Speaker 1: 0:15

Welcome back to Corporate Strategy, a podcast. That could have been an email. For you it's been a week, but for us it's literally been less than a minute. We're here, we're doing a follow-up episode, correct, clark? We're not changing.

Speaker 2: 0:28

No, I mean we're just kind of staying on the phone. This is a little weird, but hey, it's very weird.

Speaker 1: 0:33

I don't think I do like it, because now my brain is not segmenting things the way it should and I'm also realizing I'm going to cut this file into two things. Thanks for making it difficult. Again, clark, I appreciate it. It's always good to have a little extra work in my pocket for this show. So last week you came up with a fun idea, because you're technically in Japan right now, but you said let's do two episodes where we'll do five questions for Bruce, which that was last week's episode, and this week we're doing five questions for Clark and I get to interview you, and this week we're doing five questions for Clark and I get to interview you.

Speaker 2: 1:06

Let's go. I'm excited but I'm nervous because we just did it. The good thing is I don't have any jitters because we've been on the phone now for this long.

Speaker 1: 1:13

That's why you made me go first.

Speaker 2: 1:14

Yeah, I made you go first, because I wanted you to have all the pressure and I basically can just ride off of your wave. So thank you, thank you for taking tuning up for me.

Speaker 1: 1:22

Ride my wave. I think you're going to like these questions. They're a little more so again last week. Five minutes ago, we talked about the fact that Clark did not give me enough information for this assignment, so when I made these questions I was working off the assumption come up with five questions. You know like what's the most important skill you've learned in your career, so I went off that. But you know like what's the most important skill you've learned in your career, so I went off that. But you know that was, that was the assignment, so shall we dive in?

Speaker 1: 1:52

I am ready. Are you though? First question Clark, clark, cheddar, movements. What did you want to be when you grow up, when you were a child? What did you want to be when you grow? Up when you were a child, clark has fallen over.

Speaker 2: 2:12

I. I love this.

Speaker 1: 2:13

I love that this is your first question oh man, think back when you were a little baby. Clark. What did you want to be when you grow up?

Speaker 2: 2:22

little baby, little baby, clark cheddar movements running around dropping hot tips, cutting the cheese. It's great.

Speaker 1: 2:32

I didn't expect a cutting the cheese joke on this show but here we are, Cheddar movements.

Speaker 2: 2:36

I mean, someone's got to slice that cheese. When I was a kid like super young, I was obsessed with GI Joe. You guys know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1: 2:48

Yeah, real American hero.

Speaker 2: 2:49

Yeah, real American hero is right. I wanted to go into the army and I wanted to be a soldier. You know one of the GI Joe. Because of GI Joe I wanted to kick butt Like I literally had three birthdays in a row, where, at the time, my parents did an awesome job. They allowed me to invite like 20 friends, bought us all like the whole uniform, camouflage, war paint hats. We would set up obstacle courses or like missions in the backyard, because we lived right behind the woods and so we would set up these things, go out there and we would just like listen to like the mission coordinator and try to accomplish the mission or find the object or whatever. It was incredible and that's what I wanted to be for a really long time.

Speaker 1: 3:33

You had the best parents. It was awesome, holy crap.

Speaker 2: 3:37

Yeah, it was super cool and where I grew up there was access to to a beach and yeah, they would literally go out there and bury things and put flags on them and we'd have to go out there with shovels and dig them up and then go hop in the pool. It was awesome what they put together and I love GI Joe. I love being an Army guy. That's what I did.

Speaker 1: 3:59

When did you realize that being a GI Joe was an untenable career goal?

Speaker 2: 4:04

Wait, it's untenable.

Speaker 1: 4:06

Yeah, I mean, like when did you say you know what being a real American hero is not for me? I think I'm going to be a communist.

Speaker 2: 4:16

Straight to communism. Yeah, about the age of five, you know I realized communism was what I wanted to do Much earlier than me. Okay, good, no, it's a good question as I think about. You know, you go through all when I was a kid. I grew up going through the army guy phase. Then I went into I wanted to be like a rock star for a little while. I have no musical ability whatsoever Like my. I'm not an artist, I have zero musical, musical video ability, but I went through that stage where I'm like I want to be a rock star, I want to do this, but there wasn't like. There wasn't like really a huge career focus until I got older and really in high school is probably when it switched to.

Speaker 2: 5:00

I just love playing with tech, like I would take apart things that I'm not supposed to and put it back together and I'd play with like floppy disks and you know, trying different games and installs my computer and trying to figure out how to get programs to run. And that's when it finally hit me like, oh, I should be like a game developer. I think that's what every software engineer does. It's like they play video games Like I'm going to be a video game engineer, that's what I'm going to do. And then they realize there's no money in that and it's a sweatshop. And I know you're laughing because you kind of live this life for a while.

Speaker 2: 5:29

Yep, so I think after you know, I realized the realistic expectations of being a video game developer and a software engineer being a much more worthwhile skill because the market is more open than just video game dev. That's when I realized like I just like solving problems with technology. And so it does kind of as I look like back in hindsight. I was always interested in mechanical things, putting things together, playing with tech, and like ripping things apart, breaking remotes just to see, like the motherboards and the chips and all that. I just like playing with tech. And so in hindsight it's like I was always interested in how do things work and how can I get them to work.

Speaker 1: 6:05

Would you say that when you were going through your little tech phase, it was like you know, knowing things was such a rewarding experience and part of that like getting to understand and know how all those pieces fit together that kind of put you on the tech path.

Speaker 2: 6:19

I think so. I think initially I would take things apart that I wasn't supposed to and I broke them every time, like I'd rip the capacitor off, the motherboard, and what does this do? I can just put it back right and it's like, oh, that's like soldered on, that's not coming back on, and I break things. My parents would get mad and they'd be like you owe us a bunch of money, go do all these chores. Figure out how to get this thing fixed.

Speaker 2: 6:38

And so I think, uh, once I started figuring out how to put the things together, I think what I realized is like hardware and physical stuff is kind of outside of my control to like fix. And then, when I found software, I'm like I think the puzzle piece for me was this is all in my control. I can write the code to move the, move the pixel and do the thing, and if I break something, I can pretty much fix it on my own. I can pretty much fix it on my own. And I think that's what really, you know, inspired me to be like I wanted to do software engineering because I like to solve problems with code that has low risk and I can break things and fix things and it's all in my own control.

Speaker 2: 7:18

So you would agree that knowing is half the battle. Yes, cool, I got them. But I would say it's not your traditional. Like I don't learn well in a school sense, I don't study well and put that into action. I have to do and break and learn and iterate. That's how I learn.

Speaker 1: 7:36

That is why it's only half the battle. The other half was violence. Gi Joe murdered so many people, gi Joe. Next question Please, if you could go back to any point in time in your career and change something, what would it be?

Speaker 2: 7:52

Any point in time in my career.

Speaker 1: 7:54

Any point in time. You have a time machine. It's like back to the future, but instead of dating your mom, you're just going back and fixing something for little Clark Jr.

Speaker 2: 8:09

That hit way too many people too hard. What you just said, we're going to get canceled for that statement right there.

Speaker 1: 8:16

You get to date yourself in this fantasy. So what do you do?

Speaker 2: 8:18

Oh, good, good, Change anything in my career that I did. Change anything in my career that I did. I haven't made as many jumps as you have in terms of I went from software engineer pretty much to product management and then leadership. On that aspect, there's a lot of times where I question whether leadership was the right path. Where I question whether leadership was the right path, I know I'm naturally inclined towards being a leader. I played sports all my life. I was a captain for sports teams. I loved leading people and doing things that were bigger. What are all these balloons Doing? Things that are all? That was the Apple thing. If you raise both hands, I guess it just fires balloons. I have no idea how that happened. It's like a thumbs up thing. You got the.

Speaker 1: 9:09

I think it's peace, sign peace sign causes the balloon reaction yeah, yeah, yeah, mine's inconsistent. This doesn't make a lot more sense, but you know radio. What can you do?

Speaker 2: 9:16

terrible radio. So I think there's there's a lot of times where I think back to like what I'm good at. I think I'm naturally inclined to being a leader. I love leading people, I love doing things bigger than me, but at the same time I'm a little bit of a loner. I like to do my own thing in the way I like to do it and push it forward, and sometimes it's and this is a fault that I try to work through I like to do things and push it forward in my way, on my timeline, and not wait for other people or have other people do it. So I think that's probably the biggest thing for me is like I look back and at this point I'm too deep in corporate leadership and where I'm at now to escape where I'm at.

Speaker 2: 9:59

But I'm like man wouldn't it be better just to be like a senior principal product manager and not be like a group and leader of product management, where I'm HR responsible for people but I more lead the strategy of products.

Speaker 1: 10:14

So I want to expand on that just before we get to the next one. How would you actually change that in your career? How would you actually change that in your career? I don't want you to divulge any special secret corporate Clarkisms, but what's the point in time where that happens, where you realize, if I could go back now, I could totally alter the timeline and be a very successful individual director of product marketing or product strategy or whatever, versus the HR manager that I am today?

Speaker 2: 10:47

And it's I'm so torn because how?

Speaker 2: 10:49

many years ago Question I first started managing six years ago probably seven, seven, now seven or eight because it was at a previous company and then into this company, Seven or eight because it was at a previous company and then into this company. I'm so torn too, because I love developing people and, like you, get so much internal reward and joy from that, like seeing people grow from like where they were to where they are. But at the same time it's like I love doing the work, I love the process of work. I don't necessarily need to see the end goal perfectly to get excited about doing stuff, I just enjoy doing stuff. And so are you asking how would I pivot back? Or, at that point in time, what would I have done differently?

Speaker 1: 11:34

Yeah, thinking about that moment in your career where you said, hey, we're going to take the HR path, right, I am going to become a manager of people, I am going to become a leader, versus being more focused on strategy and delivery of things you could own individually. When did that happen? How do you change that moment?

Speaker 2: 12:00

I think it happened because it felt natural, because I was used to that, and it's just did you know it was happening when it happened?

Speaker 2: 12:08

Kind of like I knew I was responsible for someone. It was, but, like we said in other episodes, there was no formal managerial training or like this is what you do and this, this is a performance review. It's like, hey, you got like three people that we need, you know, someone to guide. You got them and I'm like, yeah, yeah, sure, Whatever and I knew that's what it took is like I was kind of already managing them because I was helping them guide through their work and figure out issues and all that. But I just kind of naturally went into it. And then they formally were like in the system reporting and I was like, oh, okay, God, that's changes everything a little bit. So it just kind of happened, you know, to me Rather than me making like a really specific decision. But I did think that was the progression. I thought you went from an individual contributor to a manager where you had a reporter to, and then eventually you turn into like a senior manager where you might have another manager who also manages people, and then you know director and you keep on growing and growing and growing.

Speaker 2: 13:02

It didn't really hit me like that. It was clear I could just grow as an individual contributor and have the same level of impact, and I think that was due to the corporate settings I was in. It's like you, unless you're like a principal engineering architect, it's hard for you to stay at a certain level or grow in a certain level without managing people. That's the way a lot of corporations work. It's like you're really good at what you do and it's like, okay, great, you should like get other people to help you do what you do, and they force them to be underneath you rather than just saying, hey, these are your roles and responsibilities and you're growing in that and your expectations are going to grow, but you're not going to manage people. So I think it was a little bit how it looked in the companies and my naivety on how to grow as an individual and not just in the management ranks does that make sense?

Speaker 1: 13:55

it does, it does that's. It's very interesting. I think you almost it's a wonderful life to yourself because there was that moment of realization. You know, I really like seeing people grow and developing people, but uh, yeah, it's interesting, interesting and I still don't know. The world may never go no, we may not, not until that time machine comes out and you actually go and do it it's true, I can't wait what is the worst part of work?

Speaker 2: 14:22

what is the worst part of work people?

Speaker 2: 14:26

it's kind of yeah, it's true, actually, true it's kind of easy for me to say that People are the best part and the worst part about work for so many reasons. I could expand on this for so long. But, especially being an engineer, systems are easy and computers make sense. It's zero or one, it's black or white. There's not really any emotion. Sometimes it's really frustrating because you can't figure out how to get the bits to all work together and everything, but at the end of the day it makes logical sense. People don't make logical sense and we act on emotion and we act out of instinct and there's no perfect way to understand how to work with people.

Speaker 2: 15:12

And so that's one of the worst things about work is when you get into these conversations and a lot of the frustration of work is well, I don't know how Bruce thinks of it. And then you go and present this thing and I'm like wait a second, I don't agree with that. Why in the world would he even say that about this thing? Like you just get so lost and like how did that just happen? And then you've got to spend so much time to be like Bruce.

Speaker 2: 15:31

Can you and I talk about this? Where did this thought come into your head? That was a good idea to say in this meeting. Obviously much more PC than that. But you kind of get stuck in that with a lot of people of like people just cause unnecessary swirl. They're not always going to be black and white. It's going to be emotional at times where people are just acting out because they're having a bad day totally outside of work. Right, and they could ruin something for you and impact your mood or your projects and it's honestly one of the hardest things about work.

Speaker 1: 16:03

And it is the worst thing about work.

Speaker 2: 16:05

It is. It's the best thing about work and it's the worst thing about work. Why is it the best?

Speaker 1: 16:10

This doesn't count as a second question, but why is it the best? It's part two. Yeah, you have to answer. You said it, so you have to answer it.

Speaker 2: 16:16

Yeah, well, it's the best because of what I was saying earlier. It's like, especially being a manager, getting to see people grow is like the most rewarding thing ever. Like seeing, like looking back on my teams, that I've grown and I manage 10 people now and kind of looking at people who I started with a couple of years ago and seeing them grow and progress and you're like, hey, I contributed to that, they're doing awesome, they're kicking butt is like the most rewarding feeling. I'm not a parent, but I imagine that's what parenting somewhat feels like of like hey, I get to see this person grow and progress in their career. And also, people are so dang smart. Like it just blows my mind.

Speaker 2: 16:53

Some people I work with I'm just like you, just like I'm so lucky to get to work with someone who has the capacity that you do and can think like you do and can work like you do, and I hope that one day I can be like that. There's so many of those moments where it's just like you admire the people around you and you're just like holy cow. I got a lot to learn and I think that's why you know, as we think about our personal, you know, workplace happiness ratings with the scale of CAC culture, autonomy, challenge and compensation. For me, a big one is challenge, like I don't want to be the smartest person in the room, I want to learn. I want to be the smartest person in the room, I want to learn. I want to find those people who are really good at what they do and progress, and I think that's those are the people that you know really make me love doing work. I love that Really wholesome, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 17:41

You're doing good. You're doing good, clark. You're keeping it. You're keeping it on path. You're giving the best answers you could get. I love this. What's a job you would do for free?

Speaker 2: 17:51

Ooh A job I would do for free. Is this in conjunction? Is this full time I? Don't have any financial pressures, I can just enjoy it.

Speaker 1: 18:02

What is a job you would do for free?

Speaker 2: 18:05

Ooh, I would be a park ranger what the opportunity and a lot of you.

Speaker 2: 18:18

I said this on early episodes I love like fishing, like I love tech. I love technology. I spend many, many hours in front of a computer screen tinkering with things, doing different uh, product related things, but also engineering related things, and I just love tech. But I also love to not be around tech, like there's times where I could just disappear for like a month and just never touch technology and be totally happy. I think for me like having that escape, that I can just like go wander a national park, zero technology, exploring nature, getting new things like fish or hunt or anything like that. That'd be a dream. It would be a dream Volunteer. I'm looking right now. I've got a background because I updated to the new Mac version. It's got all these trees and I'm just like get me out there.

Speaker 2: 19:08

I'm ready. I want to be one with nature. I love it I want to hear what you. What would you do? Cause you only got one more question, right.

Speaker 1: 19:16

I do have one more question. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 2: 19:17

Well, I want to hear what you would do for free.

Speaker 1: 19:19

What would I do for free? Well dang I. I have no idea.

Speaker 2: 19:24

I'm the one asking the questions.

Speaker 1: 19:26

Uh run a podcast that offers self-help for people who are starting out in their careers.

Speaker 2: 19:35

We don't do this for free. We get paid, got him, got him. I would run a podcast with my best friend and never get paid a dollar and be totally happy with my life.

Speaker 1: 19:46

I'd be in the red because I've spent literal hundreds of dollars to run a podcast. It's not even a job I'm doing for free. It's a job I'm paying to do.

Speaker 2: 19:58

That's what I would do. I'd pay them to be here.

Speaker 1: 20:04

Certainly yeah, If I had to choose something that wasn't the podcast yeah, because the podcast is fun.

Speaker 2: 20:13

I agree like we've done this for free for years now, so that's a good answer I would be a board member of a video game production company.

Speaker 1: 20:25

Yeah, uh, because one video games are a passion of mine. Like I think out of all the things I do, I care the most about the future of gaming. Uh, it's, it's a love. Like I love games, I love game design, I love the business of video games. Like I love every facet of them. I know it's super nerdy, but like I like understanding how systems fit together, how they can tell stories, how they can challenge you to solve problems. Like I love everything about them.

Speaker 1: 20:55

But at the same time, like I see a lot of games today except, like in the indie space. Obviously that's different, but a lot of the games people interact with right Like the ones you see commercials for and know about, have become so sterile and like I'm not saying they're bad, but it's just they're not innovative the way they used to be. And if I could be on a board of a large production company, I would influence the heck out of creativity and focus more on mechanics, and I would do it for free because I get to play the games right. Like this would result in me getting to buy and play games that I know I love I look back at, like the original PlayStation, nintendo 64 era, which I consider like just the golden age of gaming. Playstation N64, dreamcast that was such a freaking, phenomenal run for all three consoles. There's so much innovation, there's so much creativity and it was all because that was the jump from 2D to 3D. You really see what can you do in a 3D space with very limited technology and there was just so much ideation. You don't see that anymore because it's all about getting more pixels on the screen.

Speaker 1: 22:03

I've got to get my ray-traced lighting and reflection and shadows. I don't give a crap about shadows. I don't give a crap about shadows. I don't give a crap about ray traced lighting. What I give a crap about is like give me these unique mechanical experiences that I'm never going to forget. So I would absolutely, in a heartbeat, do that job for free and I would love to make games the way they used to be, not like old games. I want to make new games that are like you know. You know what I'm saying. That know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 22:24

That's what I do for free. Yeah, that's a great answer.

Speaker 1: 22:28

Thinking on that too it's like I think the second part of my answer is the less loner version and, I think, working-.

Speaker 2: 22:38

I'm not the lonely park ranger, I work with Yogi Bear now Because, I'll be honest, I do it for free, but I would not want to do that every single day forever. I've been working with other people like I said, the people I admire, the super smart people on a problem that matters would be something I'd do for free.

Speaker 1: 22:57

What's a problem that matters?

Speaker 2: 23:00

Is this your fifth question? No, because you can't just ask this with time.

Speaker 1: 23:02

No, I can, because you threw it out there but you didn't explain, so I'm just following up on what you said. I'm running out of time.

Speaker 2: 23:10

I haven't really picked you got this I haven't really picked the problem that really matters to me, like there's so many big, important problems out there, obviously, but I think it's just the process of working around one of those problems, like I'm going to give a bad example, but something that I actually like a lot in terms of people rallying around a problem that matters Neuralink yeah, it's Elon, I get it, you got your opinions but it's a bunch of people organizing around a passion that they want to help people who need it and make their lives better, and that's pretty incredible.

Speaker 2: 23:46

And getting to do that for free, like knowing the impact you'd have in whatever capacity you can contribute to it, is just a super cool feeling. And I felt that at times in my career where I'm like there's something I'm working on that I really care about and I can go and see you know our customers using it and how it's helping them, and that's honestly like when I feel the most passion is, like when I know the problem is worth solving and it's going to help somebody. And so it could be so many. It can be from big to small, but I don't think I've found what that big one is that I really want to work on, but there's a lot of small ones throughout my career where I'm like. These are moments of passion that I'm just like I love this. Did it change things in the world? Probably not, but it helped a group of 10,000, 20,000, whatever people do something a little bit better or take frustration out of their day, which is a lot of fun.

Speaker 1: 24:32

I love that. You've actually got me thinking. I want to answer this too. What's the big problem? Right? Like so for me, I would figure out a way to be able to send everyone to space just for a day. Here's why.

Speaker 1: 24:42

That's like the craziest thing you'll ever hear me say on the podcast, but here's why there is this theory that when people go up into space and they see the earth in its totality, they realize that we're all people and there are no lines on a map. And it does something to your brain where you just feel a human. You become a human and realize that it doesn't matter what your skin color, race, gender, you know, sexual orientation like none of that matters anymore, because we're all two feet on a giant blue rock in space. And it happens. It happens to people when they go into space. So I would find a way to send people to space, like the entire population of the planet, just for a day. I would love to do that because I think we could be so much better if we didn't hate each other. You know, that's the problem.

Speaker 2: 25:29

I'd love to do that because I think we could be so much better if we didn't hate each other. You know, that's the problem I'd like to solve. That's a really good answer. I like that one. Yeah, give people perspective around them a little bit.

Speaker 1: 25:36

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:37

I like that.

Speaker 1: 25:38

Last question. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Speaker 2: 25:45

I love this. I love these questions.

Speaker 1: 25:47

Didn't see that one coming, did you? There's a story here, there's an arc.

Speaker 2: 25:51

I know it's great. You told a great story in my interview. I feel ashamed because there was no organization of these questions and I ended with probably the worst one.

Speaker 1: 25:59

So we know now what you wanted to be as a child. We know the moment in your career where you feel like things might've taken a turn. We also know what job you do for free. We know what the worst thing about work is. So what do you want to be when you grow up?

Speaker 2: 26:19

I'm going to do it. You're not ready for it. I'm going to do it, you're not ready for it.

Speaker 1: 26:21

I'm going to do it. I'm not ready. I'm holding onto my desk so I don't fall over.

Speaker 2: 26:27

Right yeah, can you imagine, can you?

Speaker 1: 26:35

imagine. I'm shutting this down. I'm shutting it down. You've ruined it. Interview over I'm not publishing this.

Speaker 2: 26:41

Oh, how incredible would that be if that was the true answer.

Speaker 1: 26:46

We literally just talk about how we solve, you know, the problems of the human race and Clark's like I want to shoot guns at people.

Speaker 2: 26:54

Real American hero. Please America, what would?

Speaker 1: 27:00

I want to be when I grow up. What do I want to be? What do you want to be right now, when you grow up, because you're not there yet. I want to be like Bruce You're not. Go to physical therapy twice a week. Nah, trust me fam In all reality.

Speaker 2: 27:15

I think it's more around what I want to do rather than what I want to be. I'm less concerned about the role or the job or anything like that. I think the dream for me is have my own company where we solve important problems with tech.

Speaker 1: 27:35

With tech. I like that you gave me a qualifier there.

Speaker 2: 27:39

I have to give you the qualifier because, yeah, yeah, I could probably solve problems in other ways, but I feel like the strength of the way I've grown in my career and the skills I've acquired and the things I can do is 10 X with technology and the ability to change things in my perspective, like that's what I lean into. I think this is probably the going back to Elon. It's probably the same for him. He's like I can solve things with tablets but chips in people's heads. Like I don't really want to go that far, but I think the ability to like use the skills and expertise that I've gathered and put them in a parallel with passions immediately will, you know, make me happy in life and hopefully do something important for the world, that legacy we talked about on the last episode.

Speaker 2: 28:27

I think that's what I want to do and that's not working for corporate. Are you going to do it? Definitely going to do it, and I don't think it's too far away. I won't disclose it, but I don't think it's too far away. I won't disclose it, but I don't think it's too far away. There's a time that I think is coming. There's a new kind of winter that's rumbling right in my tummy and it's going to come out.

Speaker 1: 28:53

Winter is rumbling in your tummy.

Speaker 2: 28:56

I can feel it.

Speaker 1: 28:58

That is the kind of analogy I live for Clark.

Speaker 2: 29:02

It's a force within me, I can feel it. That is the kind of analogy I live for, clark. It's a force within me, I can feel it. You got the itch, I got the itch that it's like. You feel it in your jellies. It's in my jellies. Yes, thank you. I kind of hate that. I'm not going to lie, but yeah, I think that's it.

Speaker 2: 29:15

Going back and just thinking about this podcast, as we were talking about like, I want you to think about how you answered the question of like being a video game director and why that was important for you. Going back to when I was talking about like, how I got into tech and why I chose it. When you have those moments where you kind of blackout, like you're not thinking about what you're saying, it's just, you know, regurgitating out of you because you're so passionate about that moment in time or that thing you want to do or that thing you want to talk about, like that's how I want to feel every day when I'm working on something is like that level of passion around it and I like blacked out. Like going back to our whole conversation, I'm like I don't even know exactly what I said when you asked me that, because it was just happening, it was just coming out of me and you probably felt the same way about the video game director the.

Speaker 1: 29:58

I think the interesting thing, based on what you just said, is there is the autopilot in life that we often operate on, where we're not entirely cognizant of what we're doing, what we're saying. We're kind of just reacting and responding based on everything we know, the collection of knowledge just spouting out in our mind. But, like your, your dream focus for you when you grow up is to basically turn that off and to be in control and to lead and to have that integrated passion with tech. I love that, I think that's brilliant, because that would just that would turn off your autopilot forever and you'd be just aware and awake in that moment.

Speaker 2: 30:41

And I just have to find the right problems to solve. Yep and what that is.

Speaker 1: 30:44

Yet don't worry, there's plenty of them no, there's a ton.

Speaker 2: 30:48

There are well. Great job. Those were great questions. I had a lot of fun. Great job for you.

Speaker 1: 30:54

You answered them stupendously.

Speaker 2: 30:56

Had a great time asking them it was such a good story to tell you. Obviously do this for a living, don't you?

Speaker 1: 31:02

I do a little bit. I've uh, not my first rodeo, but uh, thank you for answering those questions, clark, and thank you for making it fun. Uh, again to our audience. Just in case this is the first episode you've ever listened to and you're like who the heck are these people and why are they talking this way? Uh, if you want responses or deeper dives on any things that either of us said during our episode, let us know. In the Discord you can get there by going to corporatestrategybiz or going in the show notes, clicking on our link tree. There you can get access to the Discord. All the good things are inside of there, including a great community full of wonderful people far better than us, who would have answered these questions far better than we did. So get in there, join the convo. It's a good time and if you want further explanation or anything, we're happy to give it to you. What else we got, clark?

Speaker 2: 31:51

I think you covered it. Yeah, join the Discord. You can buy us a coffee on our website. Support us so we can stay ad free and leave this podcast a rating. Yes, good, bad, ugly, great, we prefer great. Actually, just skip the other ones. Great or nothing, just don't even bother five star or go home five star get out, but honestly, the discord keeps on growing.

Speaker 2: 32:14

I can't speak to that enough. The more people we can get in there, the more valuable you know this community will be and the more we can help each other. So get in there. It's easy and guess what? It's free you can lurk.

Speaker 1: 32:23

We don't care if you lurk. We have lurkers join all the time and there's no pressure. We say if you want to introduce yourself, do it. If not, welcome to the hangout zone. You can hang. Just emoji react things we love. Well, thanks, clark. Thanks for this great idea. I had a lot of fun both answering and asking the questions. I hope you did the same. This is a good time and I hope you're currently safe in Japan right now time is weird.

Speaker 2: 32:50

Yes, time is weird. This will be a weird vortex when I get back, but I'm not the challenge well, until you stop traveling through time.

Speaker 1: 33:00

As always, I'm Bruce and I'm Clark, and y'all are on mute. We will see you next week.