1 00:00:05,597 --> 00:00:08,867 Eddie: Welcome to episode 20 of the Web Joy podcast. 2 00:00:09,197 --> 00:00:13,637 I'm your host Eddie, and in this podcast we interview guests about their origin 3 00:00:13,637 --> 00:00:18,707 story and what makes them excited and joyful to be part of the tech community. 4 00:00:19,187 --> 00:00:20,957 I hope you enjoy today's episode. 5 00:00:21,317 --> 00:00:23,417 Everyone can do it with tailored Desen. 6 00:00:25,291 --> 00:00:28,321 Welcome to another episode of Web Joy. 7 00:00:28,651 --> 00:00:32,221 Today I'm excited to have Taylor Desen with us. 8 00:00:32,311 --> 00:00:34,651 Taylor, say hi to the community. 9 00:00:34,951 --> 00:00:35,401 Taylor: What's going on? 10 00:00:35,401 --> 00:00:35,641 Y'all? 11 00:00:35,646 --> 00:00:36,571 Super excited to be here. 12 00:00:36,571 --> 00:00:37,501 Thanks for inviting me, ma'am. 13 00:00:37,741 --> 00:00:38,431 Eddie: Absolutely. 14 00:00:38,436 --> 00:00:39,211 Thank you for coming. 15 00:00:39,631 --> 00:00:44,361 So I guess to just get started, How about you just share who you are, what 16 00:00:44,361 --> 00:00:46,581 you do, where you work, brief intro? 17 00:00:46,701 --> 00:00:47,361 Taylor: Yeah, absolutely. 18 00:00:47,361 --> 00:00:49,551 So again, my name is Taylor Desen. 19 00:00:49,551 --> 00:00:52,731 I work for a company called Vaco, V A C O. 20 00:00:53,031 --> 00:00:55,701 The company I work for, we're a billion dollar recruiting and staffing 21 00:00:55,701 --> 00:00:57,331 consulting company, so we do it all. 22 00:00:57,846 --> 00:01:02,436 And, uh, me, myself, I have been with Vaco for going on 11 years this year. 23 00:01:02,706 --> 00:01:06,516 I joke with a lot of people that recruiting years is like dog years. 24 00:01:06,521 --> 00:01:07,806 It exponentially ages you. 25 00:01:08,166 --> 00:01:09,576 So I'm actually 121 years old. 26 00:01:09,576 --> 00:01:10,296 I'm not 33. 27 00:01:10,296 --> 00:01:11,286 I'm 121 years old. 28 00:01:11,676 --> 00:01:16,146 My focus for the last seven years has been engineering recruiting, so 29 00:01:16,146 --> 00:01:17,586 software engineering, data engineering. 30 00:01:17,851 --> 00:01:22,231 All the way from UI front end to all the way backend, data engineering, DevOps. 31 00:01:22,351 --> 00:01:26,041 You know, that's kind of been my focus and, and my team specifically, you 32 00:01:26,041 --> 00:01:30,601 know, I, I lead a team of seven, um, at Vaco and we help staff up organizations 33 00:01:30,601 --> 00:01:33,871 across the country in a fully remote environment with top engineering talent. 34 00:01:33,871 --> 00:01:37,801 So that's what I do and, uh, I'm just again, thankful to be on the pod. 35 00:01:37,801 --> 00:01:38,551 So thanks for inviting me. 36 00:01:38,851 --> 00:01:39,391 That sounds really 37 00:01:39,771 --> 00:01:39,971 Eddie: interesting. 38 00:01:39,971 --> 00:01:41,281 I guess, how did you. 39 00:01:41,771 --> 00:01:43,421 Get into right. 40 00:01:43,421 --> 00:01:44,831 This recruiting world. 41 00:01:44,831 --> 00:01:48,941 I mean, did you kind of grow up and you were like, I know I always want to 42 00:01:48,941 --> 00:01:52,631 be a recruiter, not just a recruiter, I wanna be an engineering recruiter. 43 00:01:52,631 --> 00:01:56,291 Or did you take a little bit of a different path to find your way here? 44 00:01:56,351 --> 00:01:57,701 Taylor: Yeah, definitely a different path. 45 00:01:57,701 --> 00:02:00,941 Nobody, The ongoing joke with the, with the recruiting world is nobody 46 00:02:01,361 --> 00:02:02,441 actually dreams about being a recruiter. 47 00:02:02,441 --> 00:02:04,181 We just literally stumble into it. 48 00:02:04,601 --> 00:02:06,191 . So a little bit about my story. 49 00:02:06,191 --> 00:02:07,331 So I grew up in south. 50 00:02:08,181 --> 00:02:10,221 Uh, I went to University of South Carolina. 51 00:02:10,221 --> 00:02:11,181 Go Gamecocks. 52 00:02:11,211 --> 00:02:12,471 I'm a big Gamecock fan. 53 00:02:12,741 --> 00:02:13,791 I was in the drum line. 54 00:02:13,821 --> 00:02:15,141 Um, and I played music all my life. 55 00:02:15,141 --> 00:02:20,121 So, um, start in fifth grade playing drums and basically middle 56 00:02:20,121 --> 00:02:22,071 school band, high school band. 57 00:02:22,341 --> 00:02:24,671 You know, I was first chair, wind ensemble for a bit. 58 00:02:25,156 --> 00:02:27,946 And so, you know, definitely knew what I was doing. 59 00:02:27,946 --> 00:02:29,596 At least I, I think I knew what I was doing. 60 00:02:29,926 --> 00:02:33,946 Um, and then I was in a church band and I, uh, I basically 61 00:02:33,946 --> 00:02:36,256 ran into my future lead singer. 62 00:02:36,256 --> 00:02:39,526 So he was playing bass and he was like, Man, like we should start, He 63 00:02:39,526 --> 00:02:40,786 was like, Do you wanna be in my band? 64 00:02:40,786 --> 00:02:41,896 I was like, Sure. 65 00:02:41,896 --> 00:02:43,036 I was like, I've never been in a band. 66 00:02:43,041 --> 00:02:43,216 Right. 67 00:02:43,216 --> 00:02:44,776 I grew up like Southern Baptist. 68 00:02:44,776 --> 00:02:47,356 Like, I didn't even really like go out to shows. 69 00:02:47,356 --> 00:02:48,796 I never went to a show. 70 00:02:48,796 --> 00:02:50,236 I, I was like, Sure, I'll be in a band. 71 00:02:50,236 --> 00:02:50,536 Why not? 72 00:02:50,536 --> 00:02:50,836 Like what? 73 00:02:50,896 --> 00:02:51,136 Sure. 74 00:02:51,136 --> 00:02:54,706 I, I, in my head I was like, This isn't gonna, I started playing with these guys 75 00:02:54,856 --> 00:02:58,876 and then we ended up playing together for golly, I, I've been friends with this guy 76 00:02:59,246 --> 00:03:00,826 probably for about 11 or 12 years now. 77 00:03:01,216 --> 00:03:01,516 Wow. 78 00:03:01,516 --> 00:03:05,416 And we played music together from junior year in high school up until, 79 00:03:05,446 --> 00:03:06,706 So how old are you in high school? 80 00:03:06,796 --> 00:03:06,976 You grad? 81 00:03:07,566 --> 00:03:07,646 18. 82 00:03:07,651 --> 00:03:08,716 You graduated high school when you were 18. 83 00:03:08,721 --> 00:03:09,826 So I was probably 17. 84 00:03:09,831 --> 00:03:09,886 Yeah. 85 00:03:10,426 --> 00:03:13,306 When I, when I started and I didn't stop playing music with 86 00:03:13,306 --> 00:03:15,466 this one guy I met until I was 20. 87 00:03:16,286 --> 00:03:17,306 22, 23. 88 00:03:17,366 --> 00:03:18,176 Wow. 89 00:03:18,206 --> 00:03:22,136 So I played in a band with him for about six years, basically our senior 90 00:03:22,136 --> 00:03:23,966 year in college at South Carolina. 91 00:03:24,266 --> 00:03:26,486 You know, we were drawing around two to 300 people, um, 92 00:03:26,486 --> 00:03:27,566 whenever we played locally. 93 00:03:27,566 --> 00:03:29,456 And we, it was, it was a small college town, so like, I mean, 94 00:03:29,456 --> 00:03:30,536 it was, it was pretty awesome. 95 00:03:30,961 --> 00:03:35,251 And, uh, we did a tour to Nashville the summer of my senior 96 00:03:35,251 --> 00:03:38,071 year and we played the Bluebird. 97 00:03:38,251 --> 00:03:40,651 So most people know what the Bluebird Cafe is in Nashville. 98 00:03:40,651 --> 00:03:42,481 It's kind of like where a lot of people get their start. 99 00:03:42,871 --> 00:03:44,491 We played Sunday nights, so Sunday nights fun. 100 00:03:44,496 --> 00:03:48,121 Little fact about Bluebird Cafe is you only get full bands on Sunday nights. 101 00:03:48,121 --> 00:03:50,001 I don't know if that's changed now, but when we played. 102 00:03:50,656 --> 00:03:52,036 It was only a Sunday night thing. 103 00:03:52,366 --> 00:03:56,656 And so we, so we played full band and one of my lead singers, dad's friends, 104 00:03:56,656 --> 00:04:00,106 who is an old school country artist, basically came out and watched us 105 00:04:00,286 --> 00:04:03,556 and he came up afterwards and he was like, Hey, like I really like y'all. 106 00:04:03,556 --> 00:04:05,686 Like I think you guys could make it up here. 107 00:04:05,686 --> 00:04:07,606 And we're like, We're from South Carolina. 108 00:04:07,611 --> 00:04:11,111 And so I'm like, Country were song where I was like, You can make it. 109 00:04:11,111 --> 00:04:12,311 We were like, Holy cow. 110 00:04:12,671 --> 00:04:17,231 So our heads were buzzing and we basically, we, so we went home and 111 00:04:17,236 --> 00:04:19,751 we decided to travel to Nashville once a month for our senior year. 112 00:04:19,751 --> 00:04:20,741 So we came up once a month. 113 00:04:21,131 --> 00:04:22,721 And the reason why I'm passionate about networking, to be totally 114 00:04:22,726 --> 00:04:24,941 honest with you, is I didn't network. 115 00:04:25,456 --> 00:04:27,256 I missed out on a huge opportunity. 116 00:04:27,256 --> 00:04:31,486 I didn't know how to network at all, so I really did not take advantage of 117 00:04:31,486 --> 00:04:32,566 coming up to Nashville every month. 118 00:04:32,566 --> 00:04:36,226 And so when we graduated, me and my lead singer are the only ones that moved. 119 00:04:36,226 --> 00:04:37,756 Our lead guitar player moved. 120 00:04:37,906 --> 00:04:38,866 He's not doing music anymore. 121 00:04:38,871 --> 00:04:41,296 He's an upstate, He's actually a data scientist now, which is funny. 122 00:04:42,196 --> 00:04:44,446 , and then all of our other guys kind of stayed in Columbia, so 123 00:04:44,446 --> 00:04:45,466 it's just me and my lead singer. 124 00:04:45,466 --> 00:04:46,546 We moved up to Nashville. 125 00:04:47,086 --> 00:04:48,916 We started to play together and it was really funny. 126 00:04:49,126 --> 00:04:51,346 I know it was a long winded story, but actually I've never told this in 127 00:04:51,346 --> 00:04:52,726 depth of a story before on any podcast. 128 00:04:52,726 --> 00:04:55,306 So basically moved up to Nashville. 129 00:04:55,486 --> 00:04:57,346 There was a group of us in my hometown that actually all 130 00:04:57,346 --> 00:04:58,486 moved to Nashville together. 131 00:04:58,486 --> 00:05:01,546 Not like together in a van, but like around the same time. 132 00:05:01,846 --> 00:05:04,426 And so basically it was the best of the best. 133 00:05:04,426 --> 00:05:07,551 So our bass player, Who joined up with us up here in Nashville. 134 00:05:07,551 --> 00:05:11,841 He now does, or he still does, he does front of the house audio for Dan and Shay. 135 00:05:12,351 --> 00:05:16,221 And then our league guitar player basically was in a band that beat us 136 00:05:16,226 --> 00:05:18,681 at Battle of the Bands in college. 137 00:05:18,681 --> 00:05:19,971 And then he joined up with us. 138 00:05:19,976 --> 00:05:23,961 So we kind of like developed like the a team up in Nashville, which 139 00:05:23,966 --> 00:05:24,921 kind of what happens up here. 140 00:05:24,921 --> 00:05:26,931 Cause you gotta be, I mean you gotta be good enough to cut it up here, 141 00:05:27,546 --> 00:05:30,471 Um, and we started to play music and, and, and we went on a few tours and 142 00:05:30,471 --> 00:05:33,051 the last tour, unfortunately, We drove. 143 00:05:33,051 --> 00:05:33,981 It was a summer tour. 144 00:05:33,981 --> 00:05:35,991 We drove from New York City to South Carolina over. 145 00:05:36,901 --> 00:05:39,601 Not showering in a Nissan era. 146 00:05:39,841 --> 00:05:44,221 We broke down in the middle of nowhere, South Carolina on a Sunday, and if you've 147 00:05:44,221 --> 00:05:49,111 ever been in in the south on a Sunday, nothing's open until noon or one, so we 148 00:05:49,116 --> 00:05:51,631 gently got towed to an advanced auto. 149 00:05:52,146 --> 00:05:55,296 and essentially stayed like sat in the heat cuz the car 150 00:05:55,296 --> 00:05:56,556 was dead so there's no ac. 151 00:05:56,556 --> 00:06:00,576 And I said, I'm done . So no one's gotten that story. 152 00:06:00,576 --> 00:06:02,136 Very few people have gotten that story. 153 00:06:02,136 --> 00:06:06,936 So basically I was serving tables and my dad calls me, he goes, You need a day job. 154 00:06:06,941 --> 00:06:07,806 I said, You're right. 155 00:06:08,106 --> 00:06:09,366 So I networked, right? 156 00:06:09,371 --> 00:06:10,356 I leveraged my network. 157 00:06:10,356 --> 00:06:14,136 There was one girl that I knew from our hometown, she was nannying for somebody. 158 00:06:14,136 --> 00:06:16,686 I was like, Well if somebody can afford a nanny, I wanna do what they do. 159 00:06:16,866 --> 00:06:19,836 And then I got connected up with my first boss at Vaco. 160 00:06:19,966 --> 00:06:23,446 I interviewed three days later, got the job offer and have it looked back. 161 00:06:23,506 --> 00:06:24,376 Eddie: Wow. 162 00:06:24,376 --> 00:06:24,676 That's 163 00:06:24,676 --> 00:06:25,516 Taylor: crazy. 164 00:06:25,576 --> 00:06:26,536 That's my story. 165 00:06:26,866 --> 00:06:30,916 How I got into engineering recruiting is, the first department I started in 166 00:06:30,916 --> 00:06:34,336 was kind of not, when I say a junior department, I mean like the kind of the 167 00:06:34,336 --> 00:06:39,196 model for that department was like, let's hire like young talent, train them up, 168 00:06:39,196 --> 00:06:43,006 high volume, high metrics, kind a little bit, call center type vibes, and then 169 00:06:43,006 --> 00:06:44,776 basically what happened was, is that. 170 00:06:45,901 --> 00:06:49,581 Like there was a tech project, like a, it was Java Engineers. 171 00:06:49,581 --> 00:06:52,231 It was Java project back when, like old Java. 172 00:06:52,261 --> 00:06:52,681 Right. 173 00:06:52,801 --> 00:06:56,761 And basically nobody like raised their hand to take on the project. 174 00:06:57,181 --> 00:07:02,731 And I basically was like, All right, well I'm gonna raise my hands. 175 00:07:02,731 --> 00:07:03,811 That's just who I am. 176 00:07:03,841 --> 00:07:06,421 And I fell in love talking with developers. 177 00:07:06,511 --> 00:07:06,841 I think. 178 00:07:06,841 --> 00:07:08,971 I think developers do really, really cool ship. 179 00:07:09,181 --> 00:07:11,161 I think they're fascinating to talk. 180 00:07:11,831 --> 00:07:13,931 And they're really willing to talk to you. 181 00:07:14,081 --> 00:07:16,001 And, uh, I just kind of fell in love with tech. 182 00:07:16,001 --> 00:07:17,411 And then I moved to the Raleigh office. 183 00:07:17,411 --> 00:07:19,901 I was in Raleigh for a year doing more local recruiting. 184 00:07:20,171 --> 00:07:23,831 Um, and that's when I really got, really invested in the local engineering scene 185 00:07:23,831 --> 00:07:27,821 and then moved back to Nashville and have been recruiting engineers ever since. 186 00:07:27,821 --> 00:07:30,251 And then pretty much the last two or three years have been fully remote, 187 00:07:30,341 --> 00:07:31,631 fully remote engineering searches. 188 00:07:31,661 --> 00:07:32,471 So that's 189 00:07:32,471 --> 00:07:34,211 Eddie: a, that's a fun journey. 190 00:07:34,451 --> 00:07:36,401 So have you found that. 191 00:07:37,326 --> 00:07:43,526 , you're doing fully remote like positions lately just because there aren't as 192 00:07:43,531 --> 00:07:47,776 many local positions because of the pandemic or is this like a intentional 193 00:07:47,776 --> 00:07:52,426 change, like you now are like focused on helping remote positions? 194 00:07:52,606 --> 00:07:53,986 Taylor: Yeah, it was an intentional change. 195 00:07:53,986 --> 00:07:57,976 So basically, um, when Covid hit, so I started to really kind of pick up 196 00:07:57,976 --> 00:08:00,826 some steam with the speaker circuit speaking at code conferences across the 197 00:08:00,826 --> 00:08:05,086 southeast and essentially I then covid. 198 00:08:05,896 --> 00:08:08,746 And I was like, Well, shit, that was short lived. 199 00:08:08,896 --> 00:08:12,286 And so basically I was like, Well, what do I do now? 200 00:08:12,406 --> 00:08:13,396 And it, it got to the point. 201 00:08:13,396 --> 00:08:15,586 So at that point, I've been recruiting for eight years and I 202 00:08:15,586 --> 00:08:19,456 just got really, really tired of just recruiting, to be totally honest. 203 00:08:19,456 --> 00:08:23,626 Like the, like the dms, the emails, Please work with me. 204 00:08:23,626 --> 00:08:24,946 I promise I'm different. 205 00:08:24,946 --> 00:08:26,896 Like that just really, really started to wear. 206 00:08:27,676 --> 00:08:31,306 . And so I essentially was like, All right, there's, there's gotta 207 00:08:31,306 --> 00:08:32,146 be something else out there. 208 00:08:32,146 --> 00:08:35,386 And so I started following Gary Vaynerchuck like most people have, 209 00:08:35,746 --> 00:08:37,396 and he started talking about content. 210 00:08:37,396 --> 00:08:38,926 And I was like, What the heck is content? 211 00:08:38,926 --> 00:08:39,976 Like what is this thing? 212 00:08:39,976 --> 00:08:43,666 And so essentially I was like, Well, maybe I should just start posting the 213 00:08:43,666 --> 00:08:45,256 things I talk about in conferences. 214 00:08:45,676 --> 00:08:47,626 Because when I was speaking at conferences, I was getting like 215 00:08:47,626 --> 00:08:50,926 rave reviews, like, you know, they felt conference cards and like all 216 00:08:50,926 --> 00:08:54,406 of my talks I gave were like five star, like very little critiques. 217 00:08:54,406 --> 00:08:55,966 And I was like, I may be onto something here. 218 00:08:56,266 --> 00:08:58,276 And so I started to put that on the internet. 219 00:08:58,576 --> 00:09:01,636 I put out content on the internet a year later and I wanted to give a plug 220 00:09:01,636 --> 00:09:04,006 to my buddy Brandon Arve at Brandon 78. 221 00:09:04,066 --> 00:09:07,066 Um, he kind of helped take over my content strategy. 222 00:09:07,186 --> 00:09:10,306 He's really, really good with audio editing, video editing, 223 00:09:10,696 --> 00:09:13,126 really understanding how content works and how people need. 224 00:09:13,636 --> 00:09:15,346 How people want to consume content. 225 00:09:15,676 --> 00:09:19,096 So he was like, Hey, I want to help you, and basically headed up 226 00:09:19,096 --> 00:09:20,666 my content strategy for a year. 227 00:09:21,076 --> 00:09:24,136 A year into my content journey, I had a handful of companies across 228 00:09:24,136 --> 00:09:26,566 the country call me and wanna work with me to staff up their teams. 229 00:09:26,956 --> 00:09:30,106 At that point, I had to make a decision to leave recruiting manager 230 00:09:30,346 --> 00:09:32,566 of 12 recruiters and start on my own. 231 00:09:32,866 --> 00:09:36,046 And I have, and a year later, uh, we're a team of seven. 232 00:09:36,411 --> 00:09:37,581 And, uh, we're doing pretty well. 233 00:09:37,851 --> 00:09:38,151 So 234 00:09:38,301 --> 00:09:39,111 Eddie: that's awesome. 235 00:09:39,111 --> 00:09:41,421 That is, uh, an amazing journey. 236 00:09:41,481 --> 00:09:42,291 Uh, congrats. 237 00:09:42,291 --> 00:09:45,171 I mean, you know, just finding all of those different 238 00:09:45,171 --> 00:09:47,061 changes and flexing, right? 239 00:09:47,061 --> 00:09:49,581 And like trying something out, saying, Hey, like, this 240 00:09:49,581 --> 00:09:50,991 stuff worked in conferences. 241 00:09:50,991 --> 00:09:53,391 Like, I wonder what it'll do online and. 242 00:09:53,991 --> 00:09:55,131 Yeah, that's great. 243 00:09:55,641 --> 00:09:59,031 So I want to zoom in a little bit on, you know, you mentioned 244 00:09:59,031 --> 00:10:02,991 like you kind of got a little bit burned out of recruiting, right? 245 00:10:02,991 --> 00:10:03,861 Like Yeah. 246 00:10:04,191 --> 00:10:05,571 Doing the same old thing. 247 00:10:05,961 --> 00:10:11,001 What do you think it is that by engaging with content online, right? 248 00:10:11,001 --> 00:10:15,036 Engaging with people on the internet, What is it that kind of stirred back 249 00:10:15,036 --> 00:10:19,446 up, um, your excitement and passion for recruiting and, and networking. 250 00:10:19,446 --> 00:10:19,746 Yeah. 251 00:10:19,756 --> 00:10:20,376 And, and all 252 00:10:20,376 --> 00:10:21,066 Taylor: of that stuff. 253 00:10:21,336 --> 00:10:22,986 Well, I have a passion for helping people. 254 00:10:23,346 --> 00:10:25,956 I think that's kind of my motto and, and the reason why I have 255 00:10:25,956 --> 00:10:29,406 such a strong passion for helping people is one, I moved to Nashville. 256 00:10:29,411 --> 00:10:30,456 I didn't know how to network. 257 00:10:30,456 --> 00:10:31,686 I didn't know about LinkedIn. 258 00:10:31,746 --> 00:10:33,906 I didn't know that there were jobs nine to five. 259 00:10:33,906 --> 00:10:35,826 I mean, I did know there were nine to five jobs. 260 00:10:36,691 --> 00:10:38,131 I didn't know how you landed them. 261 00:10:38,131 --> 00:10:39,511 I didn't know how you found them. 262 00:10:39,841 --> 00:10:42,661 I've had to help my dad a few times on his job search journey. 263 00:10:42,991 --> 00:10:46,621 I love helping people in their careers and, and for me, what 264 00:10:46,626 --> 00:10:48,091 content creation has done. 265 00:10:48,301 --> 00:10:53,461 So I, I'm also an insurer and this job, recruiting is hard. 266 00:10:53,671 --> 00:10:55,141 It is so hard. 267 00:10:55,146 --> 00:10:58,581 So, The best way to say it is like, think of college recruiting, college 268 00:10:58,581 --> 00:11:02,991 football, recruiting, like it's kind of that, but without a lot of the egos. 269 00:11:02,991 --> 00:11:05,571 Cause we're not dealing with 18 year old high school students right now. 270 00:11:05,571 --> 00:11:06,981 There are a lot of egos in tech. 271 00:11:06,981 --> 00:11:09,561 They're just more like 35, 40 year old like nerds. 272 00:11:09,921 --> 00:11:13,311 But, But basically, and I'm a nerd too, so I can say that. 273 00:11:13,731 --> 00:11:15,861 So I just, it wears on you. 274 00:11:15,861 --> 00:11:16,821 And I got to the point. 275 00:11:16,821 --> 00:11:18,681 I mean, and just, you know, in full transparency, I'm totally 276 00:11:18,681 --> 00:11:19,431 fine talking about this. 277 00:11:19,431 --> 00:11:20,421 I'm really big on mental health. 278 00:11:20,701 --> 00:11:22,981 I clinically hit depression for the first time in my entire life 279 00:11:22,981 --> 00:11:27,211 in 2018, it really hit hard pretty much a year and a half before Covid. 280 00:11:27,511 --> 00:11:30,991 It took three to six months to kind of dig my way out of it with counseling and, 281 00:11:30,991 --> 00:11:32,701 and, and I'm just a huge fan of therapy. 282 00:11:32,706 --> 00:11:33,631 I actually had it today. 283 00:11:33,721 --> 00:11:34,231 Nice. 284 00:11:34,471 --> 00:11:38,311 For me, what I've realized with content is it helps scale your time 285 00:11:38,521 --> 00:11:40,381 and it helps scale who you are. 286 00:11:40,771 --> 00:11:44,731 It's kind of like, I've started, use this analogy, most old school people. 287 00:11:45,011 --> 00:11:49,241 Love thank you notes or thank you letters or just postcard, right? 288 00:11:49,241 --> 00:11:52,391 You know, like mail or what if I just send you a thank you note email or 289 00:11:52,391 --> 00:11:55,721 thank you text like to me that means the same if somebody texts me and 290 00:11:55,721 --> 00:11:56,741 go, Hey man, I really appreciate it. 291 00:11:56,861 --> 00:11:59,111 I actually got a thank you email today from somebody. 292 00:11:59,321 --> 00:12:01,991 Hey, I just want you to know I appreciate all the content you're putting out. 293 00:12:01,991 --> 00:12:03,281 I admire what you're doing in yada, yada, right? 294 00:12:03,826 --> 00:12:06,196 That to me was the exact same as a handwritten note. 295 00:12:06,316 --> 00:12:11,116 So what content is, is content is like going to conferences and meetups, but 296 00:12:11,116 --> 00:12:15,466 it's like 10 x when I, What I mean by that is like, so when you go to a 297 00:12:15,471 --> 00:12:18,286 conference or meetup, let's face it, you probably meet, So if you go to a 298 00:12:18,286 --> 00:12:22,936 meetup one night in your city, you're maybe meeting five people, 10 people max. 299 00:12:23,296 --> 00:12:25,656 And even if it's 10 people, you're probably not remembering 300 00:12:25,661 --> 00:12:28,756 exactly what their first and last names were, what they do their. 301 00:12:29,411 --> 00:12:30,371 You don't have any of that. 302 00:12:30,521 --> 00:12:34,031 You're just like shaking hands and hopefully you run into them again, 303 00:12:34,241 --> 00:12:35,681 but you're not connecting with them. 304 00:12:35,951 --> 00:12:41,141 What content is, is content allows me to have those conversations at scale, so I 305 00:12:41,141 --> 00:12:45,581 can say something on the internet that I would say to you if you're on the job 306 00:12:45,581 --> 00:12:47,591 search, but now everybody sees it, right? 307 00:12:47,591 --> 00:12:53,951 And so what that does is it 10 Xs your reach to where now I do this full time 308 00:12:54,161 --> 00:12:58,291 and then when I go into conferences, Then the relationships are so much 309 00:12:58,291 --> 00:13:00,211 easier because they've seen me online. 310 00:13:00,211 --> 00:13:02,371 And then now I can have a better conversation. 311 00:13:02,376 --> 00:13:04,831 Cuz now I'm not going, Hey, my name's Taylor. 312 00:13:05,071 --> 00:13:06,841 Well people, I don't mean this to be bragging. 313 00:13:06,961 --> 00:13:08,431 People know who I am because they've seen me. 314 00:13:08,431 --> 00:13:08,731 Right? 315 00:13:08,731 --> 00:13:10,351 They like, they followed me. 316 00:13:10,561 --> 00:13:13,801 So when I go in person now, now it's a, hey, so what do you do? 317 00:13:13,806 --> 00:13:16,831 And like we immediately hit it off like on our second and third conversation. 318 00:13:17,041 --> 00:13:20,071 That would take two or three months if you were doing that for a meetup. 319 00:13:20,191 --> 00:13:20,851 That's awesome. 320 00:13:21,001 --> 00:13:24,541 And so that's what content has done is it basically has, I 321 00:13:24,541 --> 00:13:25,501 was thinking about the driving. 322 00:13:26,391 --> 00:13:30,261 The biggest mistake of my career is not starting this sooner, and 323 00:13:30,261 --> 00:13:32,301 I'm gonna be honest with you, everybody who does content, and you 324 00:13:32,301 --> 00:13:33,291 can probably say the same thing. 325 00:13:33,931 --> 00:13:35,251 We all wish we started sooner. 326 00:13:35,341 --> 00:13:35,971 Yeah, that's true. 327 00:13:36,781 --> 00:13:39,091 . So again, that's why I'm passionate about one, cause I'm an introvert 328 00:13:39,091 --> 00:13:40,321 and I hate talking to people all day. 329 00:13:40,321 --> 00:13:42,061 And I'm really bad in big groups. 330 00:13:42,066 --> 00:13:46,021 Like I'm speaking at code on the beach in Jacksonville next week and I'm, I'm 331 00:13:46,026 --> 00:13:49,651 a little nervous to like be in front of all those people cuz it's overwhelming. 332 00:13:49,861 --> 00:13:54,991 But again, so content has allowed me to, to be myself my whole self online 333 00:13:55,171 --> 00:13:59,191 and allow for people to find me, like find their tribe type situation. 334 00:13:59,431 --> 00:13:59,761 Eddie: Yeah. 335 00:13:59,761 --> 00:14:00,991 I, I love Right. 336 00:14:00,991 --> 00:14:01,981 Kind of that point. 337 00:14:02,941 --> 00:14:09,811 In real life, irl, like the introverts, all of us introverts are kind of at a 338 00:14:09,811 --> 00:14:14,041 disadvantage because we start getting in our head, um, when we're in large 339 00:14:14,046 --> 00:14:17,761 groups of people and when we're in areas where we can have a large impact. 340 00:14:17,761 --> 00:14:20,371 But, Even things like this podcast, right? 341 00:14:20,371 --> 00:14:23,971 And I'm sure we'll talk about, you know, closer to the end. 342 00:14:23,971 --> 00:14:25,471 Like you have a podcast, right? 343 00:14:25,471 --> 00:14:30,421 And you can have these conversations that feel one on one, like it's 344 00:14:30,421 --> 00:14:32,491 no pressure, it's us just talking. 345 00:14:32,491 --> 00:14:36,901 And yet, like you can have tons of people hear these conversations 346 00:14:36,901 --> 00:14:38,371 and you can have those larger. 347 00:14:39,181 --> 00:14:41,851 , even though you're tricking your brain, right? 348 00:14:41,851 --> 00:14:44,041 Your brain, the introvert says, Oh, it's cool. 349 00:14:44,041 --> 00:14:45,481 I'm just chatting with someone else. 350 00:14:45,991 --> 00:14:46,951 . Yeah, absolutely. 351 00:14:47,011 --> 00:14:51,091 Well, so yeah, I mean, one of the main things we like to do on this podcast is 352 00:14:51,331 --> 00:14:53,731 talk about, you know, what brings us joy. 353 00:14:53,761 --> 00:14:58,561 And I, I'm sure as a surprise to no one that's listening to the podcast thus 354 00:14:58,561 --> 00:15:02,461 far, networking brings you a lot of joy. 355 00:15:02,491 --> 00:15:05,211 Um, as well as like branding for job searches. 356 00:15:05,906 --> 00:15:09,506 Kind of talk to us about what does that mean for you and like 357 00:15:09,506 --> 00:15:11,576 what about that brings you joy? 358 00:15:12,146 --> 00:15:15,866 Taylor: What brings me joy when it comes to helping people is to 359 00:15:15,866 --> 00:15:17,486 watch people level up their career. 360 00:15:17,936 --> 00:15:22,376 People don't realize that they can level up their career so easily, 361 00:15:22,556 --> 00:15:26,096 but people don't know where to get started, and I'm able to do that. 362 00:15:26,486 --> 00:15:29,376 Yesterday I had a conversation with a green, a former green be. 363 00:15:29,836 --> 00:15:33,016 In the military, who's now, I mean, it was a while ago, but 364 00:15:33,016 --> 00:15:34,396 like he's on the job search. 365 00:15:34,396 --> 00:15:35,926 You know, I get to, I get to help him. 366 00:15:36,436 --> 00:15:39,256 I, I get to, you know, help people's families, right? 367 00:15:39,261 --> 00:15:43,426 Help people get raises, help people accomplish things in their life that they 368 00:15:43,426 --> 00:15:46,666 never would've thought they'd been able to because they didn't know any better. 369 00:15:46,996 --> 00:15:50,716 I'm speaking at Magnolia JS down in Mississippi in September. 370 00:15:51,616 --> 00:15:54,076 The conference organizer said, I need you to speak. 371 00:15:54,076 --> 00:15:55,186 I didn't even apply. 372 00:15:55,366 --> 00:15:59,086 She was like, I just need you down there just to talk about what is out there. 373 00:15:59,086 --> 00:16:01,456 Because people in Mississippi don't know what's out there. 374 00:16:01,786 --> 00:16:06,196 And so that's what brings me joy, is showing people like a whole 375 00:16:06,196 --> 00:16:09,556 other world, like you can have total control over your career. 376 00:16:09,826 --> 00:16:10,996 And that's what brings me joy. 377 00:16:11,236 --> 00:16:11,986 Eddie: I love that. 378 00:16:12,136 --> 00:16:15,586 Well, so if someone's listening to this and they haven't done 379 00:16:15,986 --> 00:16:18,316 anything, no networking, no. 380 00:16:18,316 --> 00:16:20,776 Trying to up level their career, I. 381 00:16:21,601 --> 00:16:23,851 How could they get started, right? 382 00:16:23,851 --> 00:16:27,841 Like, what's one thing that they could do to like say, Hey, I'm gonna take a step. 383 00:16:28,231 --> 00:16:31,081 Taylor: So I, I think if you're listening to this and you know, you're 384 00:16:31,086 --> 00:16:32,371 like, This sounds great, Taylor. 385 00:16:32,371 --> 00:16:34,081 Like, what's step one? 386 00:16:34,081 --> 00:16:34,321 Right? 387 00:16:34,321 --> 00:16:37,021 Like, I actually gave a presentation this morning and one woman said that. 388 00:16:37,021 --> 00:16:38,701 She's like, Everything you're saying sounds great, but 389 00:16:38,701 --> 00:16:39,601 it sounds so overwhelming. 390 00:16:39,751 --> 00:16:40,381 Here's what I do. 391 00:16:40,571 --> 00:16:42,781 One vaco.com/. 392 00:16:43,331 --> 00:16:46,931 I have a free resource page and I have a 30 minute video that you can 393 00:16:46,931 --> 00:16:48,221 watch on how to build your LinkedIn. 394 00:16:48,431 --> 00:16:50,571 Go watch that immediately and build out your LinkedIn. 395 00:16:50,741 --> 00:16:52,841 Then what I would do is I would stay on LinkedIn. 396 00:16:52,841 --> 00:16:55,601 I would delete all social media apps off your phone, TikTok, 397 00:16:55,601 --> 00:16:57,011 Twitter, Instagram, you name it. 398 00:16:57,431 --> 00:17:00,851 Only use LinkedIn and start networking with people on there. 399 00:17:00,851 --> 00:17:03,611 Now, when I say network with people, there's two main ways, right? 400 00:17:03,611 --> 00:17:05,741 There's posting content, documenting your job search 401 00:17:05,741 --> 00:17:07,421 journey, but there's also the DM. 402 00:17:08,041 --> 00:17:10,441 People are more kind than ever, especially online. 403 00:17:10,501 --> 00:17:14,281 And if you message people and you start engaging with people or liking and 404 00:17:14,371 --> 00:17:19,261 commenting on their statuses or DMing them or posting content that allows you to open 405 00:17:19,261 --> 00:17:21,091 up doors that you never thought, right? 406 00:17:21,091 --> 00:17:22,321 So I tell this story all the time. 407 00:17:22,471 --> 00:17:22,761 I. 408 00:17:23,006 --> 00:17:25,076 Is my 55 year old dad at the time. 409 00:17:25,316 --> 00:17:27,716 He quit his job in the restaurant industry, right? 410 00:17:27,716 --> 00:17:28,616 My dad does not do tech. 411 00:17:28,616 --> 00:17:31,136 My dad is, I dad, if you ever listen to this, I'm sorry, but 412 00:17:31,136 --> 00:17:32,396 you are computer illiterate. 413 00:17:32,906 --> 00:17:33,896 I mean, he's terrible. 414 00:17:33,926 --> 00:17:35,966 He's kind of one of those angry texts, you know what I'm saying? 415 00:17:35,966 --> 00:17:38,606 Like dads that don't really know how to text, he just sounds angry all the time. 416 00:17:38,606 --> 00:17:40,106 Dad, again, I love you if you listen to this. 417 00:17:40,106 --> 00:17:41,426 I'm sorry, but it's just a truth. 418 00:17:41,636 --> 00:17:45,416 My dad called me after he quit his job and he goes, Taylor, what do I do? 419 00:17:45,536 --> 00:17:46,016 And I go, What? 420 00:17:46,016 --> 00:17:47,246 I go, What do you, I don't know. 421 00:17:47,246 --> 00:17:47,736 What do you what? 422 00:17:47,736 --> 00:17:48,086 What do you mean? 423 00:17:48,086 --> 00:17:48,616 What do you do? 424 00:17:48,621 --> 00:17:49,536 He goes, How do I find. 425 00:17:49,726 --> 00:17:52,186 He goes, because the last time I was on the job search, get this, 426 00:17:52,246 --> 00:17:54,916 he said the internet did not exist. 427 00:17:55,216 --> 00:17:55,636 Wow. 428 00:17:55,966 --> 00:17:58,396 And I was like, Guy, I just got goosebumps saying that. 429 00:17:58,396 --> 00:17:58,576 Right. 430 00:17:58,581 --> 00:18:04,066 To think about being in a job for so long that the internet was not around. 431 00:18:04,336 --> 00:18:06,556 When you were on a job search, you had to fax shit. 432 00:18:06,556 --> 00:18:08,986 So I was like, Dad, I'm gonna need a day. 433 00:18:09,226 --> 00:18:13,456 I'm gonna need a day to distill this down where my technology 434 00:18:13,456 --> 00:18:15,316 illiterate dad can understand. 435 00:18:15,466 --> 00:18:18,406 So like I, So I took the night, I was like, Taylor, how in. 436 00:18:19,126 --> 00:18:23,746 Can I explain this to my dad to where he can take like a piece of advice from me? 437 00:18:24,166 --> 00:18:24,886 So I called him the next day. 438 00:18:24,886 --> 00:18:25,876 I was like, All right, dad, I got it. 439 00:18:26,146 --> 00:18:27,166 He goes, All right, what do you got? 440 00:18:27,196 --> 00:18:28,456 I said, One. 441 00:18:28,876 --> 00:18:30,106 And he goes, I'm sorry, what? 442 00:18:30,706 --> 00:18:31,636 He goes, What do you mean one? 443 00:18:31,876 --> 00:18:34,996 I said, One conversation a day with a complete stranger or 444 00:18:34,996 --> 00:18:35,926 somebody in your phone book. 445 00:18:36,076 --> 00:18:37,276 He goes, That's it. 446 00:18:37,276 --> 00:18:38,056 I said, Yes, that's 447 00:18:38,056 --> 00:18:38,266 it. 448 00:18:38,536 --> 00:18:40,396 Taylor: I said, Go in your phone book. 449 00:18:40,546 --> 00:18:44,686 Invite people out to lunch, coffee, dinner, FaceTime, phone call. 450 00:18:44,686 --> 00:18:45,466 I don't care. 451 00:18:45,556 --> 00:18:46,396 Try to get in front of. 452 00:18:46,956 --> 00:18:49,956 And just get to know them and ask, Hey, is there anything I can do? 453 00:18:50,166 --> 00:18:51,726 Is there any place I can get involved? 454 00:18:51,906 --> 00:18:53,046 And he said, Just one a day. 455 00:18:53,051 --> 00:18:54,516 I said, Just one a day, that's it. 456 00:18:54,576 --> 00:18:57,516 But I said, It's gonna take a lot of work and the front end, you're gonna be 457 00:18:57,516 --> 00:19:00,756 on your computer a lot cause you got and And I told him, I said, I said LinkedIn. 458 00:19:00,756 --> 00:19:02,136 I said, Just get on LinkedIn. 459 00:19:02,316 --> 00:19:04,956 And then we talked about the search filters and how to 460 00:19:04,956 --> 00:19:06,046 filter stuff and all that. 461 00:19:06,436 --> 00:19:09,106 So my dad would call me over the next three months saying, Hey, I got a lead. 462 00:19:09,106 --> 00:19:09,886 I said, I said, Okay. 463 00:19:09,886 --> 00:19:12,736 And in the back of my mind I'm like, It's not gonna pan out cause most leads don't. 464 00:19:12,736 --> 00:19:13,036 Right? 465 00:19:13,036 --> 00:19:13,726 Let's just face it. 466 00:19:13,966 --> 00:19:15,856 And then finally my dad calls me after three months. 467 00:19:15,861 --> 00:19:16,606 He goes, You won't believe this. 468 00:19:16,611 --> 00:19:17,026 I said, What? 469 00:19:17,026 --> 00:19:18,256 He goes, I just got an offer. 470 00:19:18,406 --> 00:19:19,156 I said, You're kidding me? 471 00:19:19,156 --> 00:19:20,686 He goes, I guess, where did you find it? 472 00:19:20,691 --> 00:19:21,826 He goes on LinkedIn. 473 00:19:21,826 --> 00:19:25,576 Hey, my dad messaged a guy he used to work with like 15 474 00:19:25,576 --> 00:19:27,316 years ago and says, Hey, what? 475 00:19:27,961 --> 00:19:28,981 Didn't know what you're up to. 476 00:19:28,981 --> 00:19:34,051 Well, this guy he did not know had opened a new restaurant franchise and 477 00:19:34,051 --> 00:19:38,131 they were looking for somebody in his hometown to take over that restaurant. 478 00:19:38,341 --> 00:19:40,111 And then now my dad's been there for six years. 479 00:19:40,111 --> 00:19:44,991 So again, like I said, I tell that story all the time because if my 55 now, 62 480 00:19:44,991 --> 00:19:49,881 year old computer that dad can find a job in the restaurant industry on LinkedIn. 481 00:19:50,811 --> 00:19:54,051 I'm gonna be honest with you, Nobody's got an excuse, nobody's got an excuse. 482 00:19:54,291 --> 00:19:54,831 Everyone can do 483 00:19:54,831 --> 00:19:54,921 Eddie: it. 484 00:19:55,191 --> 00:19:56,841 Well, no, that's, that's great. 485 00:19:56,841 --> 00:20:02,361 And I think as we kind of wrap up each episode, one thing we like to 486 00:20:02,361 --> 00:20:07,066 do is, As a community, we love to support each other and so really 487 00:20:07,066 --> 00:20:10,456 we want to hear, you know, is there anything that we can do to support you? 488 00:20:10,456 --> 00:20:10,726 You know? 489 00:20:10,726 --> 00:20:13,306 Is there anything you're involved in or anything you've worked on 490 00:20:13,306 --> 00:20:16,306 that you'd like to share with the community that they might find 491 00:20:16,306 --> 00:20:16,696 Taylor: helpful? 492 00:20:16,816 --> 00:20:17,506 Yeah, definitely. 493 00:20:17,506 --> 00:20:20,296 So I have two podcasts cuz a man can have too many podcasts. 494 00:20:20,301 --> 00:20:23,626 So , my first podcast is Guidance Counselor 2.0. 495 00:20:23,746 --> 00:20:25,306 It's obviously in every app store. 496 00:20:25,586 --> 00:20:26,576 It's actually a live show. 497 00:20:26,576 --> 00:20:28,106 It's a morning show that happens every morning. 498 00:20:28,256 --> 00:20:29,936 I mean, that was stemmed outta Covid basically. 499 00:20:29,936 --> 00:20:32,756 I was so tired of having the same conversations over and over again 500 00:20:33,056 --> 00:20:35,936 that I essentially started this live show so I can communicate at scale. 501 00:20:35,941 --> 00:20:37,556 So I interview hiring managers. 502 00:20:37,556 --> 00:20:41,606 I'm actually on a job seeker kick right now, um, of like, Hey, listen, like I'm 503 00:20:41,611 --> 00:20:43,106 interviewing Job Seeker specifically. 504 00:20:43,346 --> 00:20:44,546 And so I do that. 505 00:20:44,791 --> 00:20:48,931 My other podcast is the Unicorn Finders, where basically we go and 506 00:20:48,931 --> 00:20:51,691 highlight companies doing really cool shit that you probably never heard of. 507 00:20:52,081 --> 00:20:53,971 And so that's my other podcast. 508 00:20:54,301 --> 00:20:57,391 And then website vaco.com/taylor. 509 00:20:57,661 --> 00:20:59,821 And then I do have to say I do have a texting community. 510 00:20:59,821 --> 00:21:00,421 That's pretty cool. 511 00:21:00,421 --> 00:21:01,021 I'm pretty proud of. 512 00:21:01,021 --> 00:21:08,616 So basically, If you text me 6 1 5 2 3 5 5 6, 5 0, join my texting community 513 00:21:08,616 --> 00:21:11,976 and I send out a job tip or trick daily to you, directly to your phone. 514 00:21:12,126 --> 00:21:15,156 So I'm a part of, uh, this app called community. 515 00:21:15,161 --> 00:21:15,666 It's really cool. 516 00:21:15,666 --> 00:21:19,206 Gary Vanderchuck piloted it and basically think like email. 517 00:21:20,056 --> 00:21:21,676 And text kind of meet. 518 00:21:21,946 --> 00:21:25,486 Um, and so I have like three to 400 people on the texting community, 519 00:21:25,666 --> 00:21:27,256 but you just hear from me. 520 00:21:27,256 --> 00:21:28,996 But I'm able to communicate at 521 00:21:28,996 --> 00:21:29,536 Eddie: scale. 522 00:21:29,656 --> 00:21:30,616 That's really interesting. 523 00:21:30,746 --> 00:21:34,546 I haven't heard of anyone doing anything similar to that. 524 00:21:34,546 --> 00:21:36,136 So that's, that's really original 525 00:21:36,916 --> 00:21:37,186 . Taylor: Yeah. 526 00:21:37,246 --> 00:21:38,656 But anyways, yeah, that's what I've going on. 527 00:21:38,656 --> 00:21:42,876 And, but if email is your old fashioned way, hit me up at Taylor vaco dot. 528 00:21:43,231 --> 00:21:43,801 Nice. 529 00:21:43,861 --> 00:21:44,311 Eddie: Awesome. 530 00:21:44,311 --> 00:21:47,461 Well, Taylor, it's been such a pleasure just kind of hearing your 531 00:21:47,461 --> 00:21:52,381 story, hearing about networking and kind of how people can get started. 532 00:21:52,711 --> 00:21:54,631 Love the story about, about your dad. 533 00:21:54,631 --> 00:21:56,101 I think that's really inspiring. 534 00:21:56,101 --> 00:21:59,821 So yeah, thank you so much for joining the episode today. 535 00:21:59,826 --> 00:22:00,751 Really appreciate it. 536 00:22:00,991 --> 00:22:01,351 Taylor: Absolutely. 537 00:22:01,356 --> 00:22:01,981 Thanks for having me. 538 00:22:01,981 --> 00:22:02,431 I appreciate 539 00:22:02,431 --> 00:22:02,581 Eddie: it. 540 00:22:02,701 --> 00:22:03,901 Yeah, have a good one. 541 00:22:04,765 --> 00:22:07,555 Thank you for joining us for episode 20. 542 00:22:08,035 --> 00:22:10,135 Everyone can do it with Taylor Desen. 543 00:22:10,735 --> 00:22:15,895 You can find out more about Taylor on his Twitter at t desen, or his 544 00:22:15,900 --> 00:22:20,395 website solo dot two slash esson. 545 00:22:20,875 --> 00:22:23,785 You can find links to everything we talked about in this episode, 546 00:22:23,785 --> 00:22:27,235 as well as a link to Taylor's Twitter and website in the show. 547 00:22:27,235 --> 00:22:27,655 Nuts. 548 00:22:28,225 --> 00:22:31,405 If you enjoy this episode, help others discover it as. 549 00:22:32,585 --> 00:22:36,005 Just give us a shout out on Twitter and tag a friend or coworker 550 00:22:36,005 --> 00:22:37,355 that you think might enjoy it. 551 00:22:37,625 --> 00:22:41,045 And don't forget to follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with 552 00:22:41,050 --> 00:22:43,535 what's going on at Web Joy fm. 553 00:22:44,015 --> 00:22:47,195 Thank you for listening and have a great day.