All good things must come to an end. It's been a wonderful journey over the last 3+ years but today marks the end of Career Crossroads. In this final episode of the podcast, I discuss why I'm saying goodbye and thank those who have helped me make it this far. ___________________ You can find Career Crossroads at careercrossroads.ca or follow us on social media: Instagram: @career_crossroads LinkedIn: Career Crossroads Podcast Facebook: Career Crossroads Podcast TikTok: @jonathancollaton...
Dec 20, 2023•7 min•Ep. 101
#100 - Like most kids, Mike developed his musical tastes as a teenager. He liked a wide range of bands and one day decided to try and mash up a couple of his favorite songs and publish the mix on YouTube. That simple action had a much bigger impact than Mike ever could have predicted. It was the first step in launching his YouTube channel which at its peak had over 325,000 subscribers and was getting up to 2 million views per month. In this interview, we talk through Mike's early career plans th...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 100
#99 – As Betty Xie headed toward post-secondary education, she had a plan: study math because that would lead her to a good job. The closer she got to starting classes, the more she realized that while that was practical and she had a talent for it, she wasn’t actually interested in math and the career options it would provide. Instead of looking at studying something similar but more interesting, Betty decided she wanted to explore perhaps the farthest areas of study from math - cinema studies ...
Dec 04, 2023•28 min•Ep. 99
#98 - Matt Cooksey ended up in his first career because he was following a family member's footsteps, and it took him almost a decade to realize he wasn't happy. He was always chasing something - more money or a promotion - that would make him happy, right? It wasn't until he unexpectedly broke down that Matt that Matt realized that staying on that career path wasn't going to make him happy no matter how good it seemed like he had it. That breakdown was the beginning of a journey that helped Mat...
Oct 20, 2023•51 min•Ep. 98
#97 - Getting a law degree and passing the bar is quite the task, so it's not often people go through all that work only to leave their law career behind. That's what makes Stephanie Chan such an anomaly - she did exactly that. Today, I talk to Stephanie about how why she left law behind and what prompted her to found Home to Home Advisory Services and myCareBase. To read more about Stephanie’s companies or get in touch with her, use the links below: Home to Home Advisory Services Inc. myCareBas...
Aug 17, 2023•23 min•Ep. 97
#96 - As Mike Gallagher spent his teenage years filming his friends skateboarding around the Metro Vancouver area, someone took notice. A high school teacher recognized Mike’s aptitude for film and developed an independent study course that allowed Mike free reign over the school’s media equipment. It didn’t take long for Mike to become hooked and as he approached graduation he applied to the Art Institute of Vancouver’s Digital Film and Production program. The plan was for Mike to live out his ...
Jul 31, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 96
#95 – When you go to a tech conference like Collision, you might expect that all the founders attending to showcase their companies have deep roots in the tech industry, My experience at Collision, however, shows me that is not always the case. In this episode, you’ll head my conversations with Austin of Seaube Software , Kaleda of Kilo , and Adam of Elo Gaming as we discuss how their careers have taken them on a winding road that unexpectedly led them to Collision. ___________________ You can f...
Jul 17, 2023•26 min•Ep. 95
#94 - This week’s guest on Career Crossroads is Kelvin Beachum, a professional football player who plays left tackle for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. As an 11-season veteran who has played in over 150 NFL games, you might think that Kelvin lives and breathes football but the truth is that Kelvin is not just a football player. Outside of football, Kelvin is an investor and philanthropist with a specific interest in ending hunger around the world while also spreading info...
Jul 10, 2023•20 min•Ep. 94
#93 – When Sam Demma started his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto Scarborough it didn’t take long for him to realize that while he might be in the right place, he was there at the wrong time. Had he put enough thought into his programs of study? Was he just going to school because that’s what he was supposed to do? These were questions running through his mind, but ultimately, he was thinking about what he really wanted; to build his own business motivating youth to take action....
Jul 03, 2023•32 min•Ep. 93
#92 - When clients come to Soma Ghosh to help them with their careers, they often want support in getting out of an untenable situation. As a Career Coach Soma can certainly help them move to a new job but if there are unaddressed underlying issues outside of their 9-5 they may end up feeling the same way soon enough. That's why Soma likes to go deeper to find the root of the problem because helping clients find 'the next thing' may only be a temporary solution. As a Career Coach in London, Engl...
Jun 26, 2023•30 min•Ep. 92
#91 – Every good magician has a stage name and Dan Chan is known as ‘The Millionaire’s Mentalist’. He has earned that name after a career of performing at events for wealthy tech moguls from companies like Twitter and Amazon but when he was first starting out he was making balloon animals at children’s birthday parties. That’s because magic was not Dan’s first full-time job. After getting a degree in Finance from the University of California, Riverside, Dan was hired as one of the early employee...
Jun 19, 2023•50 min•Ep. 91
#90 – Today’s episode of the podcast isn’t an interview- it’s just you and me talking. Now that we’re two months into the new show format, I wanted to give an update on how things are going and let you know about the podcast’s record-breaking month of May. I also want to talk a bit about the importance of preplanning to take time off and my own experience with it. The best month in the history of the podcast came during the month I was paying the least attention. Take a listen and let me know wh...
Jun 05, 2023•10 min•Ep. 90
#89 – As a first-year offensive lineman on the University of Waterloo’s varsity football team, Ben Brown was supposed to be living his dream. With the support of his father, who had been his football coach, Ben received a football scholarship to an excellent school and was excited for the next chapter of his life. Before Ben’s university career began, however, tragedy struck as Ben’s father passed away. Suddenly, Ben was carrying the weight of his and his father's dream all on his own. Despite t...
May 29, 2023•25 min•Ep. 89
When you know you want to change your career but you are unsure of where to go, you might seek the help of a professional. Chris M. Wilson, this week's guest, struggled to find the help he was looking for and that challenge led him to dedicate his life to helping people going through similar struggles. As a career coach, Chris helps people find clarity in what they really want because without that you can't move forward. Before we talk about that, Chris walks me through the early part of his car...
May 22, 2023•29 min•Ep. 88
#87 - What would you do if your ability to do your job disappeared overnight? How would you react? That's a question Andy Thibodeau wrestled with in March 2020 when Covid-19 shut down his career as a public speaker. As a 25+ year veteran of the industry, this was the only job Andy had ever really known and in the span of 48 hours, 31 bookings cancelled and his ability to make an income evaporated. As Andy struggled with this new reality and the recognition that he was a people person who could n...
May 15, 2023•31 min•Ep. 87
#86 -If you told 20-year-old Josh Green that he was going to be a business consultant in the future, he would have thought you were joking. How did he end up a business consultant when he was well on his way to a successful career as an actor and improv comedian? He was getting regular work, making more money than most actors he knew, and even had scenes in movies with Ice Cube and Danny Glover. As 20-year-old Josh would soon find out, the way you feel today may not be the way you feel tomorrow,...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 86
85 - Attending university can change your life. Sometimes, in ways you don’t expect. For Frank Chen, coming to Canada from his native China to study at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) was a way to get into a stable career, while also making his parents proud. To satisfy both desires, Frank chose to study accounting and he was successful in his studies. During one of his co-op terms, however, Frank came to the realization that he wasn’t passionate about accounting. When he shared thi...
May 01, 2023•37 min•Ep. 85
#85 – “What can I do with my degree?” This is one of the most common questions asked by students who have nearly finished pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into completing a difficult academic program and are now realizing they are unsure of what comes next. With a decade of experience working as a Career Counsellor at the University of Toronto Scarborough Academic Advising and Career Centre, and another decade of experience prior to that in Toronto Employment Centres, Wei Huang is well equi...
Apr 24, 2023•30 min•Ep. 84
#83 - In the early days of his career, Brian Millado jumped between jobs in the Department of Student Life at the University of Toronto. He wasn't jumping because he didn't like his roles, or because he was chasing higher pay; he was jumping because he was continually offered the chance to work on different programs as his skillset was in demand. Things were good. Until one day, they weren't. One day, Brian looked around and realized that all his peers knew what their next step was....but he had...
Apr 17, 2023•20 min•Ep. 83
#82 – Chris Lewarne is well known in the Toronto fitness community as one of the trainers at Barry’s Bootcamp, helping people achieve their fitness and health goals. Fitness, however, was not the path Chris set out on when leaving high school. Growing up, his family struggled financially, and Chris worked some awful jobs as a teenager to help contribute. With those experiences pushing him forward, he dreamed about the financial stability a high-paying career could provide and as a successful stu...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 82
Today, we get vulnerable. In this short and final episode of the Chronicles series, we discuss what new episode formats are on the horizon and how this series has driven Jonathan's public speaking work forward. Despite the good news we share, plenty of work remains to do. If you're invested in the Career Crossroads journey, this episode is a must-listen to. Referenced in this episode: Chronicling Career Crossroads #1 - The Career Crossroads Crossroad New Podcast Episode Formats Explained _______...
Apr 03, 2023•12 min•Ep. 81
When products change, their marketing has to change: that's the core of the fourth episode of the Chronicling Career Crossroad series. But how to market something that is still in flux? It's not a question I can answer on my own so I need to bring in an expert. Enter Ronak Patel. As a business owner, former guest of the show, and a friend, Ronak is the perfect person to bounce ideas off of. Listen to our conversation about how marketing and promotion are changing in an ever-evolving social media...
Mar 22, 2023•19 min•Ep. 80
Content is king. You've probably heard or read that phrase over the last decade with the rise of online content creators, but the origins of the phrase can be traced to magazine editing in the 1970s. What does that have to do with this episode? Well, content is the subject of Chronicling Career Crossroads #3. For a podcast, every episode is considered content, but in the context of the Chronicling Career Crossroads discussion, what content is really king? What is the best content available and h...
Mar 07, 2023•13 min•Ep. 79
When this episode was first conceived it was titled “Research – or how to make sure what I’m doing isn’t a waste of time”. As the episode title was….simplified, the core idea for the episode stayed the same: research. In order to determine if the planned Career Crossroads pivot is hitting the mark, I need to find out if the audience I intend to support (high school students, university/college students, and young grads) will actually benefit from this content. To find the answers to these questi...
Feb 23, 2023•27 min•Ep. 78
How do you handle change? Sometimes it’s forced upon us, and sometimes we just know it’s time. Sometimes change is needed. That is where I’m at with Career Crossroads. It’s changing. It’s evolving into something better and I’m going to take you along on the journey through that evolution. This is the first in a five-part series I’m calling Chronicling Career Crossroads. Without spoiling too much, it talks about where Career Crossroads and I have been, and where we’re going. Whether you’re a fait...
Feb 09, 2023•25 min•Ep. 77
#75 – Although he would never do it, Claudio Teixeira could probably pull a Frank Abagnale and fake his way through flying a jet aircraft. That’s because Claudio has over 5000 hours in the ‘sky’ on the Boeing 777 simulator that is the crown jewel of his company, uFly Simulator Inc, which exists to entertain, help people get over their fear of flying, and train soon-to-be pilots. For years before he started the business, he would spend his evening playing Microsoft Flight Simulator flying between...
Jul 20, 2022•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 75
#74 – As the creator of the 40th podcast in the world way back in 2004, Evo Terra has had an impact on the world of podcasting for almost two decades and was recently honoured as a 2022 inductee into the Podcast Hall of Fame. You might imagine that someone given that honour makes a career in podcasting, and while that is true now, podcasting as a ‘career’ was not an option for Evo until the mid-2010s. On a recent episode of Evo’s own podcast, Podcast Pontification, he mentioned some of the jobs ...
Jul 13, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 74
#73 – Have you ever wanted to collect data on wild jaguars or help rehabilitate a monkey with a broken arm? Well then let me introduce you to Hailee Hallas. Along with tree-planting in northern Ontario, studying these animals was some of the first employment opportunities she received in her young career after completing an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from Carleton University. Despite how amazing these jobs may seem they were not without their drawbacks. Little pay and massive ...
Jul 06, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 73
Career Crossroads is back after an unplanned break! Before we get into some new interviews, I’ve got some updates about why there has been such a long break as well as some information about some other projects I’ve been working on. After you've listened, check out my wife and I's new travel vlog on YouTube - Jon and Tash Travel ___________________ You can find Career Crossroads at careercrossroads.ca or follow us on social media: Instagram: @career_crossroads LinkedIn: Career Crossroads Podcast...
Jun 29, 2022•21 min•Ep. 72
#71 – In 2016, Jenn Harper founded Cheekbone Beauty despite having no previous experience in the cosmetics industry. This was a major career change as up until that point she had worked exclusively in hospitality and in wholesale foods, leveraging her strong relationships with chefs to succeed. So why cosmetics? What changed? Well, in 2015 as Jenn was learning about her Indigenous grandmother’s experience in residential schools she had a dream. In this dream she saw “native little girls covered ...
Apr 13, 2022•58 min•Ep. 71
