually make an impact?
We do that a lot through, like you said,
some documentary, or
content, and impact reports.
We do a lot of that.
Obviously if you come
to one of our festivals,
you see a lot of that firsthand.
We talk a lot on stage about the,
because of the actions
you took to get here,
here's a commitment.
We really kind of show
you that direct line.
So I think being able
to kinda show that proof
that it's worth their
time is an important way
to be able to get people
to wanna get involved
and get past that, I
can't make a difference,
because it's not true.
- And then you, yourself are
known for jumping into action,
modeling the behavior,
leveraging your platform,
and your own
personal connections
to really meet the moment.
And with all that's going on in the world,
it's really easy to feel
overwhelmed and really deflated.
So what would you tell
people who wanna help
make a difference in their world
but don't know where to begin
in their world, big or small?
- We all have different skills
and different things
that we were born with
that we're naturally good at.
And so I think it's
really kind of figuring out
how to use those skills.
If you're a lawyer, maybe
donate some hours to an NGO
or to a cause that you believe in.
If you're a designer, help
create some design assets.
If you're good at organizing,
help organize a rally.
So I think it's really kind
of whatever you're good at,
that skillset is definitely
needed somewhere.
There's some organization.
There's an issue out there
that that if you align with,
and if you wanna go out and search for it
they will happily take
your support and your skills.
- All right, Ryan, this has been great,
but now we've come to my
final and favorite question.
So, Ryan, what is your super power?
- Oh man.
I don't know.
I think I'm pretty persistent.
When I feel like I have a good idea,
I don't really quit easily.
When we were putting
Global Citizen together,
early on we got told no so many times.
You know what I mean?
Everybody would say, hey,
you're trying to do a concert
on the Great Lawn of Central Park.
Good luck.
Like good luck trying to get that funded,
or good luck trying to
get the the city to say yes,
'cause they hadn't done a
concert on a Saturday in years.
So I think, finding ways
to block out that negativity,
I've been successful a little bit.
I also think trusting your instincts.
I don't know if that's a superpower,
but I think that's something
that we can all benefit from.
When you see an opportunity
come up, you really,
you do need to jump on it.
You know what I mean?
And if you miss, you
just realign and try again.
Because I think one thing
I've learned is chances are,
there's someone else
that's thinking the same thing
and trying to get the same thing done.
And if you hesitate at all,
someone else will seize that moment.
- Plus one to all that you just said,
and I'll just add that
trust your gut is my mantra for the year.
(Ebony laughing)
- I love that.
- So I love that you just shared that
and reminded me to lean into that
a little bit more for the day.
So Ryan, (Ebony laughs)
I just wanna thank you
for all the incredible advice
and words of wisdom that you offered us
for helping us turn our
passion into our profession.
And I think you've just
inspired more people
to go out and make a difference.
And we need a lot more of that today.
So thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for having me on.
Really appreciate it.
I really hope you all
enjoyed today's conversation.
So to watch more episodes of Boss Talks
check out the new Salesforce Plus.
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head on over to trailblazer.salesforce.com
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With that, thank you for
tuning in to Boss Talks,
and I will see you all next time.
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