We recently connected with Marion Pugh and have shared our conversation below.

Marion , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was one of the most important lessons you learned in school? Why did that lesson stick with you?

I learned that my purpose will always have more power than my profession and that a major is a direction and not a destination. People have been misguided and manipulated into going specific routes, whether it be college, trade, or military services. Nothing is wrong with each path, but people are not being honest about the reason why people are choosing these routes. Without purpose your profession could feel like a complete waste of time. I’ve witnessed people with high salaries experience anxiety and depression due to the amount of time wasted in a career that has no purpose. Let me be clear, people can do and be anything they want. However, when purpose is not acknowledged and respected, people have a tendency to suffer long term consequences. People reject their health, family, and well being because of their profession and I am interested in helping people find the balance between their profession and their purpose. Your profession should contribute to your purpose, it shouldn’t cancel it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Dr. Marion Christopher Pugh is the founder of Manhood Mindset LLC where he provides much needed soft skills to a multinational and diverse client base. Dr. Pugh is a sincere servant leader and highly accomplished educator, speaker, and consultant, with a keen ability to equip teachers, students, parents, administrators, and stakeholders with the fundamental knowledge of understanding culture and climate in an academic and professional environment. He offers practical skills and programs that help examine the nature and function of culture, develop effective individual and group cross-cultural communication skills, clarify definitions and implications of professional consistency, and recognize the influences of culture on learning, development, and risk management. Under the initiative of Manhood Mindset Consulting, Dr. Pugh provides consulting services for businesses, universities, school systems, family advocacy agencies, and organizations that assist with developing solution-based strategies. Services are also provided for people who benefit from family structure consulting, coaching, counseling, and overall self-improvement. Dr. Pugh is uniquely skilled in creating a supportive one-on-one academic setting, while assisting students in meeting and exceeding educational goals, for the purpose of college and career readiness, while also implementing social emotional learning in the process. Dr. Pugh is a top-notch communicator who can convey messages to diverse audiences and group sizes; written and verbally. Dr. Pugh’s experience in professional training, teaching, consulting, and coaching has assisted him in his development as an educator and an advocate for people who are interested in personal and professional growth, success, and significance. His approach to consulting includes but is not limited to the following: advising, mentoring, coaching, programming, professional speaking, conference planning, teaching, and personal development training. Training topics include risk management comprehension and application, leadership development, social emotional awareness, conflict management, and cross-cultural communication. Dr. Pugh is committed to providing a service that creates solutions for issues that people face in a wide spectrum of communities and is specifically passionate about people learning how to develop social stamina and be intentional about maximizing learning in an academic setting.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being able to teach participants clear, consistent, and applicable tools and skills in workshops, conference seminars, and professional speaking engagements have helped build my reputation in the market. Participant evaluations teach me how to engage with audiences and lets me know what resonates with them. Being approachable and having the will to actively listen builds a level of trust within my market. Clients who have attended previous workshops and trainings inform me that my style of communication and genuine honesty is what’s missing in homes, families, schools, institutions, and corporate spaces. For me, there is noting more powerful than not wasting people’s time when they invest their time in my training sessions. When people know I have their future in mind, they help build my reputation by teaching the people they love what they learned in my session.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Serving through self-neglect is a major problem in our society. People with good hearts often neglect themselves to be liked and celebrated for their efforts. Many professionals don’t know what it’s like to be a priority in their own lives. I’ve had to unlearn that I have to work 3 times as hard as the people who don’t know what they’re doing, or who are intimidated by someone living in their purpose. I’ve had to unlearn that making people feel better about their mediocrity is good for my career. I’ve had to unlearn that being politically correct will solve problems, but realized it just delays the solution. I’m learning that correctness maximizes the time we have on earth and that our future is more important than the feelings of those who are unqualified, insecure, and professionally malicious. Lastly, I’ve had to unlearn that insecurities in other people are not my responsibility. I have no idea what people have done or said to make them insecure. Their insecurities are not more important than productivity. I choose my purpose over other people’s perception. If the world doesn’t know how to treat me, I’ll treat myself with respect and attract the people who want to do the same.

Contact Info:

• Website: manhoodmindset.com
• Instagram: @manhoodmindset
• Facebook: Christopher Pugh
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-pugh-356a8045
• Twitter: @manhoodmindset
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@manhoodmindset
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/manhood-mindset-statesboro
• Other: https://www.google.com/search?q=Manhood+Mindset&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAA_-NgU1I1qLCwSEs0MUi0TDJJAwMrgwoTc-PEZFNLQ0szQwuDZOPkRaz8vol5Gfn5KQq-mXkpxaklAAzfYMk7AAAA&hl=en-US&mat=CU_NjVXgxgSMElYBpsFAC6DmJ3xejbmsOlfsTOJFbBaim5dOwzEe5TX0Tw1cBWZosWv8eR_sCQd925NhPe4k0lNe8_jI0v78bXWpr4IY1AFA82qQ5jftVHvljKmP5qU9Qg&authuser=0&ved=2ahUKEwjeqcbzqfL9AhVxC0QIHUE_A8wQ-MgIegQIChAe