Podcast – Quest Prep

Episode #7 | Just the Facts: Reporter Breanne Williams Finds Her Calling in Journalism

By Mike|2021-02-23T15:40:32+00:00February 8th, 2021|Podcast|

Breanne Williams wanted a way out of her small hometown that would also serve a greater purpose in helping other people. For a long time, she thought nursing was the only way to do that. After she realized she hated nursing, she didn’t know what to do—and then a barely-remembered meeting with a mysterious college adviser changed everything. Find out how Breanne discovered her passion for journalism, and what she’s doing with it.

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Episode #6 | How Coding for Pizza Money Became a Career in WordPress Development: Mark Jaquith on Programming, Unorthodox Education, and More

By Mike|2021-02-23T15:40:26+00:00January 26th, 2021|Podcast|

After finishing home school, Mark Jaquith went to college to study business. In his free time, he became absorbed in a brand new technology: weblogs, or “blogs.” Today, he’s a major figure in the WordPress community–and a self-taught developer and businessman with no degrees or diplomas. He talks to us about his career path, what he looks for in a new hire, how to bootstrap your way into a technical field, an impromptu rodent dissection, and other interesting stuff.

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Episode #5 | A NASA Engineer Becomes a Noise-proofing Entrepreneur–How Walker Peek Finally Built the Company He Always Wanted

By Mike|2021-02-03T18:52:54+00:00January 12th, 2021|Podcast|

Walker Peek always knew he wanted to start his own business; he just didn’t what kind of business it would be. After engineering school, he worked for several years as a contractor for NASA, but it wasn’t quite the right fit for him. Find out how an unexpected twist in a business-idea brainstorming session turned into an engineering firm selling products like acoustic panels to customers all around the world.

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Episode #4 | Sleeping Through the SATs and Dreaming of his Own Restaurant: Eric Bialik’s Life in the Food Service Industry

By Mike|2021-02-03T18:52:35+00:00December 29th, 2020|Podcast|

Eric Bialik has been working in restaurants since he was 15, and throughout his life he always came back to jobs in the food service industry. His academic career went off the rails shortly after high school, but after years of managing other people’s restaurants, he finally teamed up with the right partners to open a restaurant of his own. In the process he’s learned quite a lot about starting and running a business, and keeping employees engaged, motivated, happy, and productive.

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Episode #3 | From Overachiever to Dropout and Back Again: The Many Lives of Brianna Bond

By Mike|2021-02-03T18:52:20+00:00December 15th, 2020|Podcast|

In Brianna’s junior year of high school, she got excellent grades in advanced classes and kept to herself. Then her family moved, and her whole life went off the rails. For years she worked extra hard doing anything she could to get by, and now she runs her own accounting agency, Ledger, for web-based businesses. She’s learned a lot along the way about business, hard work, and survival.

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Episode #2 | Destined for Medicine: David Khosrowzadeh’s journey from Second-Grade Class Clown to “Dr. David.”

By Mike|2021-02-03T18:52:01+00:00December 1st, 2020|Podcast|

David Khosrowzadeh thought he wanted to be a doctor from a young age, thanks to time spent around his physician grandfather, and gentle–or maybe not so gentle–pressure from his parents. Although most people don’t end up in the profession they imagined when they were children, David actually did. Find out how David confronted academic insecurities and managed family pressure to establish his career in medicine.

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Episode #1 | Climbing the Ladder When You Can’t Reach the Top Shelf: Mentors, Values, and More with Alex Bialik

By Mike|2021-02-03T18:51:47+00:00November 10th, 2020|Podcast|

Alex Bialik has spent a lot of time in the corporate world, including stints at three major companies selling everything from freight transportation to chocolate and Lysol. She’s been an intern, waitress, and a telemarketer, and in this episode she shares her considerable experience with us, including insights into sales, managing people, working in teams, and the importance of mentors.

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