If it wasn't for ...., I would have never met my current mentor, friend, and boss!

Not sure if it is just me but everything feels either as if it happened yesterday or centuries ago. The heart-warming and force awakening interview with Gabrielle Yula, Associate at Digital Hives at Engine Group, feels like yesterday even though we did it in August. The good news is that nothing has changed. Gaby is still working remotely and me too.

So, what will I ask Gaby? Watch our Zoom interview that is just a little longer than a TED Talk. So, if you prefer TikTok over TED Talks, don't watch it because it is longer than 15 seconds. If you watch, you will learn a lot about Digital Hives, story-telling, deliverables, online communities, qualitative research, remote work process, Slack, cooking channels, entering job market without an internship, LinkedIn, using Underground Agency and Old Navy experiences in interviews, power of shared experiences, and 100% effort. Sit back and enjoy!

How was the Zoom interview? Want more? Well, we knew you were hungry for more. Over the last few interviews, we started asking a few follow up questions that help us better understand people like Gabrielle from the perspective of Gallup's Big Six College Experiences. If you want to find out what they are and were for Gaby, read on.

David: Gallup's Big Six College Experiences are all about people and experience. When it comes to people, it's about those who shape us as human beings. And that starts with people who care about us on a personal level. Who was a professor at NKU who made you believe he or she really cared about you as a person?

Gaby: Without a doubt, you are the one who really cared about me as a person. We met my senior year in college, I was a #392rookie fall semester of 2017. I knew from the very first day of classes, your course and plans for us that semester were going to be different than any other college course I had previously taken. I knew early on how much you truly cared about your students. You were active and engaged with our lives (both academic and personal!). I never had a professor that really made me think about myself, who I am as a person, and what my passions were. At the time, one may think self-awareness homework assignments are pointless and have anything to do with the curriculum. However, those assignments were some of the most challenging (yet beneficial) questions I had to think about! Sometimes it can be hard answering questions about yourself, especially if you are still discovering who you are and what you want life after college to be. Although, I often think back and realize those were the most important and beneficial assignments I ever did in all my years in college and as a student. I can't thank you enough for truly caring about me as a person and a student. 

David: I think I will need to hire someone else to ask these 'Big Six' questions. You make me weep. Like the card you gave me back in 2018. Still have it and keep it handy in my office. Now, have you ever had a professor at NKU who made you excited about learning?

Gaby: Sorry if I keep you weeping. I'm shining the light on you. Connecting our school assignments to real life work and clients really made the course work come to life! It was fun and exciting to do meaningful work in the classroom and have the opportunity to liaise/network with clients and past students who were in my shoes not too long ago. I was able to build upon my marketing/business skills in a multitude of ways that I never had the opportunity to do previously in the traditional classroom setting. Your classes truly helped make me career/interview ready. 

David: I quit. I really need to assign this to one of my current Shadow Apprentices and let them take over these interviews. Now I am afraid to ask the next question. Do you have a mentor that encourages you to chase your dreams and goals?

Gaby: I'd like to say I have many mentors in a variety of different aspects of my life. I still consider you a mentor as you provided me many opportunities to discover my goals and passions my senior year of college. I will always thank you for sharing all those networking opportunities and exposing me to your network of connections! Which leads me to another mentor of mine. One of your connections and previous students, Stefanie Brown. If it wasn't for being engaged and taking advantage of the opportunities you provided me with, I would have never met Stefanie (my current mentor, friend, and boss!). While Stefanie and I work on the same team at ENGINE, she also acts as my mentor. She truly cares about me as a person/friend but also encourages me to be better everyday and chase my dreams/goals. I look up to Stefanie a lot and I know I can always go to her for advice. 

David: That is music to my ears. I love Stefanie. It's funny how life works. Her son is now going to the same school and class like our Ellie. The first time I ran into her, I could not believe my eyes. Speaking of eye-opening experiences, what experiences at NKU or while at NKU prepared you for your job most and why?

Gaby: Having real life project based experience helped me the most after college. At the time, having an internship wasn't a requirement for me to graduate. I was commuting to school and working full-time so I never thought to look into an internship. However, I couldn't recommend having an internship experience more! While I didn't officially complete an internship, I was a part of The Underground Agency, which allowed me to complete real life client based projects. These projects truly allowed me to gain the skills I needed to kick-start my career. The skills I learned from being in The Underground Agency and completing your client-based projects helped me stand out among other candidates in the interview process. I was confident in the skills I had coming out of college and I even had work experience to talk about! Having those experiences truly makes you stand out among the competition. Not all college students can confidently say they have relevant work experience fresh out of college. 

David: Speaking of "fresh out of college," what advice would you give current students to help them prepare themselves for their lives after college?

Gaby: I would advise current students that it's okay not to know exactly what you want to do after college. If you find yourself stuck not knowing what to do next, really take some time to think about your passions/what makes you happy and how you can translate that into your career and life after college. Then don't be afraid to reach out to those who are already doing what you aspire to do. If you don't already have a mentor, find one! Or if you're curious about a particular job position/role, don't be afraid to reach out and ask someone what they think about their job, how they got there, and what their journey has been like. A simple message on LinkedIn can go a long way - it led me to landing a job before I even graduated.

David: Thank you so much for your time, Gabrielle! And thank you to all readers for making it this far. So, if you want, feel free to follow Gaby's advice and consider reaching to her and connecting with her on LinkedIn.  Or her boss, Stefanie Brown or those we talked about in our Zoom interview like Mike Miller, Savannah Purcell, or Ashley Cashner and see who has the best LinkedIn profile:) Or learn about ENGINE and follow them!

Cheers to braving by connecting!