- 2 days ago
In this episode I walk through my entire career since 2017 and how I progressed into what I do today!
I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be therapist. Yet, I didn't achieve those goals, but sometimes our goals lead us to our real calling - and I definitely think it did for me :)
____________________________________________
RESOURCES:
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📖Take my Full MySQL Course Here: https://bit.ly/3tqOipr
📖Take my Full Python Course Here: https://bit.ly/48O581R
📖Practice Technical Interview Questions: https://bit.ly/46pDqqL
Coursera Courses:
Google Data Analyst Certification: https://coursera.pxf.io/5bBd62
Data Analysis with Python - https://coursera.pxf.io/BXY3Wy
IBM Data Analysis Specialization - https://coursera.pxf.io/AoYOdR
Tableau Data Visualization - https://coursera.pxf.io/MXYqaN
Udemy Courses:
Python for Data Science - https://bit.ly/3Z4A5K6
Statistics for Data Science - https://bit.ly/37jqDbq
SQL for Data Analysts (SSMS) - https://bit.ly/3fkqEij
Tableau A-Z - http://bit.ly/385lYvN
*Please note I may earn a small commission for any purchase through these links - Thanks for supporting the channel!*
___________________________
I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be therapist. Yet, I didn't achieve those goals, but sometimes our goals lead us to our real calling - and I definitely think it did for me :)
____________________________________________
RESOURCES:
💻Analyst Builder - https://www.analystbuilder.com/
📖Take my Full MySQL Course Here: https://bit.ly/3tqOipr
📖Take my Full Python Course Here: https://bit.ly/48O581R
📖Practice Technical Interview Questions: https://bit.ly/46pDqqL
Coursera Courses:
Google Data Analyst Certification: https://coursera.pxf.io/5bBd62
Data Analysis with Python - https://coursera.pxf.io/BXY3Wy
IBM Data Analysis Specialization - https://coursera.pxf.io/AoYOdR
Tableau Data Visualization - https://coursera.pxf.io/MXYqaN
Udemy Courses:
Python for Data Science - https://bit.ly/3Z4A5K6
Statistics for Data Science - https://bit.ly/37jqDbq
SQL for Data Analysts (SSMS) - https://bit.ly/3fkqEij
Tableau A-Z - http://bit.ly/385lYvN
*Please note I may earn a small commission for any purchase through these links - Thanks for supporting the channel!*
___________________________
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Hello everybody, welcome to the Alex the Analyst Show.
00:02Thank you guys so much for watching.
00:03Today we are gonna be talking all about
00:05how I change careers into data analytics.
00:07And I'm gonna talk a little bit more
00:09about what I'm doing today versus a long time ago.
00:13So seven, eight years ago
00:14when I first became a data analyst.
00:16And if you guys have been following me
00:18on YouTube for a long time, you most likely have seen,
00:21I have made a video about how I became a data analyst
00:23a long time ago, but I haven't made an updated one
00:26that recently.
00:27And so I wanted to kind of update you
00:29because my life has changed over time.
00:32It's now been seven years compared to the three or four years
00:35when I made that video a long time ago.
00:37And so I'll be going into a lot of different stuff
00:41about how I made the transition
00:43into becoming a data analyst,
00:45why I made certain decisions in my career,
00:47what I'm currently doing now,
00:49and how I transitioned out of working a full-time W2 job
00:52because I no longer have a boss.
00:54I am my boss, my wife was my real boss,
00:56but I am my own boss.
00:57And I, you know, run Analyst Builder, I do consulting,
01:00I do my YouTube and a few other things.
01:02And so I'll talk all about that as well.
01:05And so there's a lot of things that I'm gonna talk about
01:08that I haven't in previous ones.
01:09And so this is kind of more of an updated one.
01:11And so if you haven't watched the Earth before one
01:13from many years ago, then just watch this one
01:15and you'll catch up and see everything.
01:18It's gonna be great.
01:18Great.
01:19This is my long form episode, by the way.
01:22I typically, you do shorter videos, about 15 minutes or less.
01:26These long ones, this Alex Analyst show,
01:28it's like a podcast style where I just talk for a long time.
01:30So if you have a coffee, if you're going on a drive,
01:33if you're working out, this is great to keep in your ear
01:36because I think I have a somewhat soothing voice.
01:38I could be even more soothing if you'd like me to.
01:42No, I'm not gonna do that.
01:44No, it's getting weird.
01:46All right.
01:47So I'm gonna start at the very beginning,
01:50how I kind of learned about data analytics,
01:52what I was doing before that in college.
01:54And you know what?
01:55I'll just go back to my birth.
01:57I was born in 1990.
01:59No.
02:01But I'll go a bit farther back.
02:02I'll start from the very beginning.
02:03I'll bring you up to recent, to recent times
02:06and what I'm doing today.
02:08And throughout it, I'll talk about salary,
02:10how much money I make or how much money I made,
02:13how much money I make.
02:14And maybe I won't go to all the details
02:15because it's very fluctuates greatly
02:17depending on when it's happening.
02:19But all that being said,
02:20I'm gonna divulge a lot of information.
02:22I hope it is helpful to you to learn more
02:24about just career paths and progressions
02:27and my thought process and how I got here
02:29as a YouTuber with a big data analyst following
02:33and my own businesses and stuff like that.
02:36So I think it'd be pretty interesting.
02:37So if you're interested in this conversation,
02:39stick with me.
02:40It'll be fun.
02:41So I'm gonna start back.
02:43You know, I didn't know what the word data meant in 2017.
02:48Never heard of it.
02:49Maybe I'd heard of it,
02:50but I didn't know what it was.
02:51Like I didn't actually know what anything was.
02:54I went to college for recreational therapy.
02:56I initially went to become a doctor
02:58and then a nurse
02:59and then I switched to physical therapy.
03:01And then at my school,
03:02in order to get into the physical therapy
03:04or the occupational therapy master's degree programs,
03:07a lot of people were going through
03:09the recreational therapy undergrad.
03:12So that's what I did.
03:14So my degree was basically like helping people
03:17through games, through play.
03:19So it's like therapeutic play,
03:20essentially what it was.
03:21And we would help people with autism,
03:23with down syndrome,
03:25people who are depressed,
03:26people in psychiatric hospitals,
03:28all sorts of places,
03:29elderly,
03:30whoever we could help,
03:31we would help.
03:32That's what we did.
03:32So we'd create games to help people.
03:35And it was awesome.
03:36I loved it.
03:36And I did that for two years.
03:39And then, you know, in college,
03:41I studied that for two years.
03:42I got my degree
03:43and then I was like,
03:44all right, I need,
03:45you have to go through an internship
03:46to get kind of certified
03:49and then you can go for your master's degree.
03:51So my plan was,
03:53is I'm going to go do my internship.
03:54I'm going to come back
03:55and live with my parents in South Carolina
03:57and then get my master's.
03:58Perfect plan.
03:59I loved it.
04:01So I flew out to Dallas, Texas.
04:04I was living in Eastern North Carolina at the time.
04:07And so I just wanted to get away.
04:09I had a few different options.
04:10One was up in New York.
04:11One was in Dallas.
04:12And so I,
04:14and there was one other one.
04:15And so I had a few options.
04:16I decided to go out to Texas
04:17because I'd never been there.
04:18Just wanted to try it out.
04:20So I went out there,
04:21didn't know anybody.
04:23On the seventh day,
04:24I met my wife.
04:25Maybe it was the sixth day.
04:27I met her at church
04:28and we just,
04:29we hit it off.
04:29Um,
04:30we started dating.
04:31I was doing my internship at the same time
04:33as I was like meeting,
04:34getting to know her.
04:35Um,
04:36and my internship was great.
04:37I actually really liked it a lot.
04:39And I was working at this inpatient hospital,
04:42um,
04:42uh,
04:42behavioral health hospital for,
04:44you know,
04:44depression and suicide and bipolar.
04:47And I was learning a lot.
04:48It was a great internship.
04:50Um,
04:50well,
04:51near the end of that internship,
04:53I really wanted to stay.
04:54I really was like,
04:56please,
04:56you have a job for me.
04:57Like I just need a job.
04:59I want to stay.
04:59I don't want to go back and get my masters.
05:01I was like,
05:02I want to marry this girl.
05:03I want to stay.
05:04Um,
05:05but they were,
05:06they couldn't help me.
05:07And so I started applying to any job I could find.
05:10Well,
05:11eventually the places I was interning at,
05:14they were like,
05:14okay,
05:15we can't hire you full time,
05:16but we can hire you for $10 an hour.
05:19Um,
05:21and you know,
05:22we won't have many hours though.
05:23And I was like,
05:24that's fine.
05:24I just need like,
05:25you know,
05:26enough to pay my bills,
05:27uh,
05:28which were very low at the time.
05:29I was,
05:29I,
05:30my total bills were like a thousand a month for,
05:32for groceries,
05:33rent,
05:34um,
05:35insurance,
05:35everything.
05:36Um,
05:39well,
05:39that $10 an hour,
05:40I maybe was getting 15 hours a week.
05:43Um,
05:44so I was making like 150 bucks a week.
05:47Um,
05:47it was not enough,
05:48but I had like a little savings.
05:50Um,
05:50and so I did that for like several months until I finally got,
05:55um,
05:55a job.
05:56Now my girlfriend at the time,
05:58my now wife,
05:58we have three kids together,
06:00spoiler alert.
06:01Um,
06:02we,
06:02she was working at a nonprofit and there was an opening at her company for
06:07something called a resident advocate,
06:08which was kind of like the lowest job at the company.
06:12Um,
06:13you can help people get,
06:15um,
06:15you know,
06:16drive people to jobs.
06:17I would drive them to go get haircuts.
06:19Uh,
06:19the nonprofit was for people who had been abused in relationships and we're
06:22trying to escape that.
06:24So I would,
06:24I would cook for them.
06:25I would,
06:26um,
06:26you know,
06:27clean,
06:27uh,
06:28the place that they were staying like the shelter.
06:30And that's what I did.
06:31Well,
06:32I stayed there for about six months and after about six months,
06:35um,
06:37several of the managers approached me and they were like,
06:40Hey,
06:41um,
06:41you seem just like really smart and you like a go getter and we all like you.
06:45Cause you're,
06:46you're kind of a small company and they all wanted me to do something different.
06:49One wanted me to be a,
06:51uh,
06:51um,
06:52a case manager,
06:53which is very in line with what I kind of had already been doing.
06:58It's working with people,
06:59helping them one-on-one and kind of like a social worker kind of thing.
07:03Um,
07:04the other one was a different job that I popped up and I actually applied for it.
07:08It was for a data collection specialist,
07:10analyst,
07:11uh,
07:11inside the company.
07:13Um,
07:14and so I,
07:15I applied for it.
07:16I got an,
07:17uh,
07:17an interview and it was just working in Excel.
07:20Now I could have gone two ways.
07:22I could have gone the caseworker,
07:23which is kind of like what I already had done,
07:25but I had a little bit of foresight.
07:26Like I kind of was like,
07:27Hey, this is almost like a techie role.
07:30I don't know anything about tech,
07:32but this is kind of like a techie role.
07:33Let me check this out.
07:34And it was working in Excel.
07:36And I was like,
07:36I can work in Excel.
07:37I know what Excel is.
07:38Um,
07:39and so I,
07:40you know,
07:41I,
07:41I got these offers and I chose a data collection specialist and analyst knowing absolutely
07:45nothing.
07:46And they kind of taught me hands on,
07:49Hey,
07:49here's how this work is done.
07:51The lady who had been doing it,
07:53her name was joy,
07:54had been doing it for like 20 years at this one company.
07:56And she all of a sudden was leaving,
07:58retiring.
07:59And so I was getting trained by joy.
08:01So she was teaching me how to use Excel and how to collect the data and how to use it.
08:05And we would submit this data and collect it and submit it for grants.
08:08Um,
08:09and so that was kind of my first job.
08:11It was not a data analyst job.
08:12It was my first job as like in any data thing at all.
08:16And I was just learning a lot near the end of that internship or not the internship near
08:21the end of that job.
08:22Um,
08:23I eventually got out of there and I'll tell you that in a little bit,
08:26but we wanted to get a different database system instead of just Excel.
08:31We started using,
08:32uh,
08:32we wanted to get bring in Salesforce.
08:34So CRM.
08:35So we brought in this Salesforce guy and he starts helping us set up and he's like,
08:38okay,
08:39you're the data guy here.
08:39And I'm like,
08:40I'm the data guy here.
08:41He's like,
08:41okay,
08:42uh,
08:42so you guys,
08:42what do you guys use?
08:43And he's like,
08:43do you guys use SQL?
08:44And I was like,
08:45what's SQL?
08:46And he was like,
08:48dude,
08:48you have to know SQL.
08:50SQL is like super important.
08:51Looking back,
08:53that guy helped me out a ton.
08:55Because after that meeting that we had,
08:57I went home and I started looking at SQL stuff.
08:59And then I became obsessed with SQL.
09:02SQL every single night.
09:03My wife can attest.
09:04She's downstairs,
09:05but she could attest every single night.
09:07I was spending like two to four hours taking SQL courses.
09:10Was I great?
09:12No,
09:12but I was really passionate about learning.
09:14I was so interested in this because I started looking at different jobs as data analysts
09:18and being like,
09:19wait a second.
09:19I kind of need to know the SQL stuff if I want to get a better job.
09:24So I'm in that job for about a little under a year.
09:27Maybe it was like eight months a year.
09:30Um,
09:31and the job just became like really toxic if you want to call it toxic,
09:36but just,
09:36it was a nonprofit.
09:37And if you know anything about nonprofits,
09:39it's not usually the best people working there.
09:42Um,
09:43so there was a lot of arguing and fighting and yada,
09:45yada, yada.
09:46And so I was like,
09:46I want out of here.
09:48So I had a background in healthcare.
09:50I knew a little bit of Excel.
09:51Uh,
09:52I knew a little bit of SQL and I was like,
09:55I want to get into healthcare analytics.
09:56So I started looking at every healthcare,
09:59uh,
10:00you know,
10:00data company I could find,
10:02um,
10:03only in the Dallas area.
10:04I didn't really know what remote work was.
10:06I didn't know that was even a thing.
10:07I just was looking at in person in Dallas.
10:09And that's where I was lucky for me.
10:12Dallas is like a perfect place to start a career in data because there's so many companies out there that
10:18are in healthcare,
10:19that are in banking,
10:20that are in,
10:20um,
10:21you know,
10:22cars and vehicles and whatnot,
10:23automobiles.
10:25There's so many great companies out there.
10:26So I got really lucky just in my location.
10:29Um,
10:29and I found this small healthcare analytics company called,
10:32uh,
10:33KPN health.
10:34Uh,
10:35I still have it on my LinkedIn.
10:36So if you want to go check out their company,
10:37you can,
10:38they've pivoted things in the past.
10:40Um,
10:40but I got an interview there and,
10:43uh,
10:44I don't,
10:44I don't know how much detail I should go into,
10:46but I was really nervous for that first interview.
10:49I had never worked with a recruiter before.
10:51That's how I got that.
10:52Um,
10:53that interview was a recruiter.
10:54I worried reached out to recruiter.
10:56He was like,
10:56Hey,
10:57uh,
10:57you know,
10:58you want to work at this company or an interview at this company?
11:00I was like,
11:01absolutely.
11:01I do.
11:02Uh,
11:02my healthcare background would be great.
11:04And I was really nervous to meet him.
11:05I was like,
11:06babe,
11:06if I don't come home,
11:07call the police.
11:08Uh,
11:08that was literally what I told her.
11:10I told her my location.
11:11The interview went great.
11:12Um,
11:12I wasn't perfect,
11:14but,
11:15and I kind of failed the technical interview a little bit.
11:17Cause I didn't know what joins were exactly like I didn't use them.
11:20Perfect.
11:20I just been taking courses.
11:21I hadn't built any projects.
11:22I didn't,
11:23the stuff that I talked to you guys about on my channel all the time.
11:26I talked to you guys about them because I made a lot of mistakes in my journey.
11:30And then I teach you how to do it better.
11:32And so now I tell you to build projects and do all these things for this exact reason.
11:36Um,
11:36because you don't want to embarrass yourself like I did.
11:40Um,
11:40let me get a sip of water real quick.
11:41I'm just,
11:42I'm,
11:42I'm,
11:43I'm feeling it today.
11:45So I get an interview.
11:47Interview goes great.
11:48Um,
11:49I,
11:49the next interview was with the CTO.
11:52He's really interesting.
11:54Um,
11:54didn't work on that much,
11:56but he was just an interesting guy.
11:57And he was like,
11:58he seemed like a good fit.
11:59It was more of a personality hire than it was a technical hire.
12:03Like they knew that I knew a little bit of Excel and SQL and they could tell,
12:08but they also knew that I wasn't,
12:10um,
12:11I wasn't super technical.
12:13Like they could tell,
12:14I know they could tell,
12:15but they liked my personality.
12:17They liked that.
12:17I was kind of a go getter.
12:18Um,
12:19and so they hired me.
12:20I ended up working there for,
12:21uh,
12:22about one year and I would have stayed a lot longer too.
12:25I really liked the company,
12:26but my boss,
12:27Tristan was just amazing.
12:30Um,
12:30he really mentored me a lot.
12:33I learned so much SQL from him about store procedures and automations and,
12:37you know,
12:38really complex stuff that I think first years as a data analyst,
12:41like would not be learning.
12:42And it was awesome.
12:43Um,
12:44it was a very small company,
12:45like 50 people,
12:46but in my office,
12:47there was only like 15.
12:48And we just had a lot of somewhat remote workers and whatnot.
12:51So of these 15 people,
12:54um,
12:55you know,
12:55it was me and Tristan were like our data people and me and Tristan would work
12:59on all of our projects together.
13:00He mentored me in how to work with clients and all these things.
13:03And it was just awesome.
13:04Um,
13:05so if you can find a mentor,
13:07highly recommend it.
13:08Um,
13:09after about a year,
13:11we started having some problems,
13:14not work related.
13:15Uh,
13:16yes,
13:16but,
13:17uh,
13:17one day,
13:18like my paycheck just didn't come in on the first,
13:21or was it the 15th?
13:22I can't remember.
13:22Like,
13:22let's say it's the first.
13:24So I go in that day.
13:25I'm like,
13:25Hey,
13:25HR,
13:29no,
13:29that happens sometimes.
13:30I was like,
13:31what do you mean that happens sometimes?
13:32That should never happen.
13:34And they're like,
13:35well,
13:35you know,
13:36we only have so many clients.
13:37And so if this client doesn't pay us,
13:39we can't pay our employees on time.
13:40And sometimes they're late,
13:41yada,
13:41yada.
13:42So I was like,
13:43okay,
13:43that's weird.
13:44So I talked to my wife about it and she's like,
13:46yeah,
13:46that's not good.
13:47She's like,
13:48what if they lose that client?
13:49And I'm like,
13:50that's a good point.
13:51Um,
13:51well,
13:51it kept happening.
13:52It happened about two or three times.
13:54I was like,
13:55no,
13:56no,
13:56absolutely not.
13:57By that point,
13:58we were married.
13:59Uh,
14:00we had two kids.
14:01Um,
14:03one from her previous relationship and then one that we had together.
14:07And I'm like,
14:08I can't,
14:08I got a family to feed.
14:09Like I can't like be out of work because they can't pay me.
14:12Like,
14:12that's not how that's not,
14:13that's not how this works.
14:16So I started looking for other jobs.
14:18I started applying to other places.
14:19I get an interview through a recruiter.
14:21Again,
14:22uh,
14:22work with recruiters.
14:23I got an interview through a recruiter to work at this company called Amerisource Bergen.
14:27Had never heard of it,
14:28but there was a small division or small department within the company.
14:33Um,
14:34and,
14:34uh,
14:35it really was kind of to my benefit.
14:37It was very focused on exactly what I knew how to do.
14:40It worked with claims data.
14:42It worked with,
14:43um,
14:43Medicare data,
14:44all this data that I was super familiar with.
14:46And I just got lucky.
14:47Um,
14:48and they chose me.
14:50The job was not a full-time job like my previous job.
14:53It was a contract to hire job.
14:55It paid a little bit more.
14:57My job at,
14:58uh,
14:59KPN was 63,000.
15:00This job was going to pay 78,000,
15:03but it was a contract position.
15:04It wasn't a guaranteed full-time.
15:06They said at the end of that six months,
15:08if you do well,
15:09we'll hire you on full-time.
15:10It was a risk.
15:12Um,
15:13but at the time it was a well worthwhile risk because I wasn't sure if I was going to keep
15:18that job much longer.
15:19So I,
15:19you know,
15:20we took the risk,
15:21um,
15:22you know,
15:22behind the scenes.
15:24Also,
15:24my wife was not working.
15:26Uh,
15:27she had gotten let go of her from her company.
15:29And so we knew the money.
15:31We needed a good job,
15:32a stable job.
15:33She had gotten a job offer up in Oklahoma for something,
15:36you know,
15:37in,
15:37in her line of work.
15:38And it was more money than I was going to be making.
15:41It was like a hundred thousand and up in Oklahoma,
15:43it's the low cost of living.
15:44So we almost took it.
15:46We actually went up there to look at houses.
15:47Um,
15:48but I was like,
15:49I was like,
15:50Christine,
15:50you just got to trust me.
15:51I was like,
15:52I think I should really do this because I think it has a good career progression.
15:55I think I can,
15:56you know,
15:56make this and really,
15:58you know,
15:59take care of our family.
16:00So she trusted me.
16:02Um,
16:02and I'm more power to her.
16:03I don't,
16:04it was a tough decision,
16:05um,
16:05but we made it together.
16:06And so I,
16:07I kept that job.
16:08She looked for another job and she,
16:09um,
16:10you know,
16:10eventually found one.
16:12and so,
16:13um,
16:14I take this job and for the first six months I am just working as hard as I can.
16:17I'm trying to learn everything I possibly can,
16:19make connections with every person in there.
16:21I'm,
16:22you know,
16:22learning their systems,
16:23learning their clients,
16:24being as helpful as I possibly can.
16:26Um,
16:27I remember being like,
16:28I like,
16:29this is it.
16:30Like I either do this or I got to find something else cause,
16:34I got to take care of my family.
16:35And so I like just worked as hard as I could.
16:37Um,
16:38and luckily that position was really well suited to me.
16:41Because a lot of my previous experience at the,
16:44my previous healthcare company worked out great.
16:47And it was directly in line.
16:49And I also got to learn a ton of new stuff.
16:51So I got to build up my skills.
16:53I also got to use a lot of my previous knowledge.
16:55And so it just worked out really well.
16:57Um,
16:58and my boss was also really great.
17:00Her name was,
17:00uh,
17:00Sabrina.
17:01And so Sabrina at the end of that internship was like,
17:03Alex,
17:04you've just been killing it.
17:05She's like,
17:06we hired you on.
17:07Oh,
17:07that was another piece.
17:08They hired me on as a junior data analyst.
17:10So I went from a data analyst at,
17:12you know,
17:12uh,
17:14the KPN.
17:15And I hired on as a junior data analyst.
17:17I didn't care about the,
17:18I just cared about the money at the point time.
17:20So I was like,
17:20okay,
17:20that's fine.
17:21Well,
17:22once they saw what I could do,
17:23they saw how hard I was,
17:24uh,
17:25as an employee,
17:26how hard I worked as an employee.
17:27They offered me a data analyst two position,
17:29which was two levels above that.
17:31Um,
17:31I think I was making,
17:33I can't remember the exact amount now.
17:35Now it's all,
17:35it all fades together,
17:37but it was a little under a hundred thousand.
17:39It was like 95,000 after a bonus.
17:42Cause now as a full-time employee,
17:43I got a nine,
17:45it was an 8% bonus.
17:46Um,
17:47and my salary was like 90,000.
17:49So it was like 97,000 or something.
17:52Um,
17:52which was more money than I ever thought I would ever make in my life.
17:56Like no one in my family,
17:58uh,
17:59I don't think has ever made that much.
18:01Um,
18:02and so it was just amazing being able to provide that.
18:05Now Dallas is a little bit more expensive.
18:07So,
18:08um,
18:09you know,
18:10take that with a grain of salt.
18:11I wasn't like a millionaire over here,
18:13but,
18:14uh,
18:14I was,
18:16I thought my wife was texting me.
18:17Don't want to ignore those.
18:18Um,
18:19but I definitely thought that I was just doing amazing.
18:24I was,
18:24I felt so blessed.
18:25I felt like I was just killing it.
18:27And so I worked extremely hard in that position.
18:29I kept doing really good work.
18:30I found things to automate.
18:32I found,
18:33you know,
18:33a better ways to do things.
18:35And I was like really succeeding in that,
18:37in that role.
18:38I stayed there for about two years in that role for two years.
18:41And then,
18:43um,
18:43I was like,
18:44you know,
18:45I think I want to try to get into management.
18:49I just think I'd be a really good manager.
18:51Um,
18:52side note,
18:53right when I started that job,
18:55right after I got hired on full time,
18:57I started my YouTube channel.
18:58That was back in 2020.
19:03So January,
19:04I think 14th of 2020 was,
19:07I think the first video I ever recorded and made.
19:11Um,
19:12and so I,
19:13so I,
19:14you know,
19:15started my YouTube channel right as that was happening.
19:17After about two years,
19:18I was like,
19:18I think I want to,
19:20uh,
19:20progress.
19:21So I started applying to other companies.
19:23I started applying internally and,
19:25um,
19:27the,
19:28there was a job that opened up a,
19:29it was an analytics manager,
19:32but it was for our IT department.
19:35I don't have any experience in IT,
19:37but I do know our systems really well.
19:40And so,
19:40um,
19:41I have told my boss,
19:42I was like,
19:42Hey boss,
19:43you know,
19:43in order to apply to another position,
19:45by the way,
19:45you have to notify your boss.
19:47So I notified her.
19:49I said,
19:49Hey Sabrina,
19:51she's looking at like a manager role.
19:52And she's like,
19:52go for it.
19:53I don't think she thought I was going to actually get the job.
19:59Because I remember the way she said it.
20:01She was like,
20:01Oh yeah,
20:01go for it.
20:02No problem.
20:03Well,
20:03I ended up getting an interview and I told her,
20:05I was like,
20:05Hey,
20:05I got an interview.
20:06She's like,
20:06Oh wow.
20:07That's great.
20:08Again,
20:08I don't think she actually thought I was going to get,
20:10offer the job.
20:11Um,
20:12but I went into the job.
20:13They really were looking for someone who knew Azure well,
20:16which is,
20:16that's what I've been using for the past two years,
20:18um,
20:19in,
20:19with data collection knowledge.
20:21And I was working on a data collection team.
20:23So it kind of like all worked out really well.
20:26They also,
20:27at that point,
20:27my channel had like 150,000 subscribers or so.
20:31And so that got brought up in the interview and they were really impressed with that
20:34and my communication abilities and my knowledge.
20:37Um,
20:37and so after about three interviews,
20:40they offer me the job.
20:41My boss was kind of flustered at that point.
20:44She's like,
20:44Oh gosh,
20:45I,
20:45I didn't really,
20:46you know,
20:46we kind of need you.
20:47We like,
20:47you're really useful and really important on our team.
20:50She's like,
20:50let me go back to our team.
20:51Let me see what we can do.
20:52So they go back and they're like,
20:54you know,
20:55we just don't have any open positions that would fit you well.
20:57We want to make you a project manager or product manager,
20:59um,
21:01and keep you on the team,
21:01but we don't have anything now.
21:03Would you be willing to wait like three months?
21:06And we'll,
21:07we will work during those three months to find a position to keep you on the team.
21:11And,
21:12um,
21:12the pay for the manager position was much higher.
21:15It was like a,
21:16a 120,000 with a 10% bonus,
21:18about 130,000,
21:19a little more than it was $132,000.
21:22Um,
21:23they couldn't offer me that much.
21:24My current team,
21:25because of certain increments that they were allowed to do in budgetary restrictions,
21:29but they could guarantee it'd be like a hundred thousand.
21:31Now,
21:32even at that time,
21:33I still,
21:34I'm still the main provider for my family.
21:37So the 30,000 difference,
21:38or maybe it's like $25,000 difference between the salaries.
21:41I was like,
21:42you know,
21:42and it wasn't a guaranteed thing.
21:44They were like,
21:44we're going to try to come up with something.
21:46And so I turned them down.
21:48I ended up taking the manager position.
21:50Um,
21:51the manager position was a whirlwind.
21:54It was a lot going on and also turned out not to be my cup of tea.
21:58Um,
21:58and I'll,
21:59you know,
21:59talk to that a little bit,
22:00but my team was awesome.
22:01I had data engineers.
22:02I had,
22:03uh,
22:03we had developers,
22:04we had BI developers,
22:05we had data analysts and a business analyst.
22:07So I was managing this team and I was hiring and I was firing,
22:11unfortunately,
22:11during that time.
22:12Um,
22:13and I learned a ton about management.
22:16One thing I learned about management is that it's a lot of paperwork,
22:21a lot of paperwork.
22:22Um,
22:23and something I didn't really know about myself was that I love building.
22:27I love to build things and code and create systems and all these things.
22:32And in the manager position,
22:34I just didn't get that,
22:35um,
22:35at all.
22:36Um,
22:37and so,
22:38you know,
22:39it wasn't perfect,
22:40but one thing I was really proud of during that time was I was able to get our IT to,
22:45our IT department,
22:47um,
22:48to do something they've been trying to do for many years.
22:50They hired me on for my knowledge in Azure and they really wanted to migrate
22:54to a full Azure system within all of IT,
22:57but they couldn't get a budget approved.
22:58They couldn't get a proof of concept kind of laid out of how it would all work.
23:02So the first six months of my manager position,
23:04that's what I focused on.
23:05And I was able to get a budget approved.
23:06I was able to get it pushed through.
23:07Now they're on Azure and it brought in a lot of different,
23:10uh,
23:11data from different ecosystems.
23:12And it was,
23:12um,
23:14not easy,
23:15but I was really proud that I was able to do that.
23:17But I,
23:17during that time I was like,
23:19management is not for me.
23:21So,
23:22um,
23:23when I got that position,
23:24I had also just started,
23:26um,
23:27consulting on the side.
23:29Um,
23:30almost,
23:31it was a hundred percent because my YouTube channel and like my LinkedIn and stuff like
23:35that,
23:35people would reach out to me and be like,
23:37Hey,
23:37Alex,
23:38have you ever thought about making a video for a company?
23:40I was like,
23:41no,
23:41I haven't.
23:41And they're like,
23:42we'll pay you $50 for one video.
23:46And I was like 50 bucks.
23:48That's not bad.
23:49Um,
23:50and then I would make them a video.
23:51Um,
23:52and so I like kind of,
23:54I didn't know how to price it or anything.
23:56And I'll talk more about consulting in a little while,
23:58but I started consulting for all these different companies.
24:00Um,
24:01and some of them stuck with me and I still work with some of them even today.
24:04And some of them were just like one-time things.
24:06And so I got to this point about a year in into my analytics manager.
24:11I was like,
24:11I can either stay a manager and I can keep progressing.
24:14I could totally see the progression of becoming a director or a senior manager,
24:19and then director,
24:19senior director,
24:20CTO,
24:20CEO.
24:21I could see that path.
24:22Um,
24:23I actually think it was pretty clear even within my company,
24:25how I could have done that,
24:26but I also could have done it with,
24:28with,
24:28you know,
24:28outside of my company.
24:31But I started doing this consulting thing and I was like,
24:33wait a second,
24:34I'm making,
24:35I'm starting to make good money from this.
24:37After about a year,
24:37I was like,
24:37I'm making like,
24:38you know,
24:3950,
24:4060,
24:4170,000 extra dollars on top of that.
24:42So I was making like $200,000.
24:44So I'm like,
24:45wait a second.
24:46If I quit my management and I,
24:49it's for some context,
24:50I was only doing that like 10 hours a week.
24:51Um,
24:52it was not much.
24:53So I was like,
24:53if I quit my full-time job and did consulting full-time,
24:58wait a second.
24:59I could make more money than I'm making now.
25:01Maybe even scale that up.
25:03So,
25:04um,
25:05I was just at the end,
25:06the end of December of 2022.
25:08I was just like,
25:09I'm over it.
25:10Like,
25:10I'm just like I,
25:11management is not my thing.
25:12At least at this company,
25:13it was not my thing.
25:15Um,
25:15too much people managing,
25:16not enough building and coding,
25:18actually doing stuff that I liked.
25:20So I was like,
25:21you know what?
25:21I'm going to do it.
25:22And my wife agreed.
25:23We talked about it and she was all for it.
25:26So I stopped,
25:26I stopped,
25:27uh,
25:28quit my job full-time and became my own boss.
25:31I already had an LLC started for,
25:33you know,
25:33my YouTube stuff.
25:34So I was doing YouTube and just consulting.
25:36Um,
25:37and the consulting was great.
25:39I always had people who were needing my services,
25:42always had people wanting me to promote their products or,
25:45you know,
25:46talk at conferences and stuff like that.
25:47Like,
25:47this is like,
25:48uh,
25:49something I never thought I'd be doing,
25:51but it just worked out well.
25:52And so,
25:53all these different data companies for ETL tools,
25:56for,
25:57um,
25:57AI now,
25:58a lot of AI companies reach out to me,
26:00um,
26:00for,
26:01uh,
26:01data analytics companies,
26:02they all are reaching out to me saying,
26:04Hey,
26:05we want to sponsor you,
26:05or we want you to work with us,
26:07like come and consult with us.
26:08And so,
26:09um,
26:10it was just,
26:11it just all seemed to be kind of going according to plan.
26:17Excuse me,
26:18got some water.
26:20Um,
26:20so it was going really,
26:21really well.
26:23So,
26:24um,
26:24I started doing my consulting and,
26:27or was still doing my consulting,
26:29really ramping that up.
26:31I then had a bunch of clients I was working with at one time,
26:34and I had all these projects and it was very,
26:35it was wild.
26:37And then I had an idea.
26:38Um,
26:39and this idea I actually pitched to another YouTuber.
26:42Um,
26:43and,
26:44this was at one of our tech meetings,
26:46I think in Utah.
26:47So,
26:48uh,
26:48us data YouTubers,
26:49there's lots of us out there.
26:50We had a meetup in Utah.
26:52And,
26:53when I was there,
26:54there's this guy named Forrest Knight.
26:56Awesome guy.
26:56Go check out his channel.
26:57He does like software development,
26:59just salt of the earth.
27:00Um,
27:01love the guy.
27:01I pitched this idea to him.
27:02I was like, what if,
27:04I create something different?
27:06I was like,
27:07I want to make courses,
27:09but I don't have the time.
27:11And,
27:11I also like companies like leak code that where you can code in the platform,
27:15but I don't see any companies where there's both.
27:19And I want to create that.
27:20And then eventually I want to build out new things that's never been created.
27:24Um,
27:25and so I had this idea and he's like,
27:26I think it's a great idea.
27:27He's like,
27:27you should do it.
27:28And I kind of,
27:29and so I kind of ruminated on it.
27:30I,
27:30I reached out to like Ken G and a few other people and they were all like,
27:33yeah,
27:33you should do this.
27:34And I was like,
27:35all right,
27:35I'm going to do it.
27:35So I reach out.
27:37Um,
27:37I,
27:37I put some feelers out there to,
27:40for some connections,
27:41yada,
27:42yada,
27:42yada.
27:42I get in contact with this guy named Kasun,
27:45um,
27:45lives in Sri Lanka.
27:47And I had met with a lot of other companies about this idea.
27:51And every single one of them were like,
27:53yeah,
27:54we could build that.
27:54Or,
27:56yeah,
27:56we've never heard of that,
27:57but we think we might know how to build it.
28:00Um,
28:01but they were either crazy expensive.
28:03I didn't have a ton of money at the time.
28:05I'm,
28:05you know,
28:05maybe like 50,000 in savings.
28:08Uh,
28:08and this type of project is not that,
28:11um,
28:12at least for the United States.
28:13And they were like,
28:13oh,
28:14it's going to be like 50,000 upfront.
28:16And then we can see if we can build it.
28:17It's like a proof of concept.
28:18I was like,
28:19I,
28:19that's all my money.
28:20That's all of it.
28:21I've saved up over the past,
28:22like five years of being a data analyst and analytics manager.
28:25I got kids.
28:26I can't give you all my money.
28:28Um,
28:29then Kasun comes along and he's like,
28:31he's like,
28:31Alex,
28:32he's like,
28:32this is a great idea.
28:34He's like,
28:35I love different competitors,
28:37like leak code and hacker rank and all these different companies.
28:40And I think I know how to build it.
28:42And he's like,
28:42and I love the,
28:43I love the vision.
28:44So I'm like,
28:45all right,
28:45cause soon,
28:46man,
28:46let's do it.
28:46And he's like,
28:47you know,
28:48he also knew this was a proof of concept.
28:50I didn't have unlimited funds.
28:51So he really worked within my budget.
28:53Um,
28:54and you know,
28:55he just,
28:56the,
28:57just an amazing guy.
28:58I'm flying him out here next summer as well,
29:00because we're just good friends and business partners.
29:02And so,
29:03um,
29:03it's all really worked out,
29:04but it took us about a year to build,
29:06um,
29:07build out this proof of concept,
29:08get the designs,
29:09get the infrastructure and everything built up.
29:11We launched it.
29:12And now it's been one year since we launched it.
29:15Um,
29:16and now we have like,
29:18I think it's 85,000 users.
29:19Um,
29:20and so now I'm,
29:22I,
29:22now I own this like business where I have 85,000 people who are,
29:25who've used the platform.
29:26We have about,
29:26I don't know,
29:2710,000 or so monthly users who use the platform every month.
29:32Um,
29:33but now I have a huge customer base.
29:34And so now I am a YouTuber.
29:37I have my consulting that I was doing.
29:39I am doing,
29:40but not as I'm trying to,
29:42you know,
29:43not do as much of it because it's very time consuming.
29:45And now I have analyst builder as well as doing,
29:48you know,
29:49talks and all these different things.
29:51And so,
29:52you know,
29:53during that time when I was just doing consulting,
29:54I was doing consulting and YouTube,
29:56but I was also paying for this to be developed.
29:59And so my funds were like staying pretty stagnant or going down a little,
30:03um,
30:03because things cost money and time,
30:06uh,
30:07and clients are difficult and getting paid and all that is very complex.
30:11And I actually did an entire,
30:13one of these long form talks on consulting,
30:16data analytics consulting,
30:17where I could go through really in depth of how I did it.
30:20types of clients I work with,
30:21how much money I made,
30:22all that stuff.
30:23Um,
30:24but you know,
30:26that started,
30:27analyst builder started taking off.
30:29And we got to like 50,000 users in like six months.
30:32And I was like,
30:33Oh my gosh,
30:33this is doing really well.
30:35Of course I had created full courses for this.
30:37The questions I invested in an immense amount of time into this.
30:40Um,
30:41but now it's like doing really well.
30:42And so,
30:43you know,
30:44I am trying to scale this up and do consulting and do YouTube.
30:47And it's a lot like I am.
30:49I have no time in my day to waste.
30:51Like when I start working,
30:52I work and then I work at night once my kids go to bed.
30:54And then I sleep for like six hours and I get up and do it again.
30:57And I was kind of burning out at all ends.
30:59Um,
31:00and so I was like,
31:01I got a,
31:02something has to give.
31:03And so consulting was like the lowest hanging fruit,
31:05the easiest one to give up.
31:06Cause it was the most time consuming.
31:08So I started not taking on new clients and my older clients,
31:12I just put them on a kind of like a retainer.
31:14I said, Hey,
31:15you kind of go on a retainer status or service.
31:19If you need me,
31:20I'm here.
31:21Um,
31:21and that's worked out really well.
31:23So now these only about five companies that I work with,
31:27um,
31:28I get to kind of work with when they need me.
31:31And it's not so much work that I can't do.
31:33Analyst Builder and YouTube and a few other things that I do.
31:36Um,
31:37and so now Analyst Builder,
31:38I'm building that up and now we're starting to expand that.
31:42Um,
31:42and all through this,
31:44you know,
31:44it's kind of been a steady segue up in,
31:47uh,
31:48salary.
31:48So it was about the max when I was a manager is about 200 with consulting
31:52and doing that.
31:53And now I've surpassed that.
31:55I make a,
31:55you know,
31:56over 200,000 with Analyst Builder and consulting and YouTube.
32:00And so,
32:01um,
32:02I feel extremely blessed.
32:03Like I,
32:03I just,
32:04it's been an,
32:05it's been a roller coaster.
32:07Um,
32:07seven years ago,
32:08if you had told me this is where I'd be,
32:09would never believe you.
32:11Uh,
32:11cause it's just far fetched and random,
32:13but I kind of go with the flow.
32:15Like my whole life,
32:16I've just kind of gone with the flow.
32:17And so who knows where the next even two years is going to take me.
32:20I feel like,
32:21um,
32:22I can go in so many different directions,
32:23but Analyst Builder is something I'm,
32:25I plan on doing for the long term,
32:27growing and building and adding new features,
32:29new things.
32:29And that's kind of my main focus right now.
32:32Um,
32:32of course,
32:33YouTube,
32:33I won't stop making YouTube.
32:35I love making YouTube videos and talking and just,
32:38um,
32:39sharing stories and advice and,
32:40um,
32:41tutorials.
32:42Like,
32:42I just love it.
32:43I really do love it.
32:45Um,
32:46and I'm so blessed that I get to do something that I love for my work.
32:49And so,
32:50um,
32:51that's,
32:53you,
32:54you there,
32:54baby?
32:55Yeah.
32:55I'm,
32:56I'm just recording.
32:58Okay.
32:59I thought you needed me.
33:00That's,
33:01that's my wife.
33:02She was walking by and that usually means she needs me.
33:04Uh,
33:04any,
33:06I'm recording.
33:09Yeah,
33:09this is a live.
33:10Like people are going to see this conversation.
33:12Yeah.
33:14Anyway,
33:16anyways,
33:17this is,
33:18um,
33:19this,
33:20this,
33:20uh,
33:21format where I do this long style just lends itself to random things happening.
33:25And so sometimes a dog comes in,
33:26sometimes my wife stops by and says hi.
33:28Um,
33:28but that was my wife.
33:29That's Christine.
33:31Um,
33:31all that being said,
33:32I've just had a wild journey and a wild ride.
33:36Um,
33:36and I'm excited to see where the next steps go.
33:39Um,
33:40if there were any takeaways from this video,
33:43it would be that,
33:44um,
33:45you have to work really hard.
33:48I,
33:48I didn't talk,
33:49I didn't talk a lot about it,
33:50but when I was working with recruiters and when I was working with,
33:53um,
33:53like in those first jobs,
33:55I was working like really hard.
33:57I was always reaching out to the recruiters.
33:59I was updating my resume.
34:00I was,
34:00you know,
34:01learning new skills.
34:02Um,
34:03that's a big piece of why I was able to be successful early on.
34:05Um,
34:06and the job market was pretty good.
34:08Job market isn't as good as it was.
34:10Um,
34:11so that was a big piece of it.
34:12And then,
34:13um,
34:14when you get into a job,
34:16learn quickly,
34:17make relationships.
34:18Those connections are really important.
34:20Um,
34:20and then figure out what's important to you.
34:22Do you want to go into management?
34:24Do you want to,
34:25um,
34:26you know,
34:26build like me,
34:27I'm a builder.
34:28So now analyst builder is like something I can just keep building and building and building.
34:31I love that.
34:32Um,
34:33but find what is important to you.
34:34Cause maybe management is your thing.
34:36And then you can go up and you can be that CEO or CTO in the future.
34:40Um,
34:40but that would be,
34:41those would be my takeaways.
34:43Um,
34:43now we're getting towards the end.
34:45And,
34:45uh,
34:46this is the time where I just usually chitty chat,
34:48but I always have my vegetable of the day.
34:53I believe about three years ago,
34:56maybe it's four years ago.
34:58I did a similar video to this,
35:00but it was before my consulting and analyst builder and quitting my job and everything.
35:04I think my vegetable of the month was a jalapeno.
35:09So in honor of that previous video,
35:12if you've watched all the way to the end and you learn something,
35:17or you just want to show that you were here,
35:19type jalapeno in the comments below.
35:22Just,
35:22I'll,
35:23I'll read through them.
35:24Uh,
35:24just to know that you were here and you were listening.
35:26Um,
35:28what's going on in my life right now?
35:30It's almost Christmas.
35:31Uh,
35:32we're going on a trip to visit my wife's,
35:35uh,
35:35family up in Pennsylvania and we have to drive three children up there.
35:40So wish me luck.
35:42Um,
35:42cause we were,
35:43we're in our minivan and,
35:45uh,
35:46oh boy,
35:46it's going to be a journey,
35:48but it's going to be cold.
35:49I hope we get some snow.
35:51Um,
35:51I didn't,
35:52I don't know if I'm,
35:53I think,
35:54I don't know if I'm,
35:55my wife's getting me anything for Christmas,
35:58maybe something small.
35:59I'm not,
36:00I don't have anything on my Christmas,
36:01Christmas wishlist.
36:02It's just getting stuff for the kids.
36:04You know how it is.
36:05If you're,
36:05if you're a parent,
36:05you get it.
36:06Um,
36:07I just bought a monitor,
36:09which is my first monitor.
36:10I've had like five years cause I've just been using laptops.
36:13So I'm going to set that up after this video.
36:15So we'll see how it looks.
36:16Um,
36:17other than that,
36:18my life's pretty chill.
36:19I might,
36:20I'm,
36:20I'm right now my son's wrestling coach.
36:23Um,
36:24one of,
36:24they have like a head coach.
36:26They have two head coaches cause a kind of a big program,
36:28two head coaches.
36:29And then I'm one of the assistant coaches.
36:30So I've been loving doing that.
36:32Um,
36:33I've also been some of my kids,
36:35soccer coaches,
36:37basketball coaches.
36:38I like to coach my kids sports,
36:40make sure they have a good coach,
36:41you know?
36:42So anyways,
36:42that's what I'm doing right now.
36:44Um,
36:45yeah,
36:47yeah,
36:47not much else.
36:48Just work,
36:49work and spending time with the kids.
36:50That's my main priorities right now.
36:52All right.
36:53Um,
36:53all that being said,
36:54thank you guys for watching.
36:55Uh,
36:56I do know that these videos are long,
36:57so you don't have to watch all the way through,
36:59but you did.
37:00Cause if you're listening to this,
37:01you did.
37:02Um,
37:02and so I really appreciate that.
37:03I really, really do.
37:05And so thank you guys for listening.
37:07I'll have more of these where I share other information,
37:09long form content.
37:10I hope I made your breakfast trip,
37:13workout a little bit better.
37:14And I'll see you in the next one.
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