The Future of Work

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Opinions expressed in this episode are personal. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this streaming platform. [00:00:09] Speaker B: Good day, everyone, and welcome to another edition of let's be diverse. I am your host, Andrew Stout. This episode is dedicated to all my loved ones who supported me through this journey. We hear a lot of people talking these days about how work is going, the changes of work, what the future looks like for work, and especially specifically with AI coming. So I wanted to delve into this today. So our topic today is a future of work, and my guest today is Rebecca Beaton. Welcome to the show, Rebecca. It is super awesome to have you on today. [00:00:45] Speaker A: Thanks for having me. [00:00:47] Speaker B: You're very, very welcome. How are things with you? What's new? What's going on? What's happening in your world? What's happening these days? [00:00:55] Speaker A: Oh, well, I just signed up for triathlon for the first time, so I'm working on getting in shape, and I'm really enjoying that. It's. The weather's getting nice, and I get to go outside, and it's forcing me to get outside and away from my computer, which is great. [00:01:18] Speaker B: That's awesome. What made you decide to get into the triathlon? [00:01:23] Speaker A: Well, my partner recently did a half ironman in a Soyuz BC, and I was inspired to do something like it. There was all these crazy fit people that I just think are amazing. I would never do a half Ironman. No desire to, but really impressed by people that do that, and it just kind of got me fired up to try something different. [00:01:46] Speaker B: That's awesome. That's awesome. It doesn't take much to. It's those little things that sometimes motivate us to do. To do certain things. So that's pretty cool that you're trying that. When is the. When is the triathlon? [00:01:57] Speaker A: In September. September 2 in Vancouver. [00:02:00] Speaker B: Okay. Well, it's good to hear that you're. You're taking on something that's, uh, that's challenging, something that's different. Uh, I'm sure there's a lot of, um, nervousness, fear, not knowing the, you know, the unknown is probably stuff that's kind of. You're kind of thinking a lot about. But, you know, sometimes when we do, you know, things that are scary, you know, it, they kind of, like you said, motivate us to do. To do these many things. So that's pretty awesome. [00:02:29] Speaker A: You got it. [00:02:31] Speaker B: That is pretty awesome to hear that. And we wish you all luck. On behalf of the listeners, we wish you all luck for the triathlon. We look forward to hearing how you did. [00:02:42] Speaker A: Yeah. If I finish, that's a win. Absolutely. Aim and low. [00:02:48] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. So, before we get into the nut and bolts of this conversation, I always have a fun question to ask my guests to get things going. Are you ready for yours today? [00:03:02] Speaker A: Sure am. [00:03:03] Speaker B: Okay, so my question for you today is, how would you use your extra time if you had 24 or 25 instead of 24 hours in a day? [00:03:16] Speaker A: There's so many options running through my head. I would get outside. I'm on a get outside kick. It's helping everything in my life and trickling into. It's like, getting outside is very good for my mental health. I can be a highly anxious person, so it helps calm my nervous system, and it improves everything. It helps me be more present with other people, helps me like myself more, helps me show up better in my work, for my clients, like getting outside, being in nature, if there's sunshine, being in the sun, that's what I would do. [00:03:56] Speaker B: That, I'd say, is a pretty good choice. I mean, there's nothing like getting outside, enjoying the sun, enjoying the nice weather. I am not. [00:04:03] Speaker A: I almost said sleep. [00:04:04] Speaker B: Oh, you almost said sleep. [00:04:08] Speaker A: It was a tough choice. [00:04:11] Speaker B: I am not a winter guy, so I'm not. I don't like, you know, I'll go outside if, you know, if I have to, but I'm not a guy that lots of people go for walks and stuff like that in winter. I'm just not a cold weather guy. Summertime, I'm outside as much as I can and enjoying the weather, you know, and it's nice to, you know, even if you're cutting the grass or, you know, whatever you're doing. But just being outside is nice. So I totally. [00:04:38] Speaker A: Especially in Saskatchewan, you have to take advantage when it's nice. [00:04:41] Speaker B: Yes. In Canada, in general, I think you have to kind of take in general, for sure, so. Well, thanks so much for having fun with me. I really appreciate you, and you are pretty quick on your answers, so that's pretty good, and I appreciate that. Why don't we start off with you telling us a little bit about you, your story, and your why. [00:05:04] Speaker A: Yes. Okay, so I'll start with. I had over 30 different jobs before the age of 30. In fact, the actual number is 34. Every once in a while, I remember another job and add it to the list. So the current running total is 34. And I was always looking for something that I wanted to do that really fulfilled me, which I know is something important to so many people. And that's why I changed around so much. And there were a lot of years especially. It got harder as I got older and, you know, in my mid twenties and still not knowing what I wanted to do. So I was always trying different things. And that, for me, was my way of getting clarity on what I wanted to do. And I eventually ended up working with a coach who was my good friend's mom, who. Who helped me clarify the kind of work I wanted to be doing. Up until then, the main kind of career work I'd been doing was environmental education, and I was doing that in nonprofits. I was also doing program management at different nonprofits. So that's really my background. And she helped me realize that I wasn't so passionate about helping people with the environment anymore because I felt like it wasn't really getting education, wasn't getting us anywhere, and that I wanted to work with people on a deeper level to help them connect to themselves more and be more satisfied and fulfilled in their own lives. Because I believe, I don't know if there's data and evidence to support this, but I think this is quite intuitive to a lot of us is like, the happier we are in our own lives and with ourselves, the more we have to give right and to help. And those things aren't necessarily separate too. Like a lot of the time, the satisfaction, fulfillment can come through, making an impact. So that's how I got into coaching. And I started off as a life coach. I got a certification in that, and I eventually niche in this area of career. So now I help people who are dissatisfied with their job to get clarity on what it is they want to do, like I did in a very long way. And I like to help people do that faster. And part of that process of getting clarity and making a career transition is you do need to research what's out there and what's viable in terms of the future. Right. What does the labor market look like? None of us know the future, but to consider that, what does it look like, potentially with changes in technology and organizational structure. So when we make a decision, that's where this interest of mine comes in, around the future of work. [00:07:58] Speaker B: I love all that, because what's interesting to me is it's not only when you're looking for work, I believe it's actually what, you know, when you have a job and depending on the position that you have, because things are ever changing, you have to kind of be looking at the changes and adjust and adapt in every single way. So if you're continuously doing the same things and things are changing, well, then you're gonna find it a little bit, you're gonna have a little bit of a struggle. So we have to adapt. We have to find ways to, to figure stuff out. And yes, there's gonna be frustration. I always say there's, you know, it's not always sunshine and rainbows or it's not gonna be good because it's always gonna be good days. It's gonna be those days that we're gonna struggle. We're gonna wanna, we're gonna be frustrated. But it's the ability to adapt and find ways to change and make the correct changes when necessary. [00:08:57] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. You nail it with using the word adapt. That is, if I had to pick one word that is most important to master in our careers at this point and to prepare for the future, it would be adaptability to, because work is less like in the past. It was picking a job at a company and then maybe staying there for the rest of your life or maybe moving to one or two other companies that were similar. And then there were a lot of opportunities that don't exist today to move within companies and transition and grow over the course of your career. But now it's so different because there's so many options available to us. We might not have our needs met at one company and one place. In fact, most people don't. And so we don't need to go out and find that place that we want to work. That's a good fit for us. We have to know who we are and what kind of work is a good fit for us. And then we need to continually go out and find it. Maybe every couple of years. It depends, but it's very different than it used to look that way. [00:10:09] Speaker B: I love when you said transition because I think that we, we've had to transition a little bit more. So you mentioned earlier, you mentioned just before that, you know, we, and I know my parents, they did it. They worked at companies for, they got their job and they worked for companies for 1520 some odd years and they did that and they put in, I could hear them coming home and many times going, oh, my God, I don't like this on my boss at this or this coworker did this and I don't like, you know, this and I don't like that and I don't like these procedures and, you know, but they stayed. So now look at dimension adopting. We're a little bit more adopting to the transition and looking, okay, so I've done this job. So you said earlier you've done about 30 jobs, but I'm sure in a lot of them, you took stuff that you learned from the different jobs and you transitioned them into your next job. So you took the things that you were good at and the things that would equal at and as far as task going to be, allow you to do that next job and then continue to do that. But years ago, people like my parents, we didn't do. They didn't do that. They just stayed there. Whether they were happy or not, they stayed there and they did it. And so it changed dramatically over the years, for sure. [00:11:37] Speaker A: Yes, it's changed a lot. And, I mean, part of that is due to how the structure of companies has changed. A lot of companies have. They've just started to outsource more and more. Like in Canada, we had, or we have the bay I had have. I'm not sure if it's still around. I know it's been kind of slowly disappearing. But if we look at a company like the bay, it used to do all of its resourcing, like sourcing materials, manufacturing, design, marketing, sales, storing in a warehouse, it used to do all those things. So there was a lot of stuff you could do within a company, whereas now it's shrunk and there's less and less middle management, there's more and more outsourcing. So part of that is due to the company structure, but part of it's also due to people wanting greater fulfillment in their work. Right. I think we've reached a point in our society of recognizing how important it is to be fulfilled in our work. And we have the luxury a lot of the time, not everyone all the time, by any means, but a lot of more people, let's just say, have the luxury of exploring different options. But then when we are, there's. There's challenges that come with that. There's always challenges. Right. Like you were saying, there's challenges with that. And so we don't want to just feel like we're hopping job to job. And like you were saying. Yeah, building on the skills that you've had in the past to the next thing that you're doing when you transition. You want there to be some kind of thread that connects things together. [00:13:18] Speaker B: So I think we kind of delved into it, but I kind of want to go into this deeper. So I'd like you to tell us, what is the future of work? [00:13:29] Speaker A: Let me get out my crystal ball, see what it tells me today. Yeah. No, I love this question. There's a lot involved in this topic. There's no way I'm going to touch on everything from my point of view and my clients and what I see in them and some of the research I've read. The biggest thing I can say is we don't really know what the future of work will look like. And the further into the future we go, there's a timeline, the more uncertain it becomes. So preparing for the unknown. Maybe we'll talk more about that later. Is something that everyone can do, every person, every organization, because things change so quickly now with advancing technology, being prepared as much as possible for the uncertainty. But there are some things, you know, we can guess about the future. Future based on the past and past trends. When it comes to the future of work, there's kind of two schools of thought about what AI is going to do to the workforce, and one school of thought is technology, and AI is going to completely leave so many people without jobs. Now, this is something that has been common throughout history. I was actually reading a book. A lot of people probably know this book, man's search for meaning by Viktor Frankl. I was rereading it recently, and this isn't even related to the topic of the book, but I noticed he talks about in his preface what he wrote, I think, back in like the 1960s, about his concern for technology and automation and how that would impact people's ability or how that would impact the labor market and the availability of jobs. And I thought that was so interesting that this idea has been there for so long that technology is going to replace jobs. So one school of thought is that AI, yes, this has been there forever or a long time. Technology replaces jobs, and there's always new jobs created. But there's a school of thought that says AI is different. AI is actually going to replace jobs, and there aren't going to be new jobs that pop, enough new jobs to pop up to replace them. The other school of thought is, nope, this is the same as everything throughout history, that we're going to have new jobs that come up. Yes, everything's going to, a lot of things are going to change. Some jobs will be eliminated, some jobs will be augmented by AI, and others will still remain fairly similar. But we're not going to have jobs disappear, and there's going to be new ones that come up. So personally, I'm of the thought there's going to be new jobs, but who knows, right? Another thing is a trend towards outsourcing and contract labor. So we're already seeing that. We've seen that progression over the 20th century and the early 21st century. So we're likely to see a lot more outsourcing contract labor. There's trends towards retiring later and working longer. So that's something else, too. With more age diverse workforces that we're likely to just see more and more of. And the need for soft skills is increasing and likely to continue increasing with the changes in technology and advances in AI, things like strategy, relationship building, problem solving, adaptability, these kinds of skills are likely to become more and more in demand, and they already have over recent years. So again, we don't know. But I think there are trends we can look at, and I'm a big fan of looking to history to see what might happen in the future. I think that's kind of like the best source of information we have. So based off of history, you know, those are the, those are the kinds of things that, that I've noticed. [00:18:04] Speaker B: It's interesting that you said to me, like contract work. So what I'm noticing a lot lately, I'm talking to, I'll talk to a lot of people, whether it's, you know, leadership or HR, whatever, and they're transitioning. So we mentioned that word earlier. So they are leaving organizations and they're transitioning and they're going out on their own and they're starting their own contract and they're doing contract work. So it's interesting that you say that, because I do see it, and you see a lot of people, especially in HR, who are in leadership, that are saying that they're, you know, they, you know, for whatever reason, they needed a change. They felt like things were not going in the direction that they liked and they wanted to do something on their own. And then they're being hired by companies to do a lot of the work that they were doing for the specific company that they were working for, but it's just on their own. So I love that you said that because I could just totally see, I think I talked to five people this week, and three of them were that same scenario, that they left the company and decided to go out on their own. [00:19:19] Speaker A: Oh, did you ask them why? [00:19:22] Speaker B: For whatever reason, either that they, I mean, there was many reasons, but I would say probably the big reason is that they were with companies that they were finding that they were just not able to, they had ideas and stuff like that that they wanted to kind of put forth, and they found that a lot, in a lot of situations that they were, there was a stopgap. So, like, they could do certain things, but I know certain things that weren't able to. It's like, oh, no, we've tried, you know, you know, the same famous lines, oh, we tried this before. It didn't work. Or, um, you know, we're not going to do that. Or, you know, we don't believe that it's not part of our values or what have you. And, you know, a lot of them, I, especially civic, specifically, one of them said, you know, that they didn't go with their values, but then, you know, they asked them, what is the, like, what are the values of the company? And she asked another leader who was telling her they couldn't, she couldn't do this, and they couldn't even tell her what the values of that particular, of the organization, what they were. So that was just kind of like a sign for her to say, listen, you know, maybe it's time for me to go out on my own where I can do my own things and I could still work for, do the same things I'm doing, but I can design my values and I can work along with those values and, and structures and I, and commitment and, you know, hard work. [00:20:54] Speaker A: And I'm so curious about the future with contracting of what's going to benefit the employee and the employer with that because there are a lot of people who are moving towards contracting or consulting, especially later on in their career, not necessarily early on. And employers like not providing people the growth opportunities that they want and not having that flexibility and space for innovation that you're talking about or not having the communication around. These are our goals, and this is your part in it. So people are getting frustrated and, like, I'm so curious how that's all going to play out. Like, is it? Because, you know, historically, as far as I know, companies want to have talent and retain talent. Like, it's expensive to hire new people, but if they're constantly getting new contract workers, I don't know. I'm so curious how that's all going to play out because a lot of companies are not. What I learned from my clients is a lot of companies are really bailing people in terms of meeting the goals that they have. So how is that going to play out for companies and their goals? I don't know. [00:22:23] Speaker B: So I read somewhere a couple weeks ago that they, this was a, and this was a, this person was a financial individual, and he's a, you know, in finance with a huge organization. He was saying that companies would actually prefer to have a contractor rather than an employee because if they have the employee, then they have all these financial obligations as far as, you know, benefits and stuff like that. So they have those obligations where if you have a contract, you don't have to give those benefits and those obligations, you're just paying them for the job and the work that they do. So now this is, again, this is his opinion, but it was just interesting to read it to see that, you know, companies would prefer, in his opinion, companies prefer to have a contractor rather than an employee and an actual employee. [00:23:29] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I've heard that as well and I understand that and I wonder, this is kind of newer, so I just wonder about the longevity of that. Yeah, right. About not having people who are dedicated to one company. I'm open to whatever. If it works, to have lots of contractors moving around, if that works for everyone, that's great. It's just, that's why I'm like, I'm just curious about it cuz I don't know. [00:24:00] Speaker B: Well, yeah, I think it's just. I think people are just gonna have to be innovative and creative and, you know, I will use this word that we, you and I've used a bit so far. Adopt. People are gonna have to adopt. So if you're gonna get into consulting, you're gonna have to adapt and you're gonna have to notice, you know, if there's any changes. You can't do the same thing for 20, 1520 years. You're gonna have to look and see how things are going and make the necessary changes when you do it. I mean, you're in business yourself and I'm sure you've made changes as you've gone and, you know, just every week. Every week. [00:24:36] Speaker A: I'm teasing, but yeah, a lot. [00:24:38] Speaker B: But you know what I mean? Like you're making. You need to. Okay, this is, you know, this was working really well, or this is not working. So let's, you know, maybe if I adjust something a little bit, maybe it'll work. We kind of get and got into it a little bit. But I want to get your thoughts. How does the future of work change? What a career or what the word career means for an organization? [00:25:07] Speaker A: Well, there's a lack of definity around that. Right? Like, I think just based on our conversation. So yeah, it could look like more contract workers. On the other hand though, it could look like. And there's probably going to be a combination of both, right? Like there's no one perfect way or right way or best way to have a career. And we're all just experimenting at the end of the day as individuals, as organizations, it's, you know, sometimes I think that's obvious, but I think it's easy to forget, because on the other hand, there's also people like people. There is a trend towards longer careers. Like, we see the age of retirement getting later and later and later. So there is the potential for people to be longer, like staying longer at companies. There was an article in the World Economic Forum about preparing for an age diverse workforce, and it says that in America, there's a quarter of men and 17% of women over 65 who are expected to still be in the labor market by 2032. So this is a pretty big shift from what we've seen before, and people are potentially going to be having careers that are 50 years long. Right. So that's something to think about, what a career looks like within an organization. We're likely to see people want more flexibility. So there was, of course, the huge shift to work from home during COVID What ends up emerging now? So I hear from pretty much every client I talk to, they want a hybrid work setup. The research is also showing that people or teams perform better when they are in office and meeting maybe three to four days a week. They're able to learn from each other. Right. Feed off each other's energy. There's more of that growth potential, which is what a lot of people are looking for. They're looking for growth. They want to learn. They're thirsty for that. So having this kind of flexible. The other thing is people want a flexible work schedule. So there's been a shift, and this is probably just like the start of the trend to have life fit into your work or. Sorry, have work fit into your life, not the other way around. Yeah. And then. Yeah, like we were talking about with people coming and going, potentially more frequently. So it's interesting, like with contract workers. So it's interesting there's the potential for people to stay longer in companies if companies are wanting to facilitate that and if there's a benefit to it for them in terms of upskilling and retraining people. But then there's also this trend towards contract work. So it'll be interesting, I think, just to see how these things play out where companies end up going in terms of finding a balance maybe between those two things, or if there is a huge trend or pull towards one or the other. From my perspective, it doesn't seem clear at this point in time. [00:28:31] Speaker B: Right. What I'm seeing is, or what I think is, as far as career goals, I think just the meaning, I think that career has changed so what? A career for one person might not mean the same for another, but I do feel that it's changed dramatically. And, you know, a lot of, you know, years ago, you'd probably say, you know, career means moving up and making more money. But, you know, career for some other people are, you know, getting into an organization that, you know, that believes in growth, that believes in workplace harmony, that believes in employee wellness. Those are the things I think that are, that people are kind of looking for. Yes, Rebecca, we want to, you know, you know, we want to make money. We need to put food on the table. We need to pay our bills. I get. We get that. But there's more. I think people are wanting more. And a guess, a career means more to somebody. So when they're looking for a job, they want to know, okay, well, you know, after looking to make a change and they're going from one company to another, they want to see, like I said, what's the, what's, you know, what are the possibilities for them? What's in it for them? Not just the paycheck, but. [00:29:54] Speaker A: Oh, you got it. [00:29:55] Speaker B: What's it like working for this, you know, this employer? What's it like working for that manager? What's the diet work life dynamic? What, you know, how is the team? Is it, you know, are they more, are they, are they outgoing and friendly or they, you know, are they, you know, did a nitpick at everything and are they, you know, they, they, they're the gougers? Like, you know, you want to know all this stuff. [00:30:18] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yes. That is so true that people are looking for that culture that really fits for them. But a lot of people are. They're looking for growth. It is so. It is the biggest thing. I recently read a report by, there's a company that I think they're called lh or ll, I can't remember anyways, but they, they did. They do this survey of, like, 30,000 employees, 23 different countries, to figure out what people are looking for. And the biggest thing they found and the biggest competitive advantage they found for companies is to provide those opportunities for growth and movement. And a lot of that would tie into the culture and what kinds of people are around you, what your manager is like, are your ideas for new innovations within where you're working being accepted? So you're absolutely right. And then also. Yeah. Like the flexibility and mental health and wellness. Yes. Like, burnout is such a big thing. And what's interesting about burnout is it's nothing necessarily caused by the number of hours that we're working. So there's stuff. There is a bit of a trend towards a four day work week, for example, but that isn't. There's a lot of other stuff that causes burnout. One of it is being. Not having. Feeling like you have autonomy over your work or the example that you were just giving, like, where you have ideas of how things could be improved, but they're not being heard, or there's stuff outside of your control. Right. That you're potentially getting blamed for. So there's a lot of stuff contributing to that. So companies need to be open to the feedback from their employees. And there also needs to be wellness and mental health programs, because that's what people need to thrive in today's workforce. And there needs to be compassion towards time off. [00:32:30] Speaker B: Right. [00:32:31] Speaker A: To take care of your. Your needs outside of work. [00:32:34] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. I mean, if we think about culture changes, I mean, you just mentioned wellness programs. People have to. I mean, I think both organizations need to understand the importance of it, but also to employees within the organization need to understand the importance of it, because even if you're nothing going through any mental health issues, it's important for you to understand what your coworker could possibly be going through. So I, you know, as a diversity and inclusion guy, one of the things that is very important to me that makes me think about it, or has made me think about it as I've gotten older is assumption. So assuming something about someone, but it's actually not even close to the case, that's the culture changes, of changing that mindset. To say, instead of being like, oh, that person doesn't want to come to work today, compared to, oh, I, you know, they haven't been at work for a few weeks now. I hope everything is okay. I know it's personal. I don't need to know what it is. I just want to know that they're okay. There's a total shift there. And. And then, of course, you know, different ethnic groups. We, you know, years ago, it wasn't like that, but now you can get, you know, on your team, a team of five people. You can get somebody from. From Canada, somebody from the US, somebody from Italy, somebody from Thailand, and someone from India out of your five member team. And then. So you have to figure out the culture. What's the different cultures? What the, you know, what's the different backgrounds? I was talking to somebody the other day and telling them that, you know, myself, I grew up, my parents were mixed, so my dad was from Barbados, so he was black, and my mother was from Montreal, Quebec, and she was white. She's french Canadian. So growing up, you know, different, you know, they're a different way of looking at life. They, you know, their food, you know, the food that they, you know, that they both eat the. We all ate the same food, but the foods that they were brought up compared to what my dad what my mom was brought up compared to what my dad was brought up in was totally different. You know, their way of thinking, their way of parenting was totally different. So we have to take that into consideration when we are talking about, you know, the culture changes and the future of work. [00:35:03] Speaker A: Mm hmm. Changing. How. How do you think is a good way to change that culture around mental health? [00:35:14] Speaker B: So, as far as mental health, I think it's important to have those discussions, and I feel like it's important. So first, I think it's communication, and I think it's check ins. So. And just helping people understand, you know, mental health a little bit better. And what, you know, if you're not going through what possibly somebody could possibly going through, you're never gonna get the full extent or you're never gonna fully understand what someone is going through. But just to have that authenticity and genuine care for your, you know, your. Your co worker is super important. We all know. And people say, I mean, you know, you know, you're not going to be, you know, maybe the best, you know, the best buddies that you were, you know, like, you talked, you know, you have your friends that, you know, you've been hanging out with and, you know, exercising with and stuff that, you know, that's a close knit group. You may not be as close group with your coworkers, but it's just to have that. That care and compassion for that individual is super important. It just makes that work life so much more. I talk about a safe work environment, and that's the type of thing that you want to have. You want to have that environment that's safe. You don't want to be in an environment where you're like, oh, my God, like, I gotta go to that. I gotta go to that place again today. You want to be excited to be going into that. To that place. [00:36:46] Speaker A: Yeah. I feel like this is on the. I hope for the future of work, right? [00:36:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:52] Speaker A: Greater inclusion, people feeling safe at work. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, as you're talking, I'm thinking, like, yeah, this is a lot of, like, why I do the work that I do, too, is like, because when we're. When we, like, where we're at and we're satisfied with ourselves in our own life. We have more capacity to be compassionate towards others. Like, that's just the way it is. So there's so many levels, right. That it works from, like, an organizational level, individual level, smaller groups within an organization. Like. But it's cool that we're having conversations like this. [00:37:34] Speaker B: Yeah, it certainly is, for sure. So you mentioned earlier what you know, that you've had quite a few different careers. What I. My question to you is, what is your favorite story from your career? [00:37:52] Speaker A: Do you want, like, a funny story or. [00:37:55] Speaker B: Sure. [00:37:56] Speaker A: Like, this is the life lesson I learned. [00:38:01] Speaker B: I could take a funny story. I liked it. I enjoy a funny story. [00:38:06] Speaker A: Okay, so I can be a fairly random person now. I wish I could say all the jobs in my 30 jobs built on each other, and I learned professional skills. No, I've had a lot of just random jobs. This is the thing with a lot of my clients, too. In the meantime, jobs, I call them, right? So you get stuff while you're working towards something else. So randomly, when I was in university, I decided I wanted to work at a hot dog stand. [00:38:40] Speaker B: Okay. [00:38:41] Speaker A: I was like, that would be a really random job. And I liked the idea that I could work by myself and just interact with random people. So that's one of my favorite jobs that I love that I did. And I just walked around to different hot dog stands and walked out of them and asked that they were hiring. And eventually I got pointed over to the one guy who is hiring downtown Vancouver on the corner of Granville and Seymour. I want to say, yeah, it's right in front of the London drugs there for anyone who knows Vancouver listening, and got a job at the hot dog stand there. Got paid cash and sometimes in weed. I actually don't smoke weed, so I never use that. It was quite funny. The guy who worked there, he was quite a character. And sometimes we drive the hot dog stand to film sets around Vancouver, and we would sell hot dogs on the break. And, yeah, I just really loved that job and the strangeness of it. [00:39:53] Speaker B: So the thing that makes me. That resonates with me, with your story, is that I enjoy is, you know, my. One of my core values is rapport building, and that just signifies, cor, if you can't explain rapport building, that story pretty much explains it in a nutshell. And I. How important it is. Like you said to you were you enjoy talking with people and conversing with people and. And meeting new people. And like you said, you were driving around to different sets and. And stuff and, you know, and meeting different individuals and. And so, you know, I would say was, yes, it was the, you know, was it about the hot dog selling? Maybe not, but it was, from what it sounds like, you were enjoying having conversations with people and meeting people, and that is super valuable. I can't even stress how much importance that it is. [00:40:58] Speaker A: And I like that you nailed that. [00:41:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:02] Speaker B: And I feel like you. You. I don't think that people do it enough is what I'm thinking. [00:41:09] Speaker A: Well, everything in career, any opportunity we want or come across, like, it's the chance of it coming from an online job posting, very small, having conversations with people equals possibilities. [00:41:26] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. [00:41:27] Speaker A: That's the first time I've said that. But that's, like, why I do what I do is to help people see possibilities. And when you talk with people, you see possibilities. And one thing at the hot dog stand is I loved that I met people different than myself. Like, I am a white woman coming from Vancouver, from a good upbringing. So I've loved experiences in my life that get me to meet people who are very different from myself. And that was one thing. Like, I had different friends who lived on the street down there who, like, rotated on the corner that the hot dog stand was on, and there was, like, a rotation that was organized, and I got to, like, know some of the people who are living on the Downtown east side and different regulars that came to the hot dog stand. I absolutely loved that. So it wasn't even for a networking purpose, but it just helped to expand my perspective and get to know and understand different people and their stories. And empathy. We're coming back to compassion, empathy for others, like, all that stuff. The more experiences we have, the more people we meet, the more empathy and compassion we have for other people when we understand where they're coming from. So, yeah, I love that. [00:42:46] Speaker B: And just. And what I love, too, Rebecca, is you were having these conversations with people. You were getting to know them, but you didn't make any assumptions about them like, you saw them, and you didn't automatically make an assumption before you even began the conversation. You were willing to get to have a conversation with them and get to know them before making a split decision, which is what a lot of people do, is they make an assumption about somebody before they even talk to them. And. [00:43:24] Speaker A: Well, I definitely do that, too. But, yes, I like to also be curious about people. Yeah, that's. [00:43:30] Speaker B: But that's what I'm. That's where I'm getting at, is that you were, you, you. Some people do that, but they don't have a conversation at all. You have the conversation to get to know them and understand how you know their life and their lifestyle and their culture and, and that, and to the point where you were seeing people and you're, you're having conversation with them regularly, which is, which, for me, that's pretty cool. I think that you, like I said, as far as rapport building and getting to know people, that is, if I was going to write a definition of that, that is, that is it to. [00:44:08] Speaker A: A t. Yeah, yeah. Conversations and curiosity. And I would say that is what leads to me being able to find jobs. I've been able to find jobs in my sleep, basically. Like, opportunities that come along and it's not the intention. Right? Like, I love meeting random people, but I also want to say, like, I see that with my clients again, like, when they get out there and just have conversations, opportunities arise, possibilities arise. You don't have to know ahead of time where a conversation is gonna lead. Sometimes they fall flat. That's okay. And sometimes they go somewhere and to somewhere that you never even thought of. So. [00:44:51] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Any final thoughts today? [00:44:57] Speaker A: Oh, well, I think going back to the thinking about the future of work, it's something that no matter what career we're in or industry we're considering moving into, is something that we need to research and look at what have been the trends in that industry in the past and what are likely to be those trends in the future? What are other people predicting? Because, for example, if we're going into something like becoming, becoming an analyst, that's going to be something that's either eliminated or really augmented by AI. And so we want to make sure we have an understanding of how that might change. Or. I recently had a client going into communications and we had a long conversation about, okay, what might be the potential changes in this industry in the future? What are the changes that are even happening right now? And that might look really different. It might look like you doing a lot less writing and a lot more of you using AI tools to do your writing. And is that something you want to do? So whether we feel secure in our job right now, or we're looking to make a change, being aware of the trends and staying on top of that in our work is really, really important. Like, the biggest thing for the future of work is that we don't know. So preparing for the unknown, staying on top of trends, staying current, is huge. Cute. [00:46:23] Speaker B: I totally agree with you. I think it's super important to do your. Do your research, checking on trends and. And reading on stuff and not just going on again on assumptions. [00:46:32] Speaker A: Yes. [00:46:33] Speaker B: Understanding. We know that there is gonna be some changes. There's gonna be a, you know, you're gonna have to adapt, but you need to keep track of what's going on. I myself every day just go on a job board. I pick a job board, and I just read all the jobs that are on there. And I read what people are looking for, the descriptions, and I study the job descriptions to see, you know, what that company is offering, what they're saying, what. What they're offering to prospective candidates. And, you know, and not for myself, but just for my own knowledge to see what's out there. And it's interesting to do that. And I can go on and on about the stuff that I'm seeing on those. But that's so cool that you do that. [00:47:26] Speaker A: I want to have, like, a sad conversation now with you about that. [00:47:30] Speaker B: You need to do. You need to do. I think you need to do that to see what's going. Like you said, going, what's going on? What's going on, what's out there, and. And picking something that's going to make you excited to go into as far as a career and build and grow and that type of thing. [00:47:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Do we have time for me to add one more note? [00:47:53] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:47:53] Speaker A: On that? Yeah, I love that idea. And to another thing. So I just see so many people when they aren't sure of what they want to do, looking at online job postings and getting really discouraged by it. So before you're looking at what you want to do, it's really important to step back and look at who you are, what you're best at, what engages and energizes you, what skills engage and energize you, what drives you, and put all that information down on a piece of paper and then looking at what's out there. And you can do that with online job postings, but you can also do that by LinkedIn search and looking at people on LinkedIn as well as different companies and just looking at, you know, what people are doing at different companies. And that's another approach as well. But if you don't know what it is, who you are first and what you have to offer and what you want, and you go and look at online job postings, it's really depressing and overwhelming. So taking that time to step back and self reflect is so important. [00:48:59] Speaker B: Rebecca, I want to take the time to thank you for coming on today like this has been such a great conversation. I really enjoyed it. You are a knowledgeable and innovative individual. You've come a long way as from what I can see in your career, to develop into what you, what you are today. And I think all those life experience, not just your life experiences, but your career experiences, have got you to the table today. And if I was going to use a word to describe you, I would say adaptable because you found a way to adopt yourself in so many different ways. And now you are, you're thriving in what you do. So thank you so much for, again, for taking the time to thanks, Andrew. [00:49:46] Speaker A: I just fist pump for everyone that couldn't see that adaptable. Yes. [00:49:54] Speaker B: On behalf of myself and my guest Rebecca, I'd like to thank you all for listening today. And until next next time, be safe and remember, everybody, that if we all work together, we can accomplish anything you. [00:50:07] Speaker A: Have been listening to. Let's be diverse with Andrew Stout. To stay up to date with future content, hit subscribe.