The masks are off. After five years and 200 episodes, we share our real names, real faces, and the real playbooks behind our careers—what worked, what didn’t, and why we’re changing how this community grows.

We start with the origin story: two friends who turned lunch rants into a living archive of corporate survival. Anthony traces a winding path from QA to automation, into sales engineering and national architecture, before vaulting into marketing with a technical edge. Michael recounts a non-linear climb through Apple business sales and support into software engineering, then product management, where he learned to earn trust by knowing both the customer and the code.

From there we get honest about the messy middle—blocked promotions due to rigid bands, the danger of cutting core expertise, and the decision points that demand courage. We break down why great sales engineers talk value, not features, and why the most effective PMs can test a beta, read a stack trace, and still explain decisions in plain English. We contrast startup scope with big-company prestige, exploring how wearing every hat accelerates learning, and how leading global product teams at a theme park changes how you think about friction, scale, and burnout.

This isn’t a highlight reel. It’s a guide for navigating pivots, negotiating pay ceilings, moving from support to SE, or stepping from engineering into product without losing the plot. We share the CAC framework—culture, autonomy, challenge, compensation—to evaluate whether to stay, reshape, or go. And we open the door wider: more guests, more live streams, and more practical help shaped by your questions.

If you’ve ever wondered how to choose the next move, get unstuck under a manager who blocks growth, or translate technical depth into career leverage, you’ll find clear steps and real stories here. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review to help others find the show. Then tell us: what career puzzle should we tackle next?

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Elevator Music by Julian Avila
Promoted by MrSnooze

Don't forget ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ it helps!

We turn a hungry cold-open into a sharp look at authenticity at work, comparing blue-collar bluntness with white-collar polish and the role trust plays in both. We share ways to build psychological safety on corporate teams, when to change teams, and why culture beats theater.

• ad slogans and a Handy Way Subway bit leading to a comfort-food debate
• Florida cold snap as a frame for pressure, resilience and team response
• Reddit claim that blue-collar is authentic and white-collar is performative
• trust curves in blue-collar vs white-collar and why filters differ
• cheerleader culture, Kool-Aid vibes and why it erodes trust
• how to manufacture psychological safety on corporate teams
• delivery over theater and modeling consistent behavior
• spotting bad culture: cliques, vague feedback, surprise decisions
• practical exits: coalition building, team changes, planned moves
• nostalgia for great teams and why culture is a scarce asset
• tease: documentation debate coming next week; share thoughts in Discord

Join the Discord completely free, stay anonymous, submit a topic. Share, like, comment, subscribe, ring the bell. Please share this episode with a friend—do the Corporate Strategy Roulette and send it to the random contact you land on

Click/Tap HERE for everything Corporate Strategy

Elevator Music by Julian Avila
Promoted by MrSnooze

Don't forget ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ it helps!

We skip the intro and get real about college, internships, and how to build a career in a world where AI changed the entry ladder. We share honest regrets, better playbooks for freshers, and why managers should hire for outcomes over pedigree.

• how a recording glitch shifts the vibe and sparks a candid tone
• reflections on ignoring goals and the cost of busy seasons
• cold weather banter that turns into perspective on change
• megaquake anxiety as a metaphor for rapid shifts in work
• college regrets and the case for work first, education second
• why internships and apprenticeships create the right why
• adult learning barriers and degree bloat frustrations
• AI reshaping entry-level programming and utility work
• hiring for outcomes, portfolios, and referrals over degrees
• building people skills through teams, clubs, and sports
• learning broadly while you can, then specializing with purpose
• practical guidance for freshers to find direction and community

Join our Discord: go into your show notes, click the link tree, join the Discord. If you want to support the show, you can do so by buying us a coffee. If you want to get some swag, you can do that in the link tree as well. Please consider sharing corporate strategy with someone you care about, a fresher perhaps.

Click/Tap HERE for everything Corporate Strategy

Elevator Music by Julian Avila
Promoted by MrSnooze

Don't forget ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ it helps!