Around the Bases 5/11

Welcome back for another edition- the climb to 800 subscribers continues and you all play such a part in what goes on here, so thanks again! Mother's Day is Sunday (and so many college graduations this month), and I'll share a quick fun story from my first summer after I graduated. I'd say my job "search" once I got home was a little less energetic than it should have been. I was somehow convinced I had earned the summer off after my big accomplishment. By the end of August, my mother said something to me I will never forget "What are you gonna do? Get a job watching TV?" Funny how things work out, as I have spent a majority of my life "watching TV" and getting paid (at 3 places!) for it. I owe that kick in the pants to her. You can end up doing something you never thought of if you just apply your energy into that pursuit.

"Find out before you freak out!" - Advice that I saw in a television show (no spoilers here, however) this past week. Great words to remember if some unexpected change lies ahead of you in some way, shape, or form. A college professor of mine from way back (Intro to Political Science, fall of 1989) would get real animated during class when he would say "Knowledge is Power". Same sort of advice- arming yourself with the knowledge you need as you plot your path forward will help you find out what you need to know before you freak out about what you don't.

This week's Something to Watch is a short video dedicated to all of the moms out there. The author Kobe Yamada has written a ton of great children's books with some awesome messages for all ages. Here is a reading from him of his book about mothers.

This week's Something to Read is about a colleague of mine from my former place of employment, Joe Rodriguez. Joe's success story is very inspirational an worth your time.

This week's Something to Listen To is a podcast featuring a guest who is a great follow on LinkedIn, Valerie Gordon. She has been featured here at ATB a few times, be it her book (yes, awesome), and as a podcast guest. The podcast is named "Getting Unstuck", and also has other great episodes.

Here are the Top 10 roles I saw this week- the first 5 are with out team at Paramount, 4 of which are in our group in Stamford. I am a direct connection for those roles, and a possible connection for the others, so please DM me here or email me at [email protected] for more.

Unhappy with your current professional state of affairs? Stuck in a role that doesn't fire you up like it used to? Unsure of where to start when looking for a new role? If so, we should talk. One of the reasons for my presence here on LinkedIn and the creation of my company was to help those looking for a fresh perspective on their careers, something that I has a tough time finding when I ran into a lot of those things myself. I have spent over 25 years in the sports media industry helping others improve their skills as producers/on-air personalities, and the last 2 guiding my clients into and through the business. Please feel free to check out my website below and see how we may be able to help each other. I offer an personal, energetic approach combined with a ton of industry knowledge that can be the difference you are looking for.

A final shout out here to my wife, who also played a huge role in my career. She stood by me as I was trying to get my foot in the door at ESPN, from using her dad's word processor to crank out my first real resume, to hanging in there with the long hours that resulted since at all my places of employment. She is an amazing mother who has done more for our family than she could ever imagine. Happy Mother's Day and see you next week!

Tom