Fireside Chat with Career Karma CEO, Ruben Harris

Ruben Harris, if you did not know, he is a bay area transplant from Atlanta, 0:04 Georgia, where he served as an advisor for 0:10 forge and organized Atlanta's first healthcare hackathon. 0:13 Over the past couple of years, Ruben has worked for academics, organizers, 0:18 politicians, and union leaders at Hustle, Honor, and AltSchool, 0:24 focused on improving their personalized outreach, healthcare, and education. 0:28 Ruben began his technology career working in partnerships and 0:34 sales after writing a viral blog post called Breaking Into Startups, about how 0:37 he moved to San Francisco without a job and landed a position in three weeks. 0:41 After receiving thousands of emails asking him how he broke into tech, 0:45 Ruben co-founded the Breaking Into Startups 0:54 podcast to demystify the whole process. 0:59 Resulting in a social media reach of over 3 million people, 1:04 200,000 plus downloads, 10,000 plus website 1:09 visits per month, and over 100 plus reviews on iTunes, and 1:14 a Facebook community of 10,000 plus people. 1:19 And invitations to be the contributor to TechCrunch and Black Enterprise. 1:23 In 2010, Ruben worked on operational improvements for senior living communities 1:28 after completing a double major in business administration and music. 1:33 During college, Ruben worked organized over 50 plus events for 1:38 nonprofit athletes and celebrities, 1:44 including the likes of Tyrese, Kim Kardashian, and Jay-Z. 1:47 Rubin has been playing the cello for 25 years, 1:53 taught music, performed in venues, and all over the world, 1:57 including Carnegie Hall, and led to placements on Def Jam. 2:02 He is also an active member of the NAACP. 2:07 Ruben is currently the CEO and founder of Career Karma. 2:10 Career Karma is a community of peers, mentors and 2:15 coaches that will help you land a dream career in tech. 2:18 You never pay a dime, he says, and the only cost is pay it forward. 2:22 At Career Karma, you will meet the people who are just starting out and 2:28 people who have been several steps ahead of you, 2:33 where no prior knowledge is needed. 2:37 Ruben has got an extensive history, y'all, I can't wait to talk to this man. 2:40 Please welcome to our fireside chat, Ruben Harris. 2:44 What's up, Ruben? 2:46 >> What up, what up, everybody? 2:48 How you doing? 2:49 >> How are you? 2:49 So glad to see you? 2:51 >> I'm good, I'm good, it was a cool weekend. 2:53 Nice to see you as well. 2:55 >> Yeah, cool. 2:57 Hey, man, we've got so many things that we wanna talk to you about, but 2:58 first, tell us about this Career Karma. 3:03 What does Career Karma actually do? 3:06 >> Yeah, so Career Karma matches career transitioners to job training programs, 3:08 so they can get high paying jobs in tech in about a year. 3:13 We have an app on Android and iPhone, we also have a web app. 3:17 And what makes our software unique is not only will we match you with one of 450 job 3:20 training programs across the country, 3:24 that will get you a salary of about 70 to $100,000. 3:27 But also, during the program, during the job searching, for the rest of your life, 3:30 through a regular peer mentorship group that we call a scribe, and 3:34 coaches that will give you career guidance. 3:38 We currently have about half a million people coming to us a month, 3:40 as you can imagine. 3:44 We've seen a pretty massive boom, now that 52 million Americans have filed for 3:45 unemployment since the pandemic hit. 3:50 We're on track to be at about 1 million a month in the fall. 3:52 Anyway, long story short, 3:55 we help people go from low income to high income in a short amount of time. 3:56 >> That's awesome and so timely. 4:01 So can you talk to us about what drove you to start Career Karma? 4:02 You've got this background in music. 4:09 You've kind of dabbled a little bit of everything but 4:10 what drove you to start Career Karma? 4:14 >> Yeah, I mean, we told a lot of people that Career Karma is essentially 4:16 the product that we wish that we had when we broke into tech. 4:20 We practice what we preach. 4:23 My brother went to boot camp, my co-founders go to boot camp, 4:25 I went to a boot camp launch. 4:28 So career guidance, 4:30 career navigation in general is something that a lot of people want. 4:31 Psychology is a big issue when it comes to labor market transitions and so 4:36 we've always believed in people, helping people. 4:40 I'm a true product of other people giving me guidance and 4:43 support through my journey, and so we just decided to productize that. 4:46 I would say I'm a misfit. 4:50 I went to a school that you never heard of. 4:53 I say it's the best school you never heard of, I had a 2.98 GPA, and 4:55 we're here right now, so yeah. 4:59 >> Yeah, absolutely. 5:01 You talk about folks that how influential they've been in your life, 5:02 and I know that mentorship is a huge part of Career Karma. 5:07 Can you talk to us about your philosophy and your vow and how mentorship is valued 5:11 in your own journey and the journey of the folks that you're trying to support? 5:16 >> Yeah, I mean, I think we talked about how there's no such thing as a self-made 5:20 person that people don't get anywhere without other people. 5:25 I say my first mentors in my life are my parents and then it goes into my cello 5:29 teachers, cuz I've been playing the cello, like you said, for almost 30 years. 5:33 And when it comes to Silicon Valley, everybody talks about tech and 5:38 robots and automation but 5:43 they don't realize that most jobs are offline and come through referral. 5:45 Most people aren't gonna get a job through the website, and 5:50 only 20% of jobs are listed online, which is why Career Karma is a social network. 5:53 And if you look at online courses, 5:57 hundreds of millions of people have signed up for these things in the last few years, 5:59 but there's only a 5 to 15% completion rate. 6:03 That's not just to the psychology, but also because when people get stuck, 6:06 they don't have someone to ask the question to. 6:10 So we've always believed in creating the causes that connect people to each other 6:13 so they can figure out how to get to where they want to go. 6:17 What's up, Ryan? 6:19 >> That's awesome, Ruben. 6:20 We look at you, we see you, 6:22 we're hearing kind of the beginning stages of your story, which is not for everyone, 6:24 right, but you're saying it's a little bit something different. 6:29 But I wanna talk to you about you being the CEO. 6:33 That's a little different than coming out, being a junior engineer or even a manager. 6:36 So how do you feel your versatile work experience has 6:41 prepared you for a role of CEO? 6:46 >> Yeah, so I think the biggest companies, at least tech-driven companies, 6:49 have two core responsibilities, you have people that write code and 6:53 you have people that talk to users. 6:57 And the people that are writing code, it's very important for them to understand what 6:59 people actually need, so that you are building products and 7:03 features that serve them to solve their problems. 7:07 So I think as a founder, it's ideal that you have the problem yourself, 7:09 because you have personally felt that pain and you can relate to that individual. 7:13 And in my opinion, the fastest way to a CEO seat is in sales, and 7:18 my background working in startups is in sales. 7:22 And the reason why I think that is because my job as CEO is to communicate 7:25 the story of the company. 7:30 Make sure that the company is capitalized, so I need to raise money. 7:32 I need to also make sure that I'm hiring well, and 7:35 I'm essentially selling across the board. 7:38 I'm selling to customers, I'm selling to users, I'm selling to investors. 7:41 I'm telling the story. 7:43 I'm on platforms like this to make sure people are aware of what's going on, so 7:45 that if I'm reaching the right audience that has this need, I'm able to solve it. 7:49 And I'm learning from things right here. 7:53 Like in the chat right now, people told me I had my laptop in my lap and 7:55 it's gonna make them seasick. 7:58 So I gotta put my laptop down, I listen to you guys, I serve you well. 7:59 I'm a servant, essentially. 8:04 >> Awesome, awesome, so yeah, listening to that feedback, right, is really important. 8:05 >> Yeah, >> Yeah, so hey, listen, I want to switch 8:11 gears a little bit and talk about, we would be remiss not to talk about 8:14 the recent events that are happening right now with COVID and Black Lives Matter. 8:19 So what would you say is your number one concern now that, 8:25 essentially, millions of Americans are unemployed and 8:31 find themselves out of work? 8:37 >> What a lot of people don't realize that most people that are losing jobs 8:40 are women and people of color. 8:45 And most people have a smartphone but less than 50% of black and 8:47 brown people actually have a laptop. 8:50 If you look at, I believe the stats are 46% of people that are making $30,000 and 8:52 below have a laptop, so everybody else doesn't have a laptop. 8:58 So when you think about the digital divide, 9:02 most people talk about Wi-Fi, they forget about devices. 9:05 And this is not just for boot camps or programs like Treehouse, 9:09 this is for universities, right? 9:13 Universities are going through a reckoning right now, right? 9:16 A lot of them wanted to reopen, they spent millions of dollars to reopen, but 9:18 in my opinion, they're all gonna have to go online, and eventually, 9:23 everybody's gonna be online or a hybrid of both. 9:27 So that's why Treehouse has been out of the game for 9:29 a long time with things like tech degree and things like that. 9:32 And whenever you think about when going online, 9:35 the device thing is going to be a big issue, right? 9:38 You see libraries stepping in very well with Wi-Fi, you see all kinds of other, 9:40 like New Jersey, they just spent hundreds of million dollars for laptops. 9:45 And so usually, when people talk about digital divide, 9:50 they talked about K-12, but we gotta remember the adults, right? 9:54 Most of the people that come to Career Karma actually 25 to 41. 9:58 So, people forget about the adults. 10:03 I mean, I think it's important for the kids to learn for sure. 10:05 But the parents that are in the household need to 10:09 also be able to provide too, right? 10:11 Especially the ones that are quarantined with little kids, right? 10:14 And so, what I'm doing right now to help people came as a result of me really 10:16 being pissed off about what happened with the whole George Floyd situation. 10:21 Because I did this big rant saying that I was going to raise $100,000 to help 10:26 our people, especially the activists in the street to not just take over 10:31 the policy discussion but also online. 10:36 And some people saw that rant and they decided to help us do something. 10:38 So what we're doing is this campaign that we're calling 10:44 Reskill America: The Great Rehiring Initiative. 10:46 Cuz we know that we're not just not about police brutality. 10:49 We're mad about black people not having jobs. 10:51 We're mad about most of our people dying from COVID and a bunch of other things. 10:54 So what we're doing is raising half a million dollars and giving away 5,000, 10:58 5,000 to people that have been laid off or 11:02 furloughed due to COVID-19 that want to enroll in job training program. 11:04 So that we can give them the tool that they need in order to get a high paying 11:08 job in a year. 11:11 And once they get hired by whoever then they can give that 11:12 laptop back to somebody else, right? 11:15 So this is like the fishing rod and we're teaching people how to fish. 11:17 And we've had companies like Square, GitHub, come through and give laptops. 11:20 Colin Kapernick himself and gave a check as well. 11:26 So we've raised about $200,000 in the last few weeks, 11:30 and we're gonna keep doing that. 11:33 >> Ruben, that's awesome, I love to hear it. 11:36 I think a lot of times, folks get paralyzed with not knowing exactly 11:39 what to do, or putting some money and some strategic plans behind it. 11:43 I mean, you're doing an awesome job, I appreciate it. 11:48 But what do you have to say to others or 11:51 other companies out there and how they should just deploy their 11:54 resources in terms of towards Black Lives Matters issue. 11:59 Because this will this will die off eventually, but 12:03 what would be your recommendations to those companies who really want to do 12:06 something that provides change? 12:10 >> Yeah, I think that's a great point. 12:12 I like that you said this time can die off, right? 12:15 This is the difference between chronos timing and kairos time. 12:19 Chronos time is chronological, kairos time is the opportune moments as nothing, 12:22 this is the opportune moment for action. 12:27 And I do feel like this moment, this whole Black Lives Matter moment is different, 12:30 because you see people from all demographics globally, rioting and 12:35 protesting, and you see people still processing right now. 12:39 However, and you also see a lot of really nice pledges, 12:42 if you go to the Axios article there's like I think $1.6 billion in pledges made. 12:46 The problem with these pledges that have been made, in my opinion, 12:51 is you don't know who the right point of contact is that has 12:54 made the pledge in order to take advantage of these resources. 12:57 A lot of the resources actually only get deployed to 13:00 people that they've already funded already. 13:05 The grant process to even get the money is slow unless you have 13:09 the connections for it. 13:14 And people are hurting now, the need for speed is of the essence. 13:16 And I think that corporate social responsibility departments, 13:22 contracting departments are in a unique position to do something. 13:27 And I do think that the efforts to de-fund the police and 13:31 all these other things related to policy are important. 13:33 But that's gonna be slow, we know that's gonna be slow and 13:35 in my opinion is probably not gonna happen. 13:38 We need to fund things that get resources to people now and give them power. 13:40 And a lot of times these pledges that we've seen that are dollar pledges 13:47 are actually donations in kind, which aren't bad. 13:51 But just keep that in mind that it's not always valid figures. 13:54 And then the people that are in diversity positions you need to give them power to 13:57 where they can make non-contested decisions without other people's authority 14:01 that aren't diverse, but you can make the hire and send the wire quickly. 14:05 >> Absolutely, right, 14:09 because there's no significant value we can provide instant, right? 14:10 Relevant, timely, support, that's awesome. 14:16 So you mentioned earlier, you touched a little 14:19 bit on universities and higher learning and 14:24 online learning and how universities coming to see, 14:28 they're being exposed I should say. 14:34 And having worked in higher ed for many years, 14:38 I've been touting this for years, right? 14:41 But what are your thoughts on higher online education, distance learning, 14:44 and even working remotely, right, so is this our new future? 14:50 >> Yeah, I mean, I want to give a huge shout out to Chip Paucek, the CEO of 2U. 14:54 I think he's been ahead of the game talking about online education for 15:02 a long time. 15:07 So, Dan Rosensweig who's the CEO of Chegg who has a lot of thoughts on the future of 15:07 education. 15:12 So y'all can look up the latter stuff that they've been doing. 15:13 And there are several others that I could give shout outs to. 15:15 But I think that there's the two major trends right now. 15:19 There's the unbundling of higher education, 15:22 which Ryan Craig's did a really great article about. 15:24 And then there's increased demand for 15:27 skills based training to high in demand careers. 15:29 Historically, there's been this big debate about what's the point of college, 15:32 is it to get an education and socialize or for it to get a job? 15:39 And people have had arguments about that for years, but I would say these days 15:43 the only reason why most people are trying to get an education is to get a job. 15:49 So the ROI for a degree for our tech degree, or 15:55 a MOOC or bootcamp is in question, right? 15:58 Do you get me a job, period, that's the ultimate measure of success. 16:01 And if you're gonna charge me for what am I getting, 16:07 in addition to the job outcome, what makes you different? 16:11 But at the end of the day, everyone kind of teaching the same thing and 16:14 preaching the same thing that you're gonna get. 16:18 So you got to think about those. 16:20 I'm not gonna too deep into my thoughts about all of that. 16:22 I do think that that something that college has a great benefit for 16:27 is the socialization aspect. 16:31 And I think that's something that we really need to think about, 16:33 especially since we're in a quarantine mode right now. 16:36 Sorry about the beeping, you got to hear that background noise? 16:39 >> Very little. 16:43 >> Okay, very little, just double checking. 16:44 Yeah, so the reason why I bring this up is because now that we're in quarantine, 16:46 I think that we are social creatures and isolation is a very big issue. 16:53 When we have high unemployment, suicide is a big issue. 16:59 If you're dealing with older people, our elders, right? 17:02 There's 50,000 people every day for the next 19 years, isolation is a big issue. 17:06 I used to work in the health care industry. 17:10 So we really, really got to figure out how to address those those issues. 17:14 And so when it comes to when it comes to universities, 17:20 I think that I think that I like what Southern New Hampshire University 17:23 is doing right now actually partnering with boot camps. 17:28 Where they are actually giving you a college credential and 17:32 giving you a job outcome. 17:35 I think that's really cool. 17:36 Kenzie Academy is doing it with Washington Governors University, 17:37 Butler University, and you're starting to see hybrids of that. 17:41 I like seeing what, I guess, you didn't ask this question but 17:44 what corporations are doing as well to provide their own credential. 17:47 I think there's an over emphasis on credentials. 17:50 I think we have to, I think that's where people get it flawed. 17:53 I don't think that a potential is not going to get you the job. 17:57 And that's because most jobs are offline and. 18:00 So I just think that we're gonna see a lot of consolidation from universities, 18:03 many universities shutting down. 18:07 We're gonna see a lot of companies getting a lot of universities getting bought. 18:09 I think you're gonna see a lot of collaboration with corporations and 18:13 with short form boot camps or carrying out some kind of outcomes driven model, yeah. 18:17 >> Yeah, I agree with you wholeheartedly. 18:22 It's what the research is telling us, right? 18:24 And so we're going to have to have a lot of folks doing some paradigm 18:27 shifting I think to stay around. 18:32 But we've kind of talked about all these things happening here recently. 18:34 I think what folks probably really are interested in Ruben is just getting 18:40 started. 18:44 You have these ideas and they kind of come and 18:44 go they come to these kind of talks and festivals and do these interviews. 18:47 But for them, when did you first began to have your interest in tech. 18:52 What fed you to learn more? 18:57 >> Yeah, a couple of things that didn't mention that you did ask me 19:00 before as well was like, my thoughts about remote work. 19:04 I don't know if you guys saw today, but Google just made a big announcement about 19:09 how they're letting people work from home all the way till 2021. 19:13 A lot of people talking about going back to normal. 19:16 I don't think that there is going back to normal, 19:18 I think that COVID-19 has completely reshaped our entire world. 19:22 And so we have to be aware of this new reality which does lead into your 19:27 question that you just asked me just now about why I went into tech. 19:31 So, I think I told you I graduated from the best school you've never heard of 19:36 University, had a 2.98 GPA, and when I was in college. 19:41 And that's not that I'm dumb, I just was throwing parties in. 19:45 >> [INAUDIBLE] >> But, 19:51 I knew I wanted to go into investment banking, but 19:56 I didn't know what it took to get into that. 20:00 And when I was in college everybody wants to go into finance or consulting. 20:03 In tech, everybody wants, now everybody wants to go into tech. 20:08 And so I was always aware of where things were going, where things were going, 20:12 like what, like not just everybody wants to break into tech. 20:17 What are the roles that are in tech? 20:21 Who are the major players? 20:23 What are the companies that aren't? 20:24 Same, what are the ones that aren't Google or Facebook? 20:26 Who are the people that are giving them money? 20:29 How did they get big? 20:30 Blah, blah, blah, right? 20:32 And so I would go to a lot of meetups. 20:34 I went to the Atlanta Startup Village in Atlanta Tech Village in Atlanta. 20:36 I went to 1871 in Chicago, like all when they were all coming up. 20:39 And just really just meeting people, going to the happy hours, like really going to 20:44 events like this that you all are doing on Treehouse Festival, right? 20:49 I mean, there's 126 people here, right? 20:53 And you never know who you're gonna meet. 20:54 And I just put myself into that ecosystem. 20:56 I didn't want to be a big fish in a small pond. 21:02 I wanna always find like, what's the bigger, bigger opportunities, 21:04 because like the music industry is small. 21:08 That's what I was in before, in a way smaller and 21:10 I always had big ambitions, right? 21:14 And so that's kind of how I got exposed to everything. 21:17 The people that really gave me my shot were actually 21:20 diversity groups to get into investment banking. 21:24 So I gotta give a shout out to sponsors for educational opportunity, 21:29 SEO, and they'll see those people. 21:33 I wasn't able to participate, cuz I had graduated already, but 21:36 I sent out 1,900 emails. 21:39 And I sent 300 of them to SEO, and 21:40 they let me set up a booth at Morehouse College. 21:43 I got to crash their career fair, even though I didn't go to Morehouse. 21:47 And they actually let me in, and 21:51 I was able to get my first shot to get into into banking. 21:52 And then I did same thing to get into tech as well. 21:54 And we figured out how to make it work for people inside a career calm, 21:57 and I can breakdown how we do that, but that's how I did it. 22:02 >> Wow, so what you're saying, a whole lot of tenacity. 22:06 [LAUGH] 300. 22:09 >> A whole lot of tenacity, yeah. 22:10 >> So Ruben, I can't imagine that it was a walk in the park, right? 22:11 I mean, you're young, 22:13 you're an African American male. 22:17 What are some of like the major challenges? 22:22 Give us the tea on this really, 22:27 that people face when they try to break into tech, especially folks of color. 22:29 >> Yeah, I mean, I liked, somebody put it in the chat. 22:34 I think they caught that I used the word, underestimated. 22:36 I got that word from Arlen Hamilton, shout out to Arlen Hamilton. 22:40 >> [LAUGH] >> Because, I love it because it puts 22:44 the negative energy on whoever's underestimating, right? 22:47 And it actually puts you in a position of advantage, right? 22:52 Because if people are underestimating you, then it should be easy for 22:56 you to exceed their expectation. 22:59 That's kind of like being a black cellist, right? 23:01 You walk into a room, like nobody expects you to walk up to the front and 23:03 be the principal cellist. 23:06 Right, they don't expect that, right? 23:07 So it's actually great for people to be underestimating you, 23:10 because you're special, right? 23:14 Everybody knows how to code. 23:17 What's gonna make me choose not to just shadow over somebody else? 23:18 That's who she is as a person, right? 23:23 So we teach people to love what they may not have loved about themselves, 23:24 or take their perceived disadvantages and turn them into advantages. 23:30 Because like growing up in Atlanta, everybody's black. 23:35 I didn't know black people were a minority until I left Atlanta and 23:39 until I started getting Audited Media hitting me up, like telling me that 23:43 we were less than, or that we needed to be treated like a charity case. 23:48 You don't hear me talking about diversity at but 23:53 everybody in our community is black, right? 23:56 >> Right, you're right. 23:59 >> I think leading through action and winning and showing improvement through 24:00 actions, indeed, is a much more effective way to get things done. 24:05 And since I know how the game works, which is very similar to the music industry, 24:09 the way the music industry works is that it doesn't discriminate. 24:15 It'll hire anybody, right? 24:19 >> Mm-hm >> You can be black, you can be white, 24:21 you can be old, you can be young, 24:24 you can be a different sex, you can be a different religion. 24:26 You could speak a different language, as long as it sounds good. 24:30 But the hardest part about getting in the music industry is not being a great 24:33 musician or a great artist, it's playing your record for the right person. 24:36 And how do you get into the music industry? 24:39 Not apply on Universal Records' website. 24:41 >> [LAUGH] No. 24:43 >> You gotta find a connect. 24:45 >> That's right. 24:46 >> Right? 24:48 >> That's right. 24:48 >> The same thing with technology. 24:50 That's why we create a community, that's why we're on the social network. 24:51 >> Awesome. 24:54 So, that mentorship and you have a connection, and 24:55 teach your folks really the essentials of networking, right? 24:59 I think a lot of times, folks don't have that effective skill, but 25:05 how essential and important it is, like you said, to be connected and 25:09 hooked up with the right people and not being afraid to do so. 25:14 So what advice would you, or not necessarily advice, 25:18 but how do you think, you mentioned music and 25:24 your your space and your time there music. 25:29 How do you think you having a degree in cello performance, 25:33 [LAUGH] and how does that intersect with technology? 25:38 What parallels were there? 25:42 >> That's a great question. 25:44 So let's just, let's use that example, ,okay? 25:47 So how would I compete with someone that has 10 years of 25:49 experience as an engineer, or a salesperson, as a cellist? 25:54 Well, if I'm in a boot camp or I'm in a tech degree and 25:59 I focus on building projects related to music that I have personally 26:03 experienced as a musician, and when I get to the job search, and 26:08 I focus on applying to companies like Spotify or Pandora, or Patreon, 26:13 I have an advantage, because I can compete against a salesperson or an engineer 26:18 that knows nothing about music, because I am a professional musician. 26:23 And I know more about music than the CEO of Spotify. 26:29 You know what I'm saying? 26:32 So you will have an advantage, right? 26:34 So some of you are like, wait, what if I'm too old? 26:37 But you got life experience in something. 26:40 It doesn't have to be career-related. 26:42 You might be an expert at crochet, right? 26:46 And then whenever you build projects related to crochet making and 26:48 do it yourself stuff, when you get to the job search, apply to companies like that. 26:52 Cuz you know who's producing some of the most mass in the world for 26:57 everybody right now during COVID-19? 27:00 It's Etsy, because it's a big do it yourself community, and 27:02 people want to have swagged out masks. 27:07 So shout out to the people, to the artists in the game, right? 27:10 So I think like, understand, so when I was trying to, I'll give you an example. 27:14 When I was trying to get into investment banking, I got that question. 27:19 What would a cellist have to do with getting into investment banking? 27:23 So I had to paint the picture to them. 27:27 I would have to say things like, I was I was born in California, 27:29 grew up in Atlanta. 27:33 I've been playing the cello since I was four years old. 27:35 As you can imagine, as a classical musician, 27:37 I often come in contact with business people. 27:39 I met a guy who was in private equity that told me if I want to learn business in 27:41 a short amount of time, you should do investment banking. 27:45 So I just made the task for them. 27:48 You have to paint the picture for them, right? 27:49 So whatever it is that you're trying to do, you might have to tell your story 27:51 every time you're talking to somebody, but you gotta make the connection for them. 27:55 Right now, you just told my story like it made sense. 27:59 I've been fired three times. 28:01 I've been laid off three times, right? 28:03 >> Right, speak! 28:04 >> Career Karma wasn't for 28:05 me, like we just dreamed up overnight to make a lot of money. 28:07 It's a calling, it's a movement, right? 28:12 I have to do this, I have to help a billion people now. 28:16 And so, but the story always has to tie and actually resonate with people. 28:19 I think for the people that are on this call and they want guidance, 28:25 they want mentorship, they want to understand how to love what they may 28:28 not love about themselves, they can go to Career Karma. 28:31 They could fill out Fast Track, which is that CareerKarma.com/slash apply, 28:33 share their career goals, share their needs and 28:37 be open about what their needs are so we know how to help them. 28:40 And every single person will get connected with the coach in a group called a squad 28:43 that will give them support, not just before the bootcamp, but 28:46 during the program, during the job session, for the rest of their life. 28:50 >> Awesome, you know Ruben, I really, I'm thinking 28:53 about the young folks who don't have hope right now, right? 28:58 I'm talking about newly released from prison, 29:05 young sister with a baby, new baby, 29:10 didn't graduate from high school. 29:14 How can they look at you and look at your story and still see hope? 29:18 What advice or what can you speak to them to say, hey, 29:23 this too could be you, and be convincing. 29:27 Like how can, I've got all these things stacked against me. 29:30 How could I ever even rise to your occasion? 29:34 I don't even know what a cello is. 29:37 Talk to those groups. 29:38 >> Yeah, let me respond to what Nikolas said in the chat really fast. 29:40 So he asked about like resources people that already completed a boot camp, yes. 29:44 My brother actually runs something called a job search master class. 29:48 We also have a portfolio workshop. 29:51 You can upload your projects in Career Karma, 29:53 get connected to a network of over 2,000 companies. 29:55 We have early assessments for 29:58 people that want to test their test skills to see if they're ready for a boot camp. 30:00 But that's your answer. 30:05 Let me go back to Dr. Joe Sato. 30:07 How do I help people? 30:11 So first of all, I tell people, I want to make sure that I'm irrelevant. 30:13 I think the best managers make their people that they're managing 30:19 better than them, right? 30:23 And turn them into leaders. 30:25 I want to create other leaders and have you all carry the torch. 30:27 And so, as a man, I could never relate to a woman or 30:30 a mom because I'm not a woman or a mom, right? 30:34 But I can connect you with other moms that can relate to your struggle, right? 30:38 And so this goes back to the importance of having the scribe, right? 30:43 So if you're a mom I connect you with the moms who post. 30:47 If you're a dad I can do the dads who post a lot. 30:50 If you're somebody that was formerly incarcerated, I can connect you 30:53 not just to the people that were formerly incarcerated and career karma, but also 30:56 to my homies that 70 million jobs Richard Branson, shout out to Richard Branson. 30:59 I can connect to what's next chapter, this slack Zalman I think now Dropbox, right? 31:03 I'm talking to Kenyatta Layel over there. 31:10 Checker has a bounce back to work program. 31:12 So we are the plugs right? 31:16 Because we meet to connect. 31:17 Have you ever heard a genius say meet to connect? 31:19 Same thing, right? 31:21 And so we recognize that usually, when people have career conversations they 31:22 lead with what school they went to, what GPA they have, what certificate 31:27 that they have, but that's not gonna make an instant connection. 31:32 And Dr. Joe Zato and I found out that we grew up in the same neighborhood, 31:37 we already got an awesome connection. 31:40 >> That's right. 31:42 >> And this is the first time that we've met. 31:43 So we probably would have a much deeper connection, 31:44 if we grew up in the same neighborhood right? 31:46 >> That's right. 31:48 [LAUGH] >> Right maybe if we- 31:48 >> I was born in LA. 31:50 >> Knew the same person- >> You never know. 31:51 >> In the same school right? 31:52 >> That's right. 31:54 >> Exactly, so, like, what a lot of people don't realize is 31:54 that the 99% really got the power, we just not all of us, right? 31:58 So we're just trying to organize everybody and 32:03 recognize that we do have the power and that there are other people like you. 32:05 If I could show you a map of all the other people that were formerly incarcerated 32:09 that are now working in tech companies. 32:13 Now you find your people and they could vouch for you and 32:15 skip the normal recruiting process, right? 32:18 How many rappers do we know that have been locked up? 32:20 There are now big artists right? 32:23 >> Absolutely. 32:25 >> That existence and tattoo and not just black people. 32:27 The black people too. 32:31 >> Yeah, all shades. 32:32 >> Yeah. 32:35 >> Awesome, I'll keep wondering here though. 32:36 Is that a cello there by Ruben? 32:39 I'd like to hear a little something and 32:42 I'm sure the folks out there would love to hear just a little something. 32:44 >> About what now? 32:48 Say that one more time. 32:51 Is there a little bit of what now? 32:52 Our cello is upstairs. 32:53 I could do that. 32:59 I can do that. 33:03 >> You could? 33:04 >> But. 33:04 >> But. 33:05 >> I could do that. 33:06 >> [LAUGH] I'm trying for y'all. 33:07 I know y'all wanna hear Ruben on his channel, maybe sometime this week. 33:09 [LAUGH] >> Maybe sometime this week. 33:14 >> Okay. 33:16 >> And the ace up the sleeve. 33:17 >> Okay. 33:19 >> But we can do that. 33:20 I'll do a special for you guys. 33:21 Let's make it. 33:26 Let's prepare it and we can make that. 33:27 All right, we'll talk. 33:29 >> I want to make sure I deliver 1,000%. 33:31 >> Absolutely. 33:35 Hey, I've got a couple more things I want to talk to you about. 33:37 Are there any more questions you'd like to take that you're seeing in the chat? 33:39 >> Let's see what questions we got in the chat. 33:43 We got people saying, let's see, can you speak to the reality of needing to pay 33:46 the bills to achieve the roof over your head. 33:51 I think that's a great question. 33:54 >> That's a great question. 33:55 >> So most people that come to career karma, they can't do it full time. 33:57 Right because paying bills is a reality, especially for the parents. 34:03 So, there are programs that we work with that have a living stipend. 34:09 Have you ever heard of the mini stipend, so 34:15 living stipend will give you $1500 a month while you're going to the program. 34:18 Some of the programs that we work with will match you up with jobs that 34:24 are part time as well. 34:28 So, if you're doing a part time program, 34:30 you'll probably dedicate like maybe four to six hours a day to it. 34:32 And then some of the programs will match you with a job so you can also learn. 34:36 I'm working on figuring out other solutions. 34:41 There was one boot camp that we work with that matched with a staffing company 34:44 that would allow you to work for a very big company on doing customer service so 34:49 you can learn the soft skills and and the tech skills. 34:54 But we will help you figure out those types of solutions in addition to giving 34:58 you a device. 35:02 But it's not a problem that we have fully solved yet. 35:03 But there are there are roles. 35:06 I would just sign up for part time program, look at the living stipend, and 35:08 then we'll do what we can to help you figure out the part time job. 35:13 Let's see if there's other questions in the chat. 35:16 I like taking questions from the chat. 35:18 Let's see. 35:25 How old is too old to start coding? 35:25 Is that a serious question? 35:28 There's no such thing as too old to start coding. 35:30 I think a lot of people feel late to the game. 35:33 You might feel late to the game. 35:37 But I want you all to know that you are like extremely early. 35:38 Half the world's not connected to the Internet. 35:40 Elon Musk is trying to shoot rockets to space. 35:43 You ever heard of Starlink? 35:45 The whole point of Starlink is to get global Internet connectivity. 35:47 So think about everything that has happened with only half the world 35:50 connected to the Internet. 35:54 Do you know what's going to happen when the entire world's connected to 35:56 the Internet? 35:58 4 billion new people are going to come online in the next six years. 35:59 All right, yeah, I mean, 36:03 I think 75% of mobile traffic is gonna be driven by video. 36:05 If you're on video right now, I mean it's not all about mobile no more now that 36:09 we are in our home offices because of quarantine. 36:14 But the point is, is that the app store was only invented in 2008, right? 36:17 You all actually hella early, right? 36:23 And people are living longer. 36:26 >> Yeah. 36:29 >> Right, I was born in Loma Linda, California, which is a Blue Zone. 36:30 You know what the Blue Zone is? 36:34 The Blue Zone is where people live for hundreds of years. 36:35 All right, so, in my opinion, 50's the new 30, at least that's what I tell myself. 36:38 I just turned 33. 36:43 >> [INAUDIBLE] >> [LAUGH] So 36:44 that's how I 36:49 feel about it. 36:53 Somebody said I started learning at 26/36 years old to two to three months boom 36:58 in there. 37:02 He's trying to testimony. 37:03 See, I'm not lying. 37:05 Shout out to Ann on the call. 37:06 >> All right, that's right. 37:08 Hey listen, I know a 79 year old no, she was 89 year old woman that says she 37:10 didn't start back to school to learn things till she was in her 70s so. 37:16 >> I tell people you don't have to be the hare. 37:21 You can be the tortoise. 37:24 Tortoise won the race. 37:26 Nothing wrong with that. 37:27 >> Absolutely. 37:28 >> You might be Mike Tyson about to fight Roy Jones right now. 37:29 Right he looks good too. 37:33 So don't quit. 37:35 >> Don't quit, don't quit. 37:37 That's right, you heard it y 'all don't quit. 37:39 [LAUGH] So Ruben it's a lot, I even going through my program. 37:42 I got through studies. 37:48 It's been experience imposter syndrome, right? 37:49 I think it's fairly common for folks in venturing into something new. 37:52 Can you talk a little more about kind of some of those psychological 37:58 elements that people just have to consider when they're wanting to 38:02 start over in a new career or transition into a new career? 38:07 >> Yeah, I mean, imposter syndrome is a very real thing I think. 38:11 I think you said something about tenacity earlier like I think. 38:16 I think one of my strongest traits is resourcefulness and tenacity and 38:20 being able to like, decide to do something and 38:25 have this confidence to go all the way through and just like run through walls. 38:27 I think trusting your struggle matters right, 38:32 being able to trust your struggle matters. 38:36 I think trusting the process also matters too. 38:39 And recognizing that rejection is part of it. 38:43 Right, so I've like you said like when I tried to get into banking, 38:47 I had to send out 1900 emails. 38:52 But to get into tech, I probably sent, I don't know, maybe 5000 emails, 38:55 but to raise money as a founder I had to raise thousands and 39:01 thousands of emails to right, it doesn't stop. 39:05 And what you'll realize about your results, 39:08 people have probably heard about [INAUDIBLE], right? 39:12 80/20, right? 39:16 So like 80% of your results are gonna come from 20% of your efforts. 39:17 And so if you follow that math, right, and only one out of five of your emails 39:20 are gonna respond like increase your numbers by sending more, right? 39:25 Get more rejections, right? 39:30 >> Right. 39:32 >> Cuz like somebody will respond that might not lead to an interview. 39:32 And then out of the interviews, how many interviews are you having, right? 39:37 How many of those are gonna lead to a second interview. 39:40 >> Right. 39:42 >> When recording talent, 39:42 some people get stuck in all these like these I'm not ready yet. 39:44 I'm not gonna apply until I'm ready yet. 39:49 There's a very famous quote by Reed Hoffman, 39:51 who is the founder of LinkedIn that if you are embarrassed about the first version of 39:54 your product you've launched too late. 39:59 You are the product that the company is like. 40:01 As an artist, right, do you know how many artists are really good musicians that 40:04 starve just cuz they don't know how to sell themselves, 40:08 they don't know how to present themselves? 40:11 And so you have to learn how to get launched. 40:14 There's a lot of mediocre artists that are very wealthy. 40:18 And I'm not gonna throw shade at some mediocre artists, 40:20 because I love all the artists, I'm not gonna do that. 40:24 >> [LAUGH] >> But there's a lot of mediocre artists 40:27 that are really good at distribution that are getting paid right now. 40:31 And so for the people that are like, man, I'm not ready yet, just get the interview, 40:34 get the coding challenge and fail. 40:39 >> Right. >> That's okay, because the lessons 40:41 are going to keep coming back to you until you learn them, right? 40:43 And what I want you to do when you fail that coding challenge, 40:48 I want you to complete it, and I want you to send it back. 40:51 There's a guy in here, his name's Kahan, he did that, he works at Tesla now, right? 40:53 And every time he got rejected from this coding challenge, 40:59 he would complete it and send it to them anyway, right? 41:03 That's the best interview practice you're gonna get. 41:06 >> Absolutely. >> And this is important, 41:11 but get real interviews and lose, right? 41:14 >> Right. 41:18 >> There's a great book called The Inner Game of Tennis, right, 41:19 and in the mindset that you need to have, 41:22 and when you're playing tennis, but I'm not a tennis player, right? 41:25 But it talks about how to think about competition. 41:29 If somebody is exposing your backhand and 41:31 you just keep getting exposed in the backhand, 41:33 you shouldn't feel bad as a competitor because you're making them better. 41:35 I'm gonna hit you in your weakness every time until you get that backhand right. 41:38 You know what I'm saying? 41:44 >> Absolutely. 41:45 >> And there are companies hiring every day. 41:46 I want everybody to sign up to the Strictly VC newsletter. 41:49 And you will see daily updates of companies that are raising millions of 41:53 dollars from venture capitalists, and for people that don't know what 41:56 a venture capitalist is, that's somebody gives companies money. 41:59 Anytime a company raising money, they're hiring. 42:02 Send an email to the CEO or the hiring manager, find their contact information, 42:04 cold email them, Strictly VC, everybody is talking about this, the newsletter now. 42:09 >> I know. 42:14 >> Strictly VC, [CROSSTALK] every time they're hiring, 42:15 send them an email, right? 42:21 And don't just lead with professional things. 42:24 Figure out what they said that they're trying to do in the future and tell 42:27 them how you are gonna help, [INAUDIBLE] spent time in education, right? 42:31 Lot of ed-tech companies raising money. 42:34 Coursera just raised $130 million, Campus Lodges just raise $120 million, 42:37 Master Class raised $100 million dollars. 42:41 Hit them up, let me know you're teacher, they'd probably be interested in that. 42:44 I'm a teacher that knows how to code? 42:48 Yeah, I'm about that life, you see what I'm saying? 42:50 >> Don't tell Ryan that. 42:52 [LAUGH] >> Exactly, exactly, holler at Ryan. 42:53 I've seen Ryan hiring. 42:58 Look at his team, his team is magic. 43:01 >> Yeah, he's preaching y'all. 43:02 Ruben Harris, awesome, awesome, awesome. 43:06 I mean, you hit it right there on the head. 43:09 And I think, I'm trying to stress it here and I hope folks watch this and 43:11 watch it again once we get these loaded up, but it's an art form, but 43:16 the tenacity and the drive and the hunger, you gotta want it, 43:21 people, it's not gonna just come to you, you gotta want it. 43:26 And so what other things could you tell folks that if they're just unsure, 43:30 they think they have it, but they're not really sure if they could 43:35 have the agility necessary or the sustainability necessarily? 43:40 But what would you say to them to assure them that tech 43:45 would be a good start for them if they're on the fence? 43:50 >> How you gonna know if you don't do it, right? 43:56 It's like, I'm unsure if I'm gonna be able to do it, 43:58 how you gonna know if you don't do it? 44:02 It goes back to, if you aren't embarrassed 44:05 about the first version of the product, you launched too late. 44:08 Don't launch when you're ready, launch before you're ready, right? 44:13 And when it comes to choosing companies, that matters too, right, so 44:18 spend time understanding the ecosystem system. 44:22 And I know to your point, I am oversimplifying, 44:25 it is easier said than done. 44:29 My brother and I are complete opposites, right? 44:31 My brother did it, you could hear his story on the podcast, 44:35 I'm gonna send you hist story as well, he breaks down the job search very well. 44:38 I have a podcast too, by the way, it's called Breaking Into Startups. 44:42 Check it out, I'm about to drop a podcast today. 44:45 But my brother really is the epitome of someone who doesn't have 44:47 the natural confidence but builds himself up to have the confidence, 44:51 but have constant motivation. 44:57 Who is in your circle, right? 44:59 Who is in your circle, cuz if you're surrounded by negative energy, 45:01 it's gonna be very difficult to overcome those mental blocks, right? 45:05 And I know, sometimes you might be quarantined with a negative environment. 45:09 So figure out how to exit, virtually, 45:15 to the clouds to find a positive community online, because that exists, right? 45:17 You got to find your people. 45:23 Like I said, we are social creatures. 45:24 And if you don't have the natural motivation to have somebody that's gonna 45:26 knock on your door and wake you up at 6 AM to work out mentally and spiritually and 45:30 emotionally and physically, then you need to find that circle, right? 45:35 We got that circle here as well. 45:40 So I think i think that's what I would say. 45:41 Watch your circle, do it anyway. 45:44 What I tell people on Career Karma, if you ever feel like quitting, 45:46 you could always hit me up. 45:50 I'm available. You could tweet me as well. 45:52 It's just my name on Twitter. 45:53 Holler at [INAUDIBLE] Ryan, they're here too, right? 45:55 Thinking of positive people, you see that smile? 46:01 You see that energy? 46:03 I never met her but I can tell she is an awesome person, you see what I'm saying? 46:04 >> Ruben, I'll send that check to you later. 46:08 [LAUGH] I think too, it's so crucial, I tell my boys, I've got three sons. 46:11 It's a level up there or two, because if folks that you're hanging out with 46:17 are where you want to be are on that next level, 46:22 then they're not the circle for you. 46:25 And sometimes, as hard as it is, we have to leave those other folks behind so 46:28 that we that we can advance and that we can get to where we want to be. 46:33 Also, I think it's part of you know what you're talking about too. 46:38 >> A lot of people are talking about trust or struggle in the comments. 46:41 I want people to know why I got that. 46:45 So I moved to the Bay Area in 2014, December 2014. 46:46 I knew zero people, and my first week was hard. 46:52 I got rejected from every company I applied to, but 46:57 I thought I was a perfect fit there. 47:02 I was gonna have to pace myself cuz it got me a little emotional, but 47:05 there's a graffiti wall that said trust your struggle on it, and I was in tears. 47:08 Hold on. 47:14 >> It's all right, it's all right, it's real, y'all. 47:18 This is, it's real, when it means something, you feel you feel it. 47:25 >> You feel it. 47:30 I got in the Lyft car, the Lyft driver was like, now tell me about the graffiti wall, 47:34 he was like, there's a lot of things in life that you can't control. 47:41 The only thing that you can do is wake up with a smile, 47:47 do your best, and that's it. 47:52 And what's most important is to keep going and not quit. 47:55 If it doesn't work out, it wasn't meant to be, so it wasn't the right time, right? 48:03 A lot of times, those things that didn't work out, you'll see why it didn't 48:10 work out, why those companies that you didn't get into shut down. 48:15 A lot of those investments that I didn't make ended up being a really 48:19 f-d up people. 48:24 I believe in God, so I see those rejections as God's compass, right? 48:25 You gotta trust that guidance. 48:31 If you're doing the right thing and 48:33 it doesn't work out, don't worry about it. 48:36 Don't worry about it, just keep going. 48:40 If you're getting rejected and 48:42 you're not doing your best that's probably on you, right? 48:44 You always gotta do your best. 48:48 >> Absolutely, thank you, Ruben, thank you for being vulnerable, 48:50 because it is something that matters, and what's for you is for you, right? 48:56 And that may become my new mantra, trust your struggle, because we all have them, 49:02 we all go through them, and it's what's inside us that keeps us motivated, 49:08 knowing that what's for us will be for us at the end of the day. 49:14 So y'all, I hope y'all take that to heart. 49:19 Saw a question down there, thanks, and I'm a fan Ruben, 49:22 about my social media echo, I'm just on LinkedIn, I'm working it out, 49:26 I'm on those other platforms to hunt down my children. 49:30 But I'll learn to use those a little bit more too, but 49:34 y'all can hit me up on LinkedIn currently, so I appreciate the love. 49:37 >> And listen, one more thing, back to the struggles in life. 49:42 I've never gotten anything in life the first time, 49:48 all the way down to Y Combinator. 49:51 We did Y Combinator. 49:53 We got rejected the first time, I could show you on our wall, I'm gonna show you. 49:55 This is. 49:59 This is the YC rejection letter that we got. 50:00 We have it falling down a little bit cuz the argument was falling apart. 50:05 But we applied again and we got in that December, right? 50:08 So you frame your rejections, right? 50:13 You use that as a motivation. 50:15 I said, I tweeted something today, what did it say? 50:17 Said something about chips on your shoulder get chips in your pocket or 50:20 something like that. 50:24 But sometimes that rejection isn't gonna get you hired, you know? 50:26 You wind up like LeBron is on record, but 50:33 a lot of people compare himself to Jordan, right? 50:36 And a lot of people won't give him the credit. 50:39 Lebron's a beast. 50:41 LeBron's not my favorite player, but LeBron's a beast, 50:42 you gotta give him credit. 50:44 And that chip on his shoulder allows him to keep going off on everybody. 50:45 Kobe, RIP Kobe, he talks about it a lot. 50:50 There's a great book called Relentless. 50:53 Read that, where you go into the dark side, but not in a negative way, but 50:55 you just start going off. 50:59 I don't know if you guys watch anime. 51:01 There's a great anime called The Rising of the Shield Hero and 51:02 when he goes off with that rage shield, it's a whole another level. 51:06 So, anyway. 51:10 >> [LAUGH] >> My podcast is called 51:12 Breaking Into Startups. 51:13 >> Breaking in, so where can folks find you, Ruben? 51:14 I know you're everywhere. 51:19 And I know we're kinda running out a little bit of time. 51:20 But I wanna make sure that folks can hit you up at Career Karma and 51:22 on your social media. 51:28 >> Yeah, I'm on Twitter, I'm on Instagram, I'm on LinkedIn. 51:30 It's just my name on everything. 51:35 I think digital identity matters. 51:36 And if you Google your name and what you want doesn't pop up, 51:38 you gotta work on that. 51:40 So it's just my first and last name. 51:42 I see a lot of people talking about Shield Hero. 51:43 Shield Hero is the perfect example of somebody that's underestimated. 51:46 Everybody was trying to play him and you guys saw how the Shield Hero leveled up. 51:50 If you haven't seen it, I'm telling you, I highly, highly recommend it, 51:55 cuz it's gonna change your life. 51:58 There's some things that I don't fully agree with on the Shield Hero, 52:00 but it's fire. 52:04 >> Awesome, all those. 52:05 >> All right. >> Nice. 52:07 All right Ruben, we got, we have a few more minutes. 52:09 Did you see any other questions or wanna say anything else to the folks? 52:12 >> I also like My Hero Academia, that's another one you guys can check out. 52:18 >> Okay. [LAUGH] 52:21 >> Let's see. 52:22 [LAUGH] I think it's important to reflect 52:22 as well. A lot of times whenever you all are head 52:25 down, focused on things, you want to analyze what's going on. 52:28 So I always tell people, you wanna think 52:31 about where you were ten years ago, where you are now, where 52:35 you wanna be at the end of the decade. Every week, you wanna analyze, 52:39 you wanna be like, what went well, 52:44 what didn't go well? But 52:46 you should repeat what you should begin doing, what you should never do again. 52:48 And every day, 52:52 I think you should be executing on a level to where you are producing 52:53 the equivalent of a week. And every week, you should be executing 52:58 and producing to the level of a month. If you're not executing or 53:02 learning at that level, then you're not maximizing your full potential. 53:06 I think we get too caught up in this 40 53:10 hour mindset. And I'm not saying overwork yourself, 53:13 by the way, I'm just saying most people don't use their full potential. 53:16 And then during those 40 hours at work, 53:19 you're not using your full brain, right? >> Absolutely. 53:21 >> Our brains are powerful, our bodies 53:23 are powerful, our gifts are powerful. So 53:25 you need to learn how to fully develop those and constantly iterating it and 53:27 growing deep from. So I think our potential is one of 53:31 the most untapped resources ever. And if we could maximize that, not just 53:35 as individuals but as a collective. There's no telling what we're gonna be 53:40 able to accomplish. >> Absolutely, absolutely, 53:44 couldn't have said it better myself. This has been a delight, 53:47 an unexpected delight. >> [LAUGH] 53:50 >> I appreciate you, Ruben. 53:52 I look forward to connect with you. 53:56 Cuz I believe you just delivered a master 53:59 class that goes way beyond tech and music. That you've really 54:02 spoken some some profound words that anyone could take and 54:06 grow from. And I mean, I've taken away a lot here in 54:11 this hour with you. And 54:15 just confirming, to be tenacious and to be confident, and yes, 54:16 to be reflective. And 54:21 I think these are all key components of a great leader and 54:22 great leader you are, Mr. CEO. I appreciate your time in 54:27 the Treehouse this morning, and I hope you have a wonderful, 54:31 wonderful week. And I'll be looking out to see if I'm 54:35 gonna hear that cello, so >> For sure, we're gonna make an album for 54:38 sure, trust me. >> Okay, 54:42 ya'll heard that. He's gonna 54:44 make you happy. 54:46 >> It's happening. 54:46 >> [LAUGH] >> It's happening. 54:47 Thank you so much for your leadership. 54:48 >> All right. 54:49 I appreciate y'all having me. 54:50 >> All right, thanks. 54:51 >> See you later. 54:52 >> See you later. 54:52