GrowthReady Podcast

About the Guest:
Rich Salon is a seasoned HR expert, Career Transition Coach, author, and speaker with 25 years in corporate leadership roles at companies like The Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Circuit City. Known as “Rich-the-HR-Guy,” he specializes in fostering career fulfillment, employee engagement, and trust within organizations. Rich’s dedication earned him CNN's "Hero of the Economy" award for his work at Circuit City and the nickname "chief engagement officer."
As a coach, Rich has authored *Career Trust* and *Unleashing Your Career*, guiding individuals toward purpose and fulfillment. Beyond his career, he actively contributes to his community, holding leadership roles in Rotary International and working to fulfill wishes for adults with terminal illnesses. Passionate about career growth and community impact, Rich is dedicated to helping others find purpose and success in their professional lives.
Learn more about Rich thru his website at www.ownershipconnection.com
About the Episode:
Rich Salon dives into what it means to be "GrowthReady" and the ongoing path of personal and professional development. He highlights the power of servant leadership, simplifying complexity, and leading with presence. Reflecting on pivotal moments like the Circuit City bankruptcy, Rich shares insights on guiding others through crisis, finding career fulfillment, and transitioning from employee engagement to deeper purpose.
Now a career and business ownership coach, he discusses the importance of mindset shifts, identifying passions, and the impact of volunteer work. Rich’s journey offers inspiring lessons on growth, leadership, and making a difference.
Takeaways:

• Each of us needs to be growth ready.
• Helping leaders become better leaders is crucial.
• Simplicity can have a profound impact on understanding.
• Face-to-face interactions are vital for effective leadership.
• Success without fulfillment is failure.
• Engagement is important, but fulfillment is the ultimate goal.
• Leaders must prioritize the needs of their team members.
• Building relationships requires deliberate effort.
• Hope can be created even in dire situations.
• Identifying passions and talents is crucial for career success.
• Shifting from 'I should' to 'I will' is a powerful mindset change.
• Volunteerism can enhance personal and professional growth.
• Helping others find their true gifts is a personal mission.

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On this episode we are joined by former Baseball player, turned entrepreneur and owner of an extremely unique franchise – the Savannah Banana’s Baseball Team – Jesse Cole who delivers a blast of energy that just about any of us can benefit from. With his own brand of customer service, bullet proof approach to handling adversity, and immense ability to get people working together, Jesse is a competitor in every sense of the word as he challenges himself and everyone around him daily to bring their “A-Game” to the table.

Following a year that has hit people the world over in ways we could have never imagined, Jesse is a tonic we can all stand to take a dose of as he is living proof that we can in fact handle life’s greatest challenges. Despite seeming as though he had a long and successful career in baseball as a pitcher ahead of him, Jesse had this taken from him and was thrown into the real world and immediately challenged with what to do next. Years later, he and his wife have now steadied the ship of their once hectic life to now having a highly profitable, widely known, and one-of-a-kind business that is set up for a long run of success like few would have ever thought were possible.

Jesse introduces the work he is doing today running the Savannah Banana’s baseball franchise (5:10) and the story of how his journey within the sport of baseball began (6:25). We then hear about the way Jesse realized what direction his career was destined to go (8:20) and what his philosophy is towards his work and the business he runs (10:55). The conversation then sheds light on the way in which Jesse’s personality has evolved through his years in baseball (14:30) and how he prioritizes, and is such an advocate for being yourself within the work you do (16:45). We move on to the topic of competitiveness (21:30) and how Jesse has measured his successes through the company’s existence to date, and how it isn’t always the “data” they rely but more so the “evidence” of what they see within the experience. The COVID pandemic was a true test of the culture of the Savannah Bananas and Jesse steered the ship during this time (26:40) with an ambitious vision and a willingness to experiment and compete with limitations (29:00). In closing, Jesse gives us some insight on the entrepreneur approach that has gotten him to where he is today (31:20) and how he plans to take his service and vision to even higher levels over the next 5 years (33:00).

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Welcome to a concise and impactful episode with host, Steve Mellor offering a coaching insight to assist you with your pursuit of optimal performance.
Steve presents a short 7-minute insight on how joy can be found when pursuing honesty, providing we create a growth-minded environment for it to occur

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Rue Mapp, the founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro joins the show today to discuss her career and the rise of her incredible organization from beginning as a passion project to becoming a national movement with 40,000+ members. As a competitor, Outdoor Afro has become the nation’s leading, cutting edge network that celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature and Rue opens up on the origin and evolution of the company.

Following a career in corporate America, Rue opted to place herself into a field that she loved in the outdoors and built her passion project on the side while also gaining a competitive insight into the world that is outdoor recreation. Without ever losing sight of her desire to reach black men and women everywhere using her most authentic self, Outdoor Afro grew into an extension of Rue and allowed for total clarity in her mission to anyone and everyone that became affiliated with it.

We explore some incredible concepts within this discussion including; the therapeutic ways in which nature can help us all (5:15); how Outdoor Afro has not had to deter from its mission or identity during the difficult times in 2020 (8:55); the ways in which nature is able to act as an equalizer to all walks of life and backgrounds (10:55) and how “healing hikes” were born from this ideology (13:20). While learning about the history of Outdoor Afro and how it went from a passion project into a business (17:50), Rue also explains the ways in which she sees herself as a competitor (23:30) and how that has driven both her career and the company to historic heights. Rue sheds light on what she believes the future of Outdoor Afro looks like (30:50) and her big “Glamp In” Gala that will raise funds for the company happening online Saturday, September 12th(33:30).

On this episode I sit down with Minor League Baseball Player, Jeremy Randolph who joins us for a slightly different spin on the show. As a current professional athlete in a very difficult current climate, he finds himself at a crossroads within his life, trying to decide between remaining with baseball or starting life after the game.

This episode provides a great opportunity to get to know the competitor Jeremy is, analyze the work he is doing in order to prepare for a successful career no matter the path he opts to go down, and just offer support to someone who is definitely making a lot of sacrifices in life currently.

We are approaching a new area within the show today as we are highlighting an individual who is likely reminiscent of some of our listeners, who too might be going through some difficult life and career transitions. This is an exercise that we will certainly be revisiting as we try to continue expanding upon what this show can do to further enhance you the competitor within your career field of choice.

We learn about Jeremy’s background in the sport of Baseball and his journey through college undergrad along with his Masters degree, and hear about his opportunity now within Professional baseball having been drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals (5:00). Jeremy then sheds light on his experiences throughout 2020 with him dealing with the loss of opportunities at the lower levels of baseball and his battle with finding a paycheck (8:35), while leaning on his greatest asset and support through this trying time in his wife, who also happens to be pursuing her life’s passion (12:40). Jeremy gets into the support and advice he has received at this juncture within his life (16:17), the role Major League Baseball has played for individuals such as Jeremy recently (20:34), and how he feels about the chances he and other minor league players have been given (22:00). In the final parts of the discussion we hear how Baseball can sometimes create an environment that isn’t fun to be a part of (24:25), but the fact Jeremy is always able to find the fun for what he does when he is simply out there competing.

Sign up for the monthly newsletter with Steve and GrowthReady (formerly known as Career Competitor) by providing your details here - Request to become part of our community
Also be sure to give him and the show a follow on Instagram @coachstevemellor