Roadtrip Nation

Announcer: How do I know which path is best for me?

Is it possible to take on these challenges and obstacles?

Where do I even start?

What should I do with my life?

Sometimes the only way to find out is to go see what's possible.

Since 2001 we've been sharing the stories of people who ventured out and explored different career paths and different possibilities for their futures.

This is one of those stories.

This is "Roadtrip Nation."

Ronnie: Tawie, Dafina, and I are on a road trip.

So far, I feel like I've learned so much.

Tawie: It's been a great experience.

I realized that, like, we all went through the same thing.

Dafina: We have all taken short-term programs.

We're all on different parts of our journey and in life, in general.

We all met up in California at the Roadtrip Nation headquarters to interview people who have done short-term programs, as well as people who support those programs.

After that, we all flew back to our hometowns.

Ronnie: Individually to do some interviews and then after those hometown interviews we will fly one more time to Seattle where we meet up for, like, one last hurrah and finish the trip there.

My name is Ronnie Cobb.

I'm from Boston, Massachusetts.

Ronnie: Hello, I didn't really do a typical career path, by not going to college.

Ronnie: I did a short-term learning program called Per Scholas.

Ronnie: Right now, I'm trying to balance two major parts of my life.

One part of my life is being an IT professional, and the other part of my life is my dreams of becoming a professional Muay Thai athlete.

Ronnie: I'm looking for answers, honestly.

Talked with Greg Walton.

It was phenomenal.

It felt good, like, interviewing him and it allowed me to like open up a little bit about myself as well.

Ronnie: I felt kind of lost.

I didn't know like the next step for me.

I heard that it's okay to feel lost.

It was very comforting.

Tawie: My name is Tawie.

I came to America to be a chemistry major, but I ended up dropping out for financial reasons.

And then recently I did a, you know, short-term learning program.

In the market for a job, so struggling a little bit.

From doing this road trip, you know.

I hope, you know, to kind of find myself, you know, I mean that's a broad thing to say.

I enjoyed talking to Matthew because I could relate to him.

Tawie: Coming here, you know, talking to other people, boosted my confidence.

Dafina: My name is Dafina.

I'm from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and I am studying different aspects of cybersecurity.

I earned my cybersecurity credentials from Miami-Dade Community College.

Stacking with short-term programs to kinda get my education and try to get more experience and try to continue on in my educational journey to see where it takes me so I'm kind of like in that, you know, processing mode.

I'm really looking forward to what's to come.

I'm excited to do my own interviews and I'm excited to reunite with you all in Seattle to finish the trip.

I've worked in a lot of fields.

Have been quietly just trying to navigate through life.

I felt like it was a weakness because most people I know would have focused in on something and kind of gotten their, you know, expertise by now but if someone was to find out what it was that I went through, they are very shocked, but it's because my motivation was just about trying to survive.

My teenage years I ended up dating my daughter's father.

My daughter is 28 right now and he started becoming abusive.

And I ended up having a conversation and saying I no longer wanted to be in a relationship.

He was not happy with that and as I was approaching my front door, my ex jumped out of the bushes.

And at that point my entire life changed.

Dafina: Do you remember this one?

daughter: Yes, I mean, I don't remember taking it, but I can tell where it was taken.

Dafina: So this is my youngest daughter.

I don't wanna beat myself up too much, but I do feel like there are some different wounds that still won't heal all the way.

daughter: Do you think to yourself, do you wish it never happened, or-- Dafina: Now I have to live with the scars.

It also added things to my life as well.

It let me know that I can be resilient and live past a lot of pain.

All I can do is really learn from the past and improve the future.

I am really discovering life for the first time again for myself.

Ever since I was injured, I wanted to have a career of my own.

A bachelor's degree was something that held me back for a very long time.

I actually ended up going to the school, Miami-Dade College.

They have short-term programs that lead to an associate's degree, that can lead to a bachelor's degree.

I really wanted to step out on faith and just live my life based upon the dreams that I had had for so long.

But now I'm interested in leadership roles, it's a new challenge to reach, because it is something that I wanna be a part of but I mean, for me to learn how to navigate through life after all of my different adversities, I think that this is not something out of reach for me.

Now is my time to kinda like face what it is that I really wanna do in my life.

Dafina: I'm gonna be interviewing Dr.

Natalie Johnson, who is an IT security administrator in the local government here in Florida.

Natalie Johnson: I am too a homegirl, from Fort Lauderdale.

At the airport we do a lot federal audits to compliance, as a part of our procurement processes.

We do security awareness.

Another airport needs support, then we might be doing a mutual aid situation to see how we can help our communities.

Dafina: Can I ask you, growing up in Fort Lauderdale, did you have anything that kind of led you to this field in your upbringing, you think?

Natalie: I was the little girl that played with computers, never really played with dolls, always tinkered, always enjoyed devices and putting stuff together and taking stuff apart.

Education has always been a foundation of everything I do.

I think it drives, you know, keeping me sharp, keeping me on, you know, on the up and up when it comes to the technology realm.

There's not a lot of us in the field, so it's important, but I'm still trying to figure it out so I don't--I don't want you to feel like you're not somewhere you're supposed to be because you don't know exactly what you're supposed to be doing.

Dafina: When I was transitioning over from working in a whole 'nother field, I wanted to see how I can get into the workforce without so much schooling.

Do you feel mandatory or required to go ahead and get those 4-year degrees or those master's degrees or is it those 4-year degrees or those master's degrees or is it Natalie: Meh... smaller programs that can get your foot in the door?

Natalie: I don't think there's a one size fit all.

You see a lot of people pivoting from non-technical fields into cybersecurity.

The federal government is seeing that exact thing where non-traditional approaches to getting into cybersecurity because of the lack of people.

I giggle when someone says to me, "I'm getting into cyber.

Can I do it?"

Of course you can.

The requirement is enjoying what you do.

Dafina: I feel like there is so much that I overcame and there are people that are looking up to me and even though I haven't really made it in the field that I would like to, there's, like-- Natalie: We are toughest on ourself.

Natalie: We are toughest on ourself.

Dafina: [Laugh] I still feel like I don't--I haven't done enough.

I laugh even to this very day.

I have imposter syndrome.

I giggle.

I do not feel like a subject matter expert.

I don't feel like anybody's mentor.

I'm dealing with life just like you are.

Dafina: I don't know if it's me being a previous victim of a crime that I almost lost my life.

Natalie: That's strength like that, you know, don't be so rough on yourself.

Dafina: But it makes me feel like life is so precious that it can be taken away at any moment and it also makes me feel like I wanna get a lot done and if it does get taken away I want, you know, it's like, it's almost like, it's a urgency.

Natalie: You gotta enjoy life too.

I try to take advantage of, you know, being fulfilled in every moment.

We're gonna switch telephone numbers.

Whenever you need a pep talk, I might call you when I need a pep talk.

We gotta be there for each other.

Dafina: She ended up saying, "You're stuck with me," and she really has shown me how she's thinking of me and so I'm very, very thankful for meeting Dr.

Natalie and I look forward to continuing for that to be a two-way relationship where I can offer her some help as well as her offering me.

What I learned most about myself is that I need to give myself grace for some of the things that I've gone through.

Even if I haven't accomplished the goals that I want to at this time, give myself grace to say, "There's still time."

My legacy will be of resilience.

Now, I wanna be known for more than just that.

daughter: I'm happy to see you in this spot, shining like a star.

The only other words I can muster up are I'm proud of you and that I love you.

Dafina: Thank you.

I love you too, sweetheart.

Tawie: [Screams in excitement] Dafina: Finally, how are you guys?

Ronnie: [Laughs] Good, good.

Dafina: Thank you, Tawie.

Tawie: Well take the bag, well take the bag Dafina: We are in Seattle, Washington.

Ronnie: And so we're staying at the RV park right now.

Tawie: This is the last leg of our journey, you know, bittersweet.

Dafina: Good morning.

Tawie: I'm still so sleepy.

Dafina: Oh, I was gonna say, how did you sleep?

Ronnie: What time have we gotta wake up?

Dafina: This morning we have a interview, so we have to be ready to go at-- Tawie: I might do 5 more minutes.

Dafina: About 8:10 I'm gonna do 5 more minutes.

Tawie: I've never really been on an RV and like I'm sleeping like a baby and it's--there's something that feels nice about just knowing that there's a bunch of people around you, you know, especially in a, you know, RV Park, you know, where there's bears, allegedly.

[Laugh] Ronnie: Felt like yesterday I was sending in the application and then now we've been to Cali, off--went all the way back to Boston and then we flew back to Seattle.

Tawie: I mean they have a couple of tech jobs out here.

Ronnie: Yeah, no, tech's big out here.

I mean, I got great first impressions.

I like Seattle so far.

Tawie: Yeah, yeah, me too.

Ronnie: I really love Seattle.

We're on like a little viewpoint and we've seen like the little, the needle thing, the tall little tower they have.

Tawie: The mountains, the trees, reminds me of home.

Dafina: Just recently finished a internship that was located right here in Seattle, so it's so great to be right back.

Tawie: Ronnie, you're the tall one.

You should be taking selfies for us, man.

Ronnie: I got it, I got it.

Dafina: I was trying to get in the picture.

Ronnie: I'm with my peoples, you know?

I'm feeling really excited.

I just love our vibes together and I feel like in the interviews we bounce off each other very well.

Tawie: Yeah, the group interviews, you know I'm not gonna lie, I like the group interviews.

Dafina: We're gonna interview Amy Ecklund, who is the owner of Amy Works, which is a construction company here in Seattle.

Amy: I have a BS degree in environmental science and that doesn't relate to this at all.

Not at all.

A friend of mine sent me a link to a line of hand tools called Tomboy Tools.

And they were designed for women by women, but they were sold at home parties.

And these women would ask me, it's like, "Well, can you come to my house and fix my utility sink?"

Like, yeah, I can do that.

Yeah, I'm walking up to the door with my toolbox and it was just so exciting.

That sparked something in me it's like, "Okay, what is it gonna take for me to do this as a true business?"

Decided, "Well, let's just start Amy Works."

You know, here I am, 15 years later.

Tawie: Are there any challenges that you faced, you know, as a startup, you know, and is there any advice you'd give for someone, you know, who's trying to start a business, you know, and you know, they wanna come up like you?

Amy: The best advice I would have for anybody that wanted to start their own business is to take advantage of any kind of education that you can get.

You know, you just started a small business, you don't have a whole lot of money, so it's not like you can go take an MBA program at, you know, University of Washington.

You've got to get your education where you can and there are a lot of free programs.

I'm all about time efficiency.

So if you can do it in a shorter amount of time, you know, I'm gonna do it.

There are, you know, there are a number of programs that are available to working adults, right?

Because they have realized that okay, they're working adults that need to go to school, but they don't have that time, so there's a lot of programs.

UDub, I did a program with them, their Foster School of Business.

It was a 6-month program.

I did one with Small Business Administration as well.

It was a 6-month program and it was great.

I mean, we went through everything and had strategic plan by the time we were done and our smart goals and all kinds of stuff, so we could just put those in place and start working on it.

Dafina: You are working in a field that you actually love to do.

Was that the reason why you chose this field because it's fulfilling?

Amy: The real motivator was helping people, specifically women.

The instant trust that you would have if I came to the door, right, and was like, "Hey, I'm Amy, come to do your, whatever it is."

It's just that instant, "Yeah, okay, I feel much more comfortable."

And just that, you know, inclusivity that because I've seen it with, you know, the guys and they have a tendency to talk to the husband.

And it's like, there's two of them there.

There's two people there, you need to talk to the woman as well.

And so that communication with recognizing that there's two people in the room and not just one.

But also I just did it.

I really didn't give it a whole lot of thought.

You know, I'm--I identify as non-binary, so I've never fit into any one group my entire life.

So I've just done it, and I've been fortunate enough, the universe has had my back to be successful at it because I love what I do.

I love running a business.

I don't look at it as, you know, drudgery and oh, it's like, "I have to work."

It's like, "Oh, I get to work."

You spend way too much time working to not be happy with what you're doing.

Tawie: And Amy-- what they have achieved is amazing.

Ronnie: And I have huge respect for them because being able to go from one career to just honestly a male-dominated industry, so huge respect to them.

Dafina: Amy was a pleasure to meet.

I loved how they are actually helping the community in ways in which creates trust with women.

The confidence level of Amy really was motivational.

On this particular road trip I learned quite a few things because every time that I speak to a new leader I'm like, "That resonated with me."

Kimo Thompson: I was able to go to Miami-Dade in a traditional brick and mortar setting get my nursing associate's degree while actively being a firefighter and I gotta throw it out there, it's affordable.

Kimo: They're practically giving it to you.

Dafina: Yes!

Ronnie: Honestly, the impact these leaders have on us, I don't know if they realized like how important it was.

Craig Maxwell: You can be super-successful in Muay Thai, and I hope you are, like, I want you to really kick butt everywhere, you know?

Again, go hard on what you're passionate about, give it 110%, Craig: dude, and you'll be fine.

Ronnie: Yeah Ronnie: Like, they're really, like, changing like the way I think and like the way I wanna move forward, my values and all, so like I'm really grateful to have this opportunity.

Tawie: Talking to the leaders like, I realized that like, most of the leaders like, none of them had stuff figured out.

Like, literally, none of them.

Jodene Gordon: What did I want the rest of my days to look like as a professional and then finding something that was a perfect match.

Before I figured out that it was workforce development, I was like all over the place.

I'm like, I have no idea what I want to do now.

I just know I need something different.

Tawie: Looking at me I'm just like, Yeah, like, yeah, I'm-- I've not figured it out yet but like, I'm not the only one.

It's life.

Dafina: So the last interview that we have is with Michael Baldwin, Junior.

Tawie: And he's doing amazing things, you know, with students, helping them, you know, follow their dreams.

Tawie: If you don't mind, you know, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Michael: I'm Michael Baldwin the associate director of learning and advisory services at Grads of Life.

This is a consultancy arm of Year Up United, a national nonprofit that supports young adults with getting into corporate America through avenues such as tech, finance, and business.

So, born and raised in Philadelphia, I kind of found my way to the Year Up program after high school, doing some odd jobs around the city.

Got into the program, similar to your story.

I was just trying to figure out what was next.

My father at the time was disabled and my mother had just been incarcerated.

And you wanna talk about depression and not having a direction, that's exactly where I was.

Ultimately had a really great experience.

I ended up going back to Year Up working as a coordinator.

I got an opportunity to get promoted.

That caught the eye of Grads of Life, our consultancy arm, and I've been in this portion of the organization for the last 3 years.

I get the privilege of working with people like yourselves on a day-to-day basis: young adults who want more out of life.

It's a day-to-day opportunity that I'm thankful for.

Ronnie: I mean, your work is like very meaningful.

I'm just curious about the impact it has on people and how that makes you feel about the work you do.

Michael: So when you say what we do, I have to challenge that because I'm also an alum of the Year Up United program.

I graduated in 2016.

That's how I got my start.

It's not what we do.

It's what we put students in position to actualize.

These young adults are so resilient, they're so strong, they're hungry, they have the passion, they have the intentionality.

They're just lacking the opportunity, these young adults along the way I create nothing for them.

Whether I was a program manager, I was a coordinator, I was a student, or just supporting the national alumni organization, I did nothing.

I came into a space as a support system and I watched these young adults work.

Now, if you wanna talk about what the tangible aspects of the organization does, I guess, we provide a stipend, we provide them with functional development, whether that be software development, information technology, finance, business opportunities, et cetera.

However, these are all things that we offer.

They have to work for them.

This all came from staff like myself across this country who said, "I'm ready to give back.

As I grow, I'm ready to lift as I climb."

And we held space for students to take up space and that's exactly what they did and that's exactly what they continue to do.

Tawie: Being on this trip, like, I've got a chance to reflect like my life and what I'm going to do so, you know, for you, right, like you know, if you reflect back, you know, to your younger self and to your future self what would you tell yourself like, you know, this is, you know, this is how to go through things?

Michael: I mean, at this point right now I think if my younger self could see me they'd be lost for words.

We were in a pretty dark place and, you know, I grew up in Philadelphia.

You could see the city skyline from the Section 8 housing unit that we lived in.

Like, if you walked outside and you looked down the street, you could see it.

Never had I ever thought I'd have a place in that city skyline.

So when it comes to limitations, like, there's no limitations on what you can dream.

I think sometimes we don't teach people the art of dreaming.

You know, we tell them what their life is based off of our limitations.

We have to learn how to dream in color, you know?

Life isn't black and white, life is in color.

You have to clearly see what it is that you want, right?

There shouldn't be any gray area in that, right?

Life is gonna give you gray area, but your dream should be clear as day.

Dream in color.

Be bold, dream big.

Take the risk.

Take the risk of starting a new conversation.

Take the risk of talking to your current management team, talking to your friends, talking to individuals that are in positions that you wanna be.

The idea is that you start to form your career in a way that you find a way to connect your passion, right?

There's a fire in you for that for some reason, right?

And it's up to you to figure out what it's all about.

Because just like we learn for the rest of our lives, you'll be dreaming for the rest of your lives too.

Ronnie: Michael Baldwin, I really enjoyed talking with him.

After speaking with him and how he went through the micro credential route and he able to continue his learning, like, he really inspired me to like really like get on it.

Like, there's new skills out there I could be working on.

Dafina: He was motivational in itself just being able to encourage us to dream in color.

Tawie: Don't dream in black and white, you know, whatever dreams you have, make sure like, they're colorful and you be ready to follow them, you know?

Dafina: We are out here Snoqualmie Falls.

Dafina: We're the roadtrippers.

Microcredentials Ronnie: I know, right?

Y'all see that back there?

Ronnie: Thats wild.

Thats wild.

Tawie: Yeah, yeah we outside.

All: [Laughing] Dafina: So we are finally at the end of our road trip, oh my goodness.

I can't even believe we're at the end, I really can't.

Because it has been an amazing adventure.

Ronnie: And to be honest, it's kind of unbelievable that we reached the end of the trip.

Tawie: You know, I wish it could go on and on, you know, because this has been a good experience, you know, finding myself.

Ronnie: At the start of the trip I was kind of like branching out, seeing like what can I do because I had no idea.

I had no idea what to do next.

After speaking with like, Dafina and Tawie, also like the many leaders, kind of interested in, like, taking more micro credentials as well but also even probably even going for associates and maybe even transferring into a bachelor's as well, so that's like--now that's like a new thought in the back of my mind.

Dafina: I wasn't sure where I wanted to go in life with my new career.

Going on this road trip and realizing that for me to learn how to navigate through life after all of my different adversities, I think that looking into careers where I'm able to take the lead is passing the torch over to creating a new version of Dafina.

Tawie: This trip, you know, helped change my life.

I had the chance to really look into myself.

Life is not linear, you know, like I had a plan like.

It didn't work out.

There's other--there's other things you can do with your life besides the plan.

That's what this micro credentials are good for, right?

Like if the plan doesn't work out and you got life, there's other ways you can take care of your, you know, your upskilling and your career besides the plan and you're not alone, you know.

Everybody, like I mean everybody, is going through something and if you're going through something reach out, you know.

Don't feel like you're by yourself.

Tawie: We took a chance and applied for an opportunity.

And it was a great opportunity.

You know, I appreciate both of you guys.

You know, it's been an honor.

You know, let's keep in touch and let's keep winning, alright?

Tawie: You know, let's keep winning, Dafina: Yes, yes, yes!

Ronnie: I know, Yes Tawie: you know, like this is not the end.

This is the beginning.

Ronnie: This is only the beginning, if you really think about it.

This is really the beginning.

announcer: Wondering what to do with your life?

Well, we've been there and we're here to help.

Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path, and you can check out all our documentaries, interviews, and more.

Start exploring at ROADTRIPNATION.COM.