We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brad Minton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Brad, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Growing up I never took a lot of time to really pause and reflect. In any capacity. I was always goal-oriented but I rarely took an inventory of the things that I really needed to do for career success. I just put my head down and worked my butt off to accomplish obtaining my goal to become a therapist. However. Not taking the time to really look within and ask myself some tougher questions not only limited me in my pursuits but it also hindered my growth in a way as well. When I was 30 I found my calling as a Career Development professional by accident but if I had been paying attention to other things along the way and keeping an open-mind, who’s knows where I would be. A case example of this is that I took a course in Grad School during my clinical mental health program called “Career Counseling” and essentially slept through it because I thought I would never use it. Boy was I wrong. I understand all too well how naiive young people can be but also how much they tend to overlook their own awesomeness because they haven’t paid attention to it. Now as a Career Counselor I help the next generation really understand the journey towards career satisfaction and becoming the best version of themselves they can.
Brad, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I started my career journey wanting to be a therapist. I got my Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2007 and worked in a few different settings heling clients from all backgrounds. After only a few years into the profession, I had a bit of an epiphany. I realized that I loved helping people but I enjoyed conversations about the future way more than the past. I really starting considering more of where I could take my career to still support people but have more optimistic and idealistic conversations. Around this time, ironically I was informed of a job opportunity in higher education and this is where everything clicked for me. I got to work with young adults every day and have conversations about their goals and aspirations. Through this first role I realized I LOVED helping youth explore their future professional selves and I found opportunities to begin teaching courses in career exploration.
Over the next few years I worked at several higher education schools and in 2020 when the pandemic I saw an opportunity to venture out on my own to help clients from all over the country get clarity on their career direction and land the jobs they aspire to have. Additionally, I also launched a podcast called Your Career GPS that has been recognized as a top Career Podcast from Mac’s List and Feedspot.
To date, I am most proud of the fact that I have never deviated from my mission of helping the next generation get the early career success that I never did. I truly believe that every client has unique super powers that will allow them to be wildly successful under the right circumstances, I have supported hundreds of clients from the United States and Canada over the last few years and it’s been incredibly rewarding to see them achieve success.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
I have been extremely fortunate to have an amazing group of other career coaches around me who know my speciality and niche and I know there’s. It is because of this group that I have been able to get countless referrals for my services as they come across individuals who may be out of their scope. I also have been able to do the same for them.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I have benefited greatly from LinkedIn on a professional level. While I’m not a mega-influencer I have been able to build an following of over 6K people. With any platform I do feel consistency is the key. One of the things that has proven to be very adventageous is taking a little time every day to post, engage and read. It helps to keep a good pulse of what people in the industry are saying/doing and finding the people you want in your stratosphere. The thing I would say that has been working for me is to just add value and show up and take the time to actually build relationships rather than just chase metrics.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.minttobecareer.com
- Instagram: @minttobecareer
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MintToBeCareer/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-w-minton/
Image Credits
Brad Minton