We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mitch Grace a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mitch, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was your school or training experience like? Share an anecdote or two that you feel illustrate important aspects or the overall nature of your schooling/training experience.

School was difficult for me socially, as I wasn’t diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome until the summer before my freshman year of high school, thus I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I always just thought I was weird. The vast majority of my classmates didn’t have the struggles I did socially, so they all thought I was weird for not picking up on a variety of social cues. For my sophomore year of high school, I transferred to a K-12 school that specialized in teaching kids with “Learning Differences” as they called it; and it was an incredible improvement! Class sizes were smaller, I was able to get more one on one attention from the teachers, and I was surrounded by classmates that had similar learning differences, so I didn’t feel so alone! Going to that school made me enjoy school when I didn’t previously, and I learned a lot about myself while doing so.

Mitch, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I went to college and got my Bachelors & Masters in Public Administration, with the career goal of becoming a City Manager. But then Covid hit, and I couldn’t a job within my career field, so I started networking and eventually found the job I have now! I am incredibly proud to have been promoted to Chief of Staff to the CEO of an Oil & Gas brokerage & Real Estate Capital company! I am very proud of being able to earn that amount of trust within just a few short years of working for the companies!

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first went to college, I wanted to study Marketing, or go into the Video Game industry. But math was never my strong suit, and so when it came time for me to take a business math class, I was told by the professor that it was a “weed out” class and, long story short, I got weeded out. But once I transferred to the college I would eventually get my degrees in, I met a professor who introduced me to the possibility of being a City Manager, and my interest was piqued! So I happily made the pivot from Business to Public Administration!

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Networking. I can’t stress enough how important it is to know how to network. Networking is how I got the job I have now, when I couldn’t get a job because of Covid. I got out of my comfort zone, I started going to places I wouldn’t go normally. I started talking to strangers or people I wouldn’t normally talk to. Not only is talking to strangers/potential employers important, but also figuring out where these potential employers meet & congregate is important too.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitch-g-462700206/
• Other: Link to Purchase book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSZQB78S

Image Credits

Personal photo credit: Ayden Hopper