Latest / Beyond Fulfillment Podcast / The World's Longest Resume: How Gabriel DeSanti Turned Job Shadowing into a Movement

Transcript

The World's Longest Resume: How Gabriel DeSanti Turned Job Shadowing into a Movement · Beyond Fulfillment Podcast

• 0:00
  Foreign.
• 0:06
  Gabriel Desanti, welcome to Beyond Fulfillment.
• 0:09
  Thank you so much.
• 0:10
  Thanks for having me on.
• 0:11
  Yes, sir.
• 0:12
  I'm excited to talk to you.
• 0:14
  When I first learned about you and saw your crazy story, I was like, whoa, I gotta talk to this guy.
• 0:24
  So for those that may not know you, you have a full time business as a content creator with many brands, partnerships with a lot of blue chip brands per se.
• 0:36
  You get tens of millions of views on social media and you're also building this, this company in public, which kind of mimics what you really became famous for, which was the world's longest resume.
• 0:49
  So I'd love to just set the stage for our listeners so they get a sense of who you are.
• 0:54
  Can you just talk about your backstory and how you got here?
• 0:57
  Absolutely, yeah.
• 0:58
  So kind of just like you introduced, I'm a full time content creator.
• 1:03
  I make videos about what it's like working in all different industries.
• 1:07
  And so I join someone at work for the day, kind of like a shadow, and I learn about them, what it's like working in their career, in their industry.
• 1:15
  And then I also put myself in their shoes and actually try the job myself just to showcase what it's like as someone new stepping into a new role that we might not be familiar with.
• 1:27
  I kind of call it edutainment.
• 1:28
  So it's meant to, you know, be educational and show people what it's like in these roles, but also entertainment.
• 1:35
  I want people to watch and enjoy the people that I'm showcasing, enjoy, hopefully me and how I present things.
• 1:42
  And that's kind of me as a content creator.
• 1:45
  But I got here from kind of a zigzag journey.
• 1:50
  I went to trade school a little over 10 years ago.
• 1:53
  I graduated from trade school a little over 10 years ago now.
• 1:56
  I went for Computer Aided Drafting and Design, also known as cad.
• 2:01
  Got hired straight out of school into a full time draftsman role.
• 2:06
  It's kind of like an entry level engineering position.
• 2:09
  And I was going to school as well for electrical engineering, like further education for electrical engineering.
• 2:18
  Worked in that role for about two years and it ultimately wasn't going to be the thing that I did for the rest of my life.
• 2:28
  And I was really, really passionate about making videos.
• 2:31
  I had already been making videos for over five years at that point in my life.
• 2:35
  And I was like, I think I just want to make videos.
• 2:38
  I think I just want to make videos.
• 2:40
  And so I set off to kind of try to conquer that and figure out how do I do that?
• 2:47
  And realistically, it took me Six, seven years of doing it for other people.
• 2:52
  So I worked for other YouTubers, other content creators, traveled to 30 countries around the world with them, helping them make their content.
• 3:00
  And then after about six or seven years, I finally found my own voice as a content creator doing the exact series that we just talked about a second ago.
• 3:09
  And so, yeah, it's been definitely over a decade of making videos to get to where I am today.
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• 3:57
  Okay, wow.
• 3:58
  So, so, so many questions there.
• 4:00
  So when you, you know, because I talk to so many adults, right, and I hear their stories and other entrepreneurs and very rarely, you know, was the thing that they set out, you know, early on when they were
• 4:12
  going to college or.
• 4:13
  Right.
• 4:13
  You know, in that age, very, you know, they change careers, they change jobs and something happens.
• 4:19
  Right.
• 4:19
  So that, that, that's common.
• 4:21
  But you know, you had this calling in your heart to make videos, right.
• 4:26
  You had been doing it on the side.
• 4:27
  You realized the career path you had gone down wasn't going to be the thing.
• 4:31
  So like when you're doing that as a young kid, like what was the conversation with like family when you're like, you know, I'm going to leave trade school and I'm just going to make videos.
• 4:40
  Absolutely.
• 4:40
  I mean it's, it is one of like the biggest blessings I think, to have the support of my family.
• 4:47
  You know, my parents really did want me to be an engineer.
• 4:50
  They were the ones who encouraged me to go to school for engineering because my, I come from a family of entrepreneurs, but very blue collar entrepreneurs.
• 4:59
  Hard work.
• 4:59
  My dad turned 70 this year.
• 5:02
  He's a heating and air conditioning contractor.
• 5:04
  He's still, you know, climbing into attics, installing air conditioning and heating units.
• 5:09
  It's hard work for not nearly enough.
• 5:12
  And so my parents wanted me to be comfortable and they wanted me to have a better life than they had, you know, and so that's why they encouraged me to go the initial route that I was on.
• 5:22
  But when I expressed to them that I didn't want to do that and I wanted to do my own thing.
• 5:28
  They also equally understood because it's like, in the family, you know, even my grandfather had a tire shop and other businesses before that, so come from this family of entrepreneurs, and they understand the entrepreneurial spirit.
• 5:43
  And so after I decided that I wasn't gonna be an engineer and I wanted to pursue videos, they were like, well, you kind of have to prove it to us a little bit, you know?
• 5:52
  So I hustled, and I tried to put myself in the right circles and have the right conversations and just show them, like, hey, like, this can be a career.
• 6:01
  And they were very supportive of that.
• 6:03
  And they were like, you gotta.
• 6:05
  You got to go for the things you want.
• 6:07
  Okay, Love that.
• 6:08
  All right.
• 6:09
  And so as you're on this journey, right, because like, you said, you knew you wanted to do it, but you're a young kid with not a lot of, you know, background, experience.
• 6:17
  So, like, how do you get it done, right?
• 6:19
  So you start working with other creators.
• 6:21
  So as you're kind of climbing up the ranks and helping other people.
• 6:25
  Like, what.
• 6:25
  What was that?
• 6:26
  Those.
• 6:26
  What were those years like in terms of before you went on your own?
• 6:30
  Oh, yeah.
• 6:31
  I mean, those were, like, the most fun years of my life, but also, like, an absolute grind, like making next to no money.
• 6:39
  You know, Thankfully, I lived with my parents at home in Connecticut for a big chunk of that.
• 6:45
  I would take the train in to New York City and, like, help these people out or travel with them around the world, but I wouldn't get paid all that much, if anything at all.
• 6:55
  But my, you know, my travel would be covered and my food would be covered, so, like, my basic needs were met, and I was just putting in the 10,000 hours that it takes to kind of become an expert.
• 7:08
  And I was totally okay with that.
• 7:10
  I mean, I was so young.
• 7:11
  I was like, 19, 20 years old.
• 7:13
  21 years old, right?
• 7:15
  So these are just the foundation years.
• 7:18
  And I was just excited to be doing the thing that I wanted to do, you know?
• 7:23
  And so I wasn't even thinking about the money.
• 7:25
  I was just trying to absorb all the information that I could, knowing that one day I hope that I can be that person that I'm working for.
• 7:35
  Okay.
• 7:35
  All right.
• 7:36
  And then so when you finally, you know, you put in these years, like you said, you're not making much, but you get to travel around the world, you're doing what you love, you're surrounded by other people that are
• 7:44
  really, you know, doing this for a living, right?
• 7:48
  So you're absorbing this you're perfecting your craft.
• 7:51
  What made you finally decide to go out on your own?
• 7:55
  I think it was the natural progression of me as a creator.
• 7:58
  I always had those ambitions.
• 8:02
  And I think to tell that story, I have to rewind a little bit.
• 8:06
  So, like, when I was 13 years old, that's when I made my very first YouTube videos and I made gaming videos.
• 8:13
  And I had found like, some very early success in gaming videos.
• 8:18
  Like, between the age of 13 and 15, I grew this YouTube channel to 10,000 subscribers.
• 8:23
  And I was like, oh my God, like, wow.
• 8:25
  I can like, build an audience of people who, like, want to watch me and, you know, they'll come back and I can like, make a little money off of that.
• 8:34
  And so I kind of had that as like, an initial experience and it always stuck with me.
• 8:41
  And I knew that even though I didn't want to make gaming videos, I knew that one day I was going to find my voice again and be able to build an audience based on that.
• 8:51
  And so it wasn't even a question to me.
• 8:54
  It was like, I knew that I needed to go and work for other people and gain all this experience and the technical knowledge.
• 9:01
  But then I also needed to experiment with myself and the stories that I wanted to tell and what was my voice so that one day I could ultimately go off and do it again just for me.
• 9:13
  And I think that was.
• 9:14
  That has just always been like my innate, like, intuition or like my innate desire to, you know, work for myself and tell those stories for myself.
• 9:28
  Okay.
• 9:28
  All right.
• 9:29
  And then so when you do go out on your own, how did you come up with this concept of the world's longest resume?
• 9:36
  Yeah, so the actual, you know, branding or packaging of the world's longest resume was accidental, but the concept of going to work with people was very intentional.
• 9:49
  The concept, you know, is inspired a little bit from my time in trade school where you have to try all the trades and then, you know, you try all the trades before you pick one.
• 10:00
  And I remember being at that time in my life and being like, ah, like, I wish I could just work everyone's job.
• 10:06
  Like, I wish I could just keep doing this and like, trying, trying, trying, trying to.
• 10:10
  And so that came back to me a number of years later when I was experimenting.
• 10:14
  But then it was also in collaboration with some other content creator friends of mine.
• 10:20
  We were just in like a very similar phase and just trying lots of different things, brainstorming lots of different concepts for shows and what social.
• 10:28
  What shows could perform well on social.
• 10:30
  So it was a combination of those things.
• 10:33
  And it was just really uniquely my voice because of my trade school experience and that.
• 10:40
  That's kind of how it came to be.
• 10:43
  Okay, all right.
• 10:44
  So you said the process was intentional.
• 10:45
  The name and the branding kind of was accidental.
• 10:48
  But so when you launched this thing, I mean, it sounds like it took off, like, right away.
• 10:53
  It.
• 10:53
  It did.
• 10:54
  Within the first five episodes.
• 10:55
  It had pretty immediate traction, which was our hypothesis.
• 11:00
  And so it was, like, proven correct, like, pretty immediately, which was like, a blessing, a true blessing, you know, but that's not to.
• 11:09
  That's not to say like, there were years and years and years of experimenting in other types of content that never worked in the slightest bit, you know, like, that was very much part of my story as well.
• 11:21
  Okay.
• 11:22
  And so when you said traction, pretty immediately, like, you went viral right?
• 11:25
  Within the first five episodes.
• 11:28
  In the first five.
• 11:29
  So when that happens, because you think back of the journey, right, like, you.
• 11:34
  You had the content, a little bit of content stuff early as a kid, you go through trade school, you don't like that.
• 11:39
  You grind as kind of like an assistant with all these other people making no money, but learning the business years and years and years.
• 11:46
  And then you finally go out on your own, and within a few episodes, you.
• 11:50
  You go viral.
• 11:51
  Like, what's that moment like?
• 11:52
  Man, it's the.
• 11:54
  It's.
• 11:54
  It's the coolest thing, but it's also fleeting, you know, because you don't know in this world of, like, attention, you're like, is this.
• 12:02
  Like, is there longevity in this?
• 12:04
  You know?
• 12:05
  And so you just hope that you can find some sort of longevity in it, and it's.
• 12:10
  It's satisfying.
• 12:11
  You're like, okay, cool.
• 12:12
  People are watching.
• 12:13
  People are.
• 12:14
  Are like, here.
• 12:16
  But are they going to keep showing up?
• 12:18
  Are people going to keep watching?
• 12:19
  So that's like, kind of even now, like, three, four years into this, it's like, I'm always thinking like that because I feel like I'm living my dream, but I want to do this for as long as possible, so
• 12:31
  I have to make sure that people are sticking around to watch, and I'm continuing to do things that are interesting and presenting it in a way where people are gonna see it, you know?
• 12:41
  Yeah.
• 12:42
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 12:43
  I mean, so how.
• 12:43
  How was that?
• 12:44
  Right?
• 12:44
  Because like you said, the tension is fleeting.
• 12:47
  Trends come and go, right?
• 12:49
  Like, so many people are here today.
• 12:53
  They're it today and they're not tomorrow.
• 12:55
  So, like, how have you managed to just like, keep people watching through.
• 12:59
  Through all these years?
• 13:01
  Yeah, I think that I have been really strict with myself on doing things that like, just tell the story.
• 13:09
  Like, story is king.
• 13:11
  I think we hear that a lot from storytellers, from great storytellers, and I think it's absolutely true.
• 13:17
  Like, story is absolute king.
• 13:19
  So when you watch my content, like, I'm not really doing things that are trendy.
• 13:24
  Like, there's a formula to the episodes that I have and it's a formula that I've kind of figured out of like, you know, you need to have some type of story arc, something that gets people's attention, something that
• 13:35
  gets people to stay, and then something that gets people to be like, oh, wow at the end, or like, you know, some type of emotional release.
• 13:42
  And so that's what I think about at any time I approach making content which is way different than like, you know, trend based video creation.
• 13:54
  So thankfully, because of that, like, stories are gonna stand the test of time.
• 14:00
  Stories have been around for hundreds of thousands of years.
• 14:03
  You know, storytelling is gonna continue for hundreds of thousands of years.
• 14:06
  I just have to make sure that my packaging is relevant for now.
• 14:10
  And that's something that ultimately will evolve over time.
• 14:13
  You know, the episodes at their core are about teaching someone about work.
• 14:19
  Right.
• 14:20
  And how that's presented over the next decade will most certainly change.
• 14:25
  I mean, I can tell you this year, later this year it will change.
• 14:29
  It's already like slated on my schedule.
• 14:33
  So that's just, that's just part of the job.
• 14:36
  Okay.
• 14:37
  All right.
• 14:37
  And so like let's, let's talk about the response to this too, because it seems like to, you know, such a brilliant concept because kids want to, you know, they have an idea for a career, they get pressure from
• 14:50
  their parents maybe, or they don't know what to do.
• 14:52
  They're, they're, they have to pick a college many cases.
• 14:55
  Right.
• 14:56
  And so sometimes like you said, what they think they are going to like or they think they're going to be good at or want to do, they, they start doing it and then all of a sudden they're like,
• 15:05
  I don't want to do this.
• 15:06
  Right.
• 15:06
  So your whole concept of try it out for a week, I mean, how.
• 15:12
  Talk about some of the response from, from you know, other people that follow you and people that have consumed your content.
• 15:18
  Oh yeah.
• 15:19
  I've seen the most incredible response from, from my audience.
• 15:24
  I've had people tell me that they've changed their college major because they, they were like, oh, like I thought, I thought this job was about one thing, but really it's like so different than I ever imagined.
• 15:35
  I've had people tell me that I helped them pivot in their careers.
• 15:38
  Like, this is real life, like, tangible effect that I'm having on people.
• 15:44
  And that's like, I mean, that's a dream, right?
• 15:48
  For it to go beyond the screen is hard to fathom.
• 15:55
  But that's like, that's the ultimate dream.
• 15:57
  You're creating real life impact.
• 15:59
  So I am always thinking about how can we continue to do that?
• 16:03
  How can we do that more every day in what we're doing?
• 16:07
  Part of that, you know, I'm building this company with my co founder.
• 16:12
  It's called Stage.
• 16:13
  It's a job shadowing marketplace.
• 16:15
  And the goal is for you to go on, find an industry that you're interested in and be able to book a job.
• 16:20
  Shattering day in that industry.
• 16:24
  And that's like, it's the ultimate goal.
• 16:27
  Like, it's a, it's kind of a recreation of my trade school experience, but in a way less formal setting.
• 16:35
  It also lets you kind of choose your own adventure, which is what people need.
• 16:41
  And my hope is that you can experiment no matter what stage of your career you're at.
• 16:45
  Right.
• 16:46
  Like, if you're young and you just need access into these things, or if you're later in your career and you need to pivot and you have no idea what the first step even is, you're like, do I go
• 16:57
  back to school?
• 16:58
  Like, do I not go back to school?
• 17:00
  What?
• 17:01
  So my goal is to be a resource for people across the spectrum to experiment in their jobs, discover new careers, and ultimately like, kind of settle in their dream job would be the ultimate goal.
• 17:15
  Okay, all right.
• 17:16
  And so, yeah, you mentioned off camera too, like, you're very much building this in public and kind of figuring it out.
• 17:22
  So talk.
• 17:22
  You know, because you turned kind of your experience and what made you go viral into an actual business that other people can have the same experience.
• 17:30
  So talk about what it's like to just put that into a tangible business and figure out how to build that.
• 17:36
  I mean, it's way harder than making videos, that's for sure.
• 17:40
  Like, like building this type of business where there's a supply and demand, right?
• 17:45
  Like, we have to have people who host, we have to have people who would like to go visit those hosts.
• 17:51
  It's a very challenging problem to solve.
• 17:55
  Every conversation that I kind of step into, people, like, I can see the light bulb go off.
• 17:59
  Like, people get really excited about this idea of job shadowing marketplace.
• 18:04
  Like book something right on demand and A lot of people, the response that I hear is like, oh, my gosh, I wish I had this when I was, you know, younger, or I wish I had this when I
• 18:14
  was pivoting in my career.
• 18:17
  And so that's what we're really trying to deliver on.
• 18:19
  And it's a dang hard thing to build.
• 18:21
  And so we're experimenting with different versions of it.
• 18:25
  You know, just trying to get people placed in.
• 18:28
  Into these job shadows.
• 18:30
  But it's.
• 18:30
  It's so fulfilling.
• 18:31
  And I mean, people feel seen.
• 18:34
  Like, think about, think about.
• 18:36
  Like, when you're.
• 18:37
  When you just meet someone and you're learning about each other, like, what do you do for work?
• 18:42
  Comes up, like, very early in conversation.
• 18:44
  It's like we attach our identity to it.
• 18:47
  So if we can help people find that identity that, like, that they're truly meant to be, that's like, that's the goal with it.
• 18:58
  Okay, and what's the name mean?
• 19:00
  How did you come up with the name Stage?
• 19:02
  Yeah, so Stage is shortened for stagier.
• 19:07
  It's French for intern.
• 19:09
  And Stage itself is typically spelled S, T A, G, E, like stage, but it's French.
• 19:17
  And it's very common in the culinary industry.
• 19:20
  So chefs typically, like, as they're learning, as they're growing in the ranks, they would go and stuff, other chefs.
• 19:27
  And so it's very known in this one industry.
• 19:30
  And so we kind of took that and are trying to apply it across.
• 19:34
  Across all industries or just across job shadowing in general.
• 19:38
  Okay, and what, what type of industry?
• 19:40
  I know this is very early stage, but what type of industries typically are hosting these.
• 19:45
  These.
• 19:46
  These stages?
• 19:47
  Yeah, of course.
• 19:48
  So in.
• 19:49
  In, like, the early version of this, we're finding it's much easier to connect with, like, small businesses, local businesses, just because these succeeding in their own right, and they want to give back to other people who are trying
• 20:03
  to learn in some way.
• 20:04
  And so we're finding that those are a lot of our early hosts.
• 20:07
  But our ultimate goal and ultimate dream is that anybody can be onboarded as a host, from the JP Morgans of the world to the Chipotle's, all the way down to, you know, your local florist or your local chef.
• 20:19
  So that's.
• 20:21
  That's the dream, but it's, it's definitely a journey, and we're, we're building towards it.
• 20:25
  But I'm.
• 20:26
  I'm a big proponent of, you know, building this in public and putting it out there, because you never know who's listening, who's watching and who's willing to help.
• 20:35
  And I've found that like, it's just better to share it than to keep it a secret and like, you know, struggle in your own little corner alone.
• 20:45
  Love that.
• 20:46
  Love that.
• 20:46
  Okay.
• 20:47
  Another thing I wanted to touch on is when you did go viral and really take off here on social media, you attracted a lot of brand partnerships which is, has been very important for you today.
• 20:59
  And I'm just the list I have.
• 21:01
  I'm seeing the NHL, Adobe Cash app, Weight Watchers, Warner Brothers, Netflix, Shopify and I'm sure others.
• 21:12
  So again, for someone that kind of just struggled for a while, had to figure this out, went with what they, they knew and really blew up.
• 21:20
  But then to, to be have business relationships with these caliber companies, like how have you navigated that?
• 21:28
  So thankfully I have the world's best manager.
• 21:33
  I mean she is a rock star.
• 21:35
  Her name's Katie.
• 21:37
  I couldn't do it without Katie.
• 21:38
  Like I, you know, was a, I'm an independent creator, right.
• 21:43
  Like creator world works a little bit different than like the music industry, for example.
• 21:48
  So like I'm completely independent, but, but I have representation in form of a manager, agent type of thing.
• 21:54
  And when I found Katie, she like completely changed my life.
• 22:00
  Like.
• 22:02
  She made everything sustainable.
• 22:05
  She, you know, created long term partnerships with these brands.
• 22:08
  She created ongoing work.
• 22:10
  Like I knew that the product was good.
• 22:14
  I just needed to find someone who believed in it just like I did and can go out there and sell this thing.
• 22:20
  And that's what, that's exactly what she was able to do.
• 22:23
  So I give a lot of credit to Katie because she like, yeah, she changed my whole life.
• 22:28
  Okay, all right.
• 22:29
  And then so sounds like because you had good representation and she can put the pieces in place and negotiate properly, you can just focus on your art.
• 22:38
  And then it's, it's like the best of both worlds.
• 22:41
  It really, really is.
• 22:42
  And I mean like, I feel like we each feel like family to each other, you know, so it's like we're, we're going out there and we're working for each other.
• 22:49
  Like she's out there pitching every day and I, I get to focus on making the best quality product that I can.
• 22:56
  Which is, you know, an artist's dream, a creator's dream is just focusing on the thing that you want to make.
• 23:03
  Right.
• 23:04
  And so I feel really blessed in that way to, to have great representation, to be able to focus a lot of my efforts on the content or on the greater vision of, of where we're going.
• 23:16
  Okay, all right.
• 23:17
  And, Gabriel, when you look back at your whole journey up until now, right, how you started, you know, the.
• 23:22
  The early grind, going for it, blowing up, building this company, which gives you so much fulfillment.
• 23:28
  When you look back at everything, what's been the best part of it for you?
• 23:32
  The friends you make along the way.
• 23:35
  It's like, it's the community.
• 23:38
  It's the people who gave me a shot, it's the people who started as bosses that turned into friends.
• 23:45
  You know, like, it's the memories that you create with them.
• 23:49
  Those are, like, invaluable things that I never could have dreamt up.
• 23:53
  That's absolutely the best part.
• 23:56
  Okay.
• 23:57
  All right.
• 23:57
  And so, Gabriel, if people are hearing this, they want to check out more of your content.
• 24:01
  I mean, I know you're on numerous social media platforms.
• 24:04
  Just tell the audience where they can find you.
• 24:06
  Yeah, you can find me under my name, Gabriel Desanti.
• 24:10
  If you're on Instagram, it's Gabriel, period Desanti.
• 24:14
  And that's where you can find me everywhere.
• 24:17
  Okay.
• 24:18
  All right, we'll link all that in the show notes.
• 24:20
  But I know you're big on Instagram, tick tock, YouTube, LinkedIn, so we will.
• 24:24
  We'll link all those channels for the audience.
• 24:26
  Exactly.
• 24:27
  And one.
• 24:28
  One last thing.
• 24:30
  If you're interested in.
• 24:31
  If you're in New York City and interested in trying out a stage, you can also message me on my main account or at Gostage.
• 24:40
  And we're doing free stages this year just to, you know, try to build this thing out and.
• 24:45
  And get some more case studies under our belt.
• 24:47
  So if anyone is interested in, it's.
• 24:49
  It's completely free for this year.
• 24:52
  Okay.
• 24:52
  All right.
• 24:53
  And we'll.
• 24:53
  We'll link that in the show notes as well.
• 24:55
  All right, well, Gabriel, thank you so much for taking the time to be here and sharing all this incredible wisdom from your journey with our listeners.
• 25:02
  We greatly appreciate it.
• 25:04
  Thank you so much, Dave.