What I Learned from Managing My First Intern with Nina Christophilis

Josh Felgoise (00:00.204)

Welcome to Guy's Set, a guy's guide to what should be talked about. I'm Josh, I'm 24 years old, and I'm here to find all the tips, advice, and recommendations for everything you're wondering about. Let's get into it.

Josh Felgoise (00:18.062)

Hi guys, welcome back to guys set a guy's guide to what should be talked about. This week's episode features my team's intern, Nina Christophilis. Nina and I talked about doing this episode from the minute that she discovered I had a podcast when she started working for our team, a really cool episode and dynamic to be able to share on this podcast, a conversation that I haven't heard between a boss and a intern or a mentor and an intern like this conversation we have.

I feel so fortunate to have this relationship with Nina that we can talk so honestly and authentically about the experience we had together, how I was as a boss and a mentor, the things I did well, the things I could have improved on, the things she liked about my working style, the things she didn't like, the internship as a whole, her advice for anybody going into an internship or finding an internship at this time right now.

She has so much great advice to share in this episode. learned so much from Nina in my internship, in her internship. I learned so much from Nina throughout the experience working with her and becoming a mentor and being responsible for somebody else at work beside myself. This is my first time experiencing that as I'm sure if you're responsible for somebody and you're listening to this and you're similar to my age.

it's probably a very similar experience. Like when I first found out she was joining our team as an intern and I kind of became responsible for her and giving her assignments and tasks and making sure that she felt like this internship was successful and that she was growing and gaining experience. I had no idea what I was doing and I figured it out as I went and that's the nature of the company we work at and that's the nature of the startup and

I'm so grateful that I had to figure it out along the way with Nina and it was such an amazing experience for me and for her. And I would go as far to say that I learned as much from her as she did from me in the past six months about like how I want to be and hope to be as a mentor and a boss. And I'm really excited for you to hear this one. I just think it's very unique to have this conversation and be able to have this forever. It's an episode that I will personally look back on and listen to again.

Josh Felgoise (02:26.99)

And thank you to Nina for coming on Geistet and having this really open and transparent conversation about work and work relationships. Without further ado, please welcome my intern, Nina Christophilis to Geistet.

Josh Felgoise (02:45.196)

I wish there was a double chin filter. You can keep that in. Hi, Nina. Welcome to Guy Set. Okay, you already froze a little bit. Hey, Josh. Hey, Josh. So this is an episode that we talked about doing really early on. And you know, I was hesitant for many reasons before doing this. One of which was because

We haven't had a conversation like this, like so seriously between you and me about me as like a boss or a mentor. We've talked like a little bit about it, but not so much or so in depth. And, I like the word mentor better than, than boss, but, like what I did well, what I did in and what I could have done better for somebody who's in your shoes.

But I do genuinely think that this would be really helpful or beneficial for somebody who's my age or somebody a little bit older, even a little bit younger, like in a position that I was in as a first time mentor or boss to somebody, uh, like the first time being responsible for somebody else at work, beside just yourself and giving somebody responsibilities and helping them through their day-to-day stuff and like tasks and giving them what to do and helping them get that done. Um, so I,

It's a conversation I've never really heard had on a podcast like this between a boss and an intern. And I'm really excited for this. So do you have anything to say about that before I ask you your first question? thing. I, I like the word mentor, but I also love when I hop on the meetings and I'm like, I'm Josh's minion or his policy. Cause I think it's way funnier. And like sometimes that would land.

And sometimes that wouldn't land, but like, I mean it in the best way possible wholeheartedly. I'm like, I'm Josh's minion. You, you, it did break the ice very well on a lot of the calls. And then I would be like, no, that's not true. no, no, I swear I treat her well. I swear. Okay. I'm being so for real. I'd give her lunch breaks. Okay. Cool. I did, I did teach you that you should walk outside the office. I used to never take a lunch break. You're the first person to teach me how to take a lunch break, Josh. I would work through lunch.

Josh Felgoise (04:58.208)

It's important. It's important to take lunch breaks. We'll get into all of that, but tell the audience about yourself a little bit, what you're studying, where you go to school, the program you're currently in, because what you're doing right now is pretty unique and you're probably younger than what a lot of people think you are just from hearing this first little part of the podcast and different than most college kids experiences. So talk about that a little bit.

Okay, cool. I'll give more of like my school background, but I am 20 years old. I'm just finished my sophomore year at Northeastern University. I'm studying finance and entrepreneurship, which I just added on the finance piece of it all. But the thing that's interesting about Northeastern is that we have this thing called the co-op program where we take six months off to work full time for a company. And that's what I did here with Josh. So that happened in the middle of my sophomore year. So

When I started my freshman year of college, I started in Scotland, which is just like, what the hell? Everyone is always like, what? So I've only spent two semesters out of the four semesters that I've had in, unquote, college, actually in Boston on the Northeastern campus. So I my first semester in Scotland, then went to Boston for that spring, went back to Boston in the fall. I interned in Seattle in the summer, which is where I'm from. And then while I went to school this fall, my sophomore fall, I had to start looking for jobs, which was just like a completely hectic experience.

You can't even imagine how, what type of dynamic that brings to like your social circles and your sorority circles and like even your class environment. Like it's a very dog eat dog world, which I kind of knew I was getting myself into, but you start to realize how sometimes job opportunities and positions can get in between your friendships, which maybe I'll talk about it a little bit later on. But I've always been a very driven, competitive person. I've had jobs since I was about a freshman in high school. So.

I've probably had like four or five internships before this one. This being my longest one for six months. But yeah, so that's a little bit about the program. I might do another co-op. I might do another internship all before I graduate in the next four years. And right now I'm at summer school in Boston. So no summer breaks in the next four years of my college career. I want to dive into what you said about like the dog eat dog world, about like how competitive your college is.

Josh Felgoise (07:14.316)

because that's different than what a lot of people experience. Like there's definitely a element of competition in college in general with classes and grades, with internships, with people to get a job first, with people still searching for jobs, with people who go into their senior year with, like, you know, even in your year, people who have internships for the sophomore summer, people have internships for the junior summer, and then those internships that become jobs and all that stuff, like that is definitely a very competitive environment.

and everybody wants a job before they graduate at that's like the biggest thing and the people that don't are looking at the people that do and the people that, know, like it's just a lot of that stuff. So I want to hear more about that because it sounds like it's the next level of what I experienced and what a lot of kids experience. Yeah, sure. I can give a little bit back on there, but I'll preface it with a lot of kids aren't ready for that environment. Like you applied to Northeastern and you should know that that's what you're getting into.

I was ready. I've been like a competitor my whole life. I mean, I talked to you about this before, but I was raised in a household with four insanely outstanding athletes. I'm the second of four kids. My older brother plays D1 basketball. I was set to play D1 soccer. And my younger two siblings, my little brother got his first D1 basketball offer before he started his freshman year of high school.

And my little sister is like one of the top scouted young girls in basketball and soccer in Washington state. She's 14 years old. So that's just like where I come from. And both my parents are entrepreneurs and they're absolute animals. So at a young age, I started to conceptualize and understand that like I have big dreams. One dream big. I dream so big that some people have been like, you know, she's conceited. She's

cocky, she's this and that. No, girl, you just can't see yourself where I can see myself in 10 years. And I'm sorry about that, but one day you're gonna wake up and have the same level of self-worth and drive that I do now, and you're gonna be like, damn, she was right, you know? So I was raised in that type of environment where it's like, your dreams are huge. So why not work to get them? So my whole life, instead of hanging out with my friends and partying over the summers, I grew up like...

Josh Felgoise (09:26.188)

instead of play dates, I'd go to three trainings a day every summer when I was in high school. I, you know, obviously was a pretty good soccer player, tore my ACL, ended that career, and then funneled all that energy and discipline into, you know, the quote unquote business world and pursuing what was next for me. So that type of background brought me to Northeastern. Like, I've already started my own podcast. I've worked for four different companies in the Seattle area.

I'm going to do another one next summer. I'm going to keep meeting people. I'm going to keep networking. I'm going to keep doing this. like, if you don't have that go, go, go mindset, you can feel stuck. And a lot of kids like don't get co-ops, especially in this market right now. So they're having to defer their cycle and defer their cycle and defer their cycle, or just like take a completely different approach. So I'm lucky to have that background. The second fold in terms of friendship relationships is not all my friends have my background of like,

they didn't grow up in an environment where it was normal for them to sacrifice, quote unquote, pleasure or things that you would think like you're supposed to do, which to be fair, I probably should have been doing more of the childhood-like things and high school-like things, but I had more of a tough time socially in high school, so I just funneled all my energy into like all things professional. And they almost like come to Northeastern feeling guilty that they haven't been working their asses off their whole life. And it's harder for them to find jobs and...

all that kind of stuff and that can come between friendships where they're like, damn, like Nina has it easy, blah, blah, blah. And like, you know, just feeling like they're constantly comparing themselves to you. And I'm like, I'm honestly jealous of what you had probably before you came to this school, which was probably an awesome friend group and way more memories with people. And that's something I wish I could have. And you look at me and go, I wish I could have spent more of my years in an office, but you have the rest of your life to do that.

So there are two sides to the coin and I could see even some of the closest people to me having those thoughts and once they get that first job, then it's like, it doesn't matter. But I've also been, I'm totally rambling, I've also been fortunate No, no, this is really interesting. Okay, good. I've also been fortunate enough to, this is really exciting and my best friend who was watching this will know that I'm talking about her.

Josh Felgoise (11:38.84)

to present a job opportunity to my best friend for her co-op. She's outstanding. I met her and we clicked from the beginning and she's always been a hustler and she's always been a huge supporter of me and has never doubted me and always encouraged me to dream bigger and just her having her be that kind of advocate really stuck with me and Josh, she was the one who moved me to New York. My parents couldn't come and I had met her two months earlier and I said, hey girl, I don't even know why asked her. I was like, can you move me to New York? And she was like, yep, I'll get on the train.

That was like, first of all, a real friend. then like, you know, since I've been kind of networking and reaching out to people and like trying to get more jobs myself, there was one that didn't line up and I ultimately didn't really want to work for the company. But the guy circled back and was like, Hey, I'm looking for an intern. I go, well, I have this best friend who's badass and you're going to love her.

And next thing you know, she's also a killer, gets on the interview, wows them. She was supposed to be an internship for like two or three months. She convinced them to hire her for six. And like I walked away from that. She just started at the company. She's having a great job. It's also a killer startup in the Boston area. And those are the times I sit back and I'm like, wow, I'm really grateful for the work that I've put in to also present opportunities for people that I care so deeply about and watch them thrive. So.

That's another benefit of the sacrifices that I made earlier on. I have so much to respond back to what you just said. And I know I'm going to listen back to this and be like, I really wanted to say that one thing that I missed. The three things I want to say, so don't let me forget them, were about how much you wanted it. And I could tell that from the first day I met you.

two about comparing yourself to others and three about supporting your friends. Those are the three things I'm going to comment back on. I like it's a really interesting conversation and we're going in a different way than I thought we're going to go in. like you always bring a lot to the table and I like that a lot about you and I think you have a lot to say. So the first one is I could tell from the first time I met you how much you wanted it and like

Josh Felgoise (13:45.806)

you came into this internship and it may not have been the thing that you wanted at first or the thing that you saw yourself doing forever, but you were going to put everything you had into it and all of your effort and become the best at it as quickly as you could and put as much time and effort into it. And I don't think most kids, I'll say kids for lack of a better word, but I don't think most people at your age, you're 20, right? Yeah, I just turned 20 in April. Remember poop gate? don't think.

I stepped on our CEO's dog shit, not his shit, his dog's shit. On my 20th birthday guys. In our office on her birthday. With my really nice loafers, so period. But the first internship I had was the job before this one and that was before I got the job itself.

And I really wanted to do everything I could to prove myself at that job. And I think you did the exact same thing here. And I want to talk about that a little bit more about like what you put in to prove yourself. Cause I really think that was something that you did purposefully. Um, so we can go back to that. The second thing I wanted to say was that you compared what yourself to the other kids and then the other kids to you from both experiences, like your social experience lacked what there's had.

And your professional experience had what there's lacked. And as you said, there's two, there's two sides to the coin. There's always that there's always sacrifices. There's always a give and take for everything. And it's a theme I've talked about a lot in this podcast that everybody is comparing themselves to somebody else at any age. Like you're a prime example of it. I'm a prime example of it. And I had this kid on Zeke. keep saying kid. I had this guy on Zeke a couple of weeks ago who dropped out and started this company. He's made a hundred thousand dollars from this company already in the first quarter. And.

He was comparing himself to kids that have full-time jobs, because it's just not that same thing that you have, like a consistency or a routine where he's the founder and he's the responsible one. And he sometimes wants that, like that different lifestyle. So everybody's, and I'm comparing myself to him, like everybody's comparing themselves to somebody else. And I really liked that you said that. And think it's really important for people to hear that, like they could have heard you in those first two minutes being like, holy shit, she is so driven. She has.

Josh Felgoise (16:06.154)

everything going for her. She's like, cause you do, have, you have a lot going for you. You have already had a ton of internship experience. You have a lot of work experience under your belt. and they could hear that and be like, my God, like I can't relate to this girl at all. And then you say that and they're like, actually I can relate to her completely. Like what she just said is exactly how I feel. Maybe in the reverse way, maybe in a different way, but it's exactly how I feel. And then the third thing you said was about supporting your friends.

And I think it's so important to support your friends. And I love that your friend did that for you and encourages you to dream bigger. And you helped her with a job and like, that's an amazing interaction between friends and something that I'm sure most people would wish and want for their friendships. But I just love the fact that you're supporting each other's successes. And I think that's the most important thing. And if you're not supporting your friend's successes, then like what kind of friend are you? That's kind of how I think about it. That was a lot. just now you rambled and I rambled, but I had a lot to say back to what you said.

Totally. It's a perfect segue into what you just talked about. But in high school, there's actually an interview where one of my little mentees from high school, her name's Claire, she started a podcast and put out a few episodes and I'm one of them and I was a senior in high school and she was like, you know, what's your advice? And I remember, sometimes when I feel down, this might feel kind of silly, but I'll go back and listen to that older version of myself and see what I had to say and see, you know, has my perspective changed? Like, what stayed true?

Honestly, there was this one thing I said where I was like, wow, the insight I had at that age and I've continued to learn how true that statement is that I said, said, what is success if you can't share it with other people? What is success if you can't share with other people? Like at the end of the day, it is for you and you're, you know, working as hard as you can to get to that goal that you ultimately want to achieve and fulfillment comes from within. And I understand that, but when you get there, you should be able to show those successes like,

if someone goes, hey, I have an internship opportunity, you should be sharing that because genuine connection comes from wishing other people well. And in high school, that's what I said on that podcast. But in high school, especially girls, love me some girls, my girlfriends are some of my best friends. But also, like, I've dealt with like a lot of like judgment. You know what mean?

Josh Felgoise (18:21.706)

And a lot of comparison. I feel like guys do this a lot, but girls a lot more outwardly compare themselves to other girls. There's this almost culture that there can only be one top dog, as in alpha female or whatever. We should all have seats at the table, so we're actually not competing with each other. And once you realize that and you start openly wishing your other friends well...

your perspective on life completely changes. Like one of my best friends in high school got into Stanford. I remember sitting in my car and crying and I was like, whoa, first of all, why are we crying? But two, how amazing is it that I've gotten to this place where I can feel the success of my friends like it's my own? Because if you play on my team, if you play on my team and I play on yours, we're trying to win together at the end of the day. And like, this is where my whole like team sports background comes into play, but like seeing my friends win, man, that's just like such, such a win in my mind.

And having that sense of joy and finding happiness in that too, like, there's no, there's nothing better. Because when you're successful, they're successful, and when they're successful, you're successful. And if more people started thinking like that, I mean, talk about like the comparison and jealousy going away. Because guess what? There's only one Josh and there's only one Nina. There's not two of us. So my goals are completely different from yours. And what my life is gonna look like is gonna be completely different from yours. So I should be perfect, I should be so happy.

for your path, because it's not gonna look like mine. And like, I mean, find joy in that too. So that's my big thing. Wish other people well, be a well-wisher, no matter what. Even if it's not your jam, or maybe you're a little jealous, like maybe I should be doing that. If it was meant for you, you would be there, babe. If that Morgan Stanley position was meant for you, you would be there. I promise. If you were meant to be an accountant at EY, you would be there. I love that, and I think learning that and...

saying that at like our age is hard to know and like hard to learn and it's amazing to have a grasp on so young. so I love hearing that from you. I think it's like one of the best lessons that somebody can learn in it. It doesn't come easy. Like it's, it, it is a practice and I think it is something that you have to work on. And I mean, even like inherently, like there's always a little bit of jealousy. It's always a little bit of a little bit of comparison, but if that's outweighed by

Josh Felgoise (20:45.154)

being happy for somebody else's success and not being like, damn, I'm pissed you got that spot. Of course you're gonna feel that at times. You're gonna feel that a little bit always. But if your happiness for that person outweighs that like jealousy, then you're in a better place. So I love hearing that. Let's transition to the start of the internship. What I said before was I thought you came into the position or the internship or whatever you wanna call it.

knowing that you really wanted to get everything you could out of it and knowing that you were going to give it like a hundred and eighty five thousand percent. So talk to me about your first impression of the job and where that where you got that mindset. The mindset of getting 100 percent of you know the most out of that experience is like largely due to my upbringing and also my perspective. Like everything's about perspective. We've kind of touched on that but.

You know, I moved to New York, I knew two people and we're obviously not at a big company. We had five people in our New York office. I'm the only girl besides Pua, the dog who pooped and I stepped in it. And she and I were good friends and now I can't forgive her. Okay. So I was feeling no, was feeling not that much support from, I mean, it's interesting to work and I mean my previous job.

I also worked with mainly men. was like an office of like six men. There was one woman and we became very close, me and the other female coworker. Needless to say that it was lonely moving to New York. I made a big leap. I had an offer for this job in Boston. I was actually one of the first women they've ever from Northeastern offered the investment role to, and I was the youngest they've ever offered it to.

And it was like a huge deal. And I remember like telling one of my mentors in this business club and she was like, holy crap, like you got that job, what the hell? And I was like, I don't know. That's Jesus right there. I'm not sure what happened, but something about that didn't feel right. It was like a 10 minute walk away from my apartment. It would have been perfect in terms of like just easy, but seek discomfort. You only grow when you're uncomfortable. So I decided to take a job at a startup.

Josh Felgoise (23:02.55)

in New York knew two people. What what about that job felt wrong? Beside for the comfortableness? Comfortability? Sure. It was in venture capital and I didn't want to get like stuck in the VC world as well. I want to try something else out. And also I felt something about the culture. Like I think I talked to a few other people and I was like, hmm, I'm not quite sure how I feel about that. So that was a big piece of it too. And I also had like just this gut feeling. Listen to your gut. Listen to it. It's so true. It's so real.

And the craziest thing is I turned down that job, Josh, not having any plan B, none. I turned it down. That was my only offer on the table. It was a great job. They were going to pay me well. It was a 15 minute walk from my apartment. Everything was set up. And I remember being like, this is not right. This is not right. I want to work for a startup. I want to work for a startup. I walked into the semester saying I'm going to work for a startup and I'm going to make that happen. So needless to say, luck in.

it ended up happening, which is just crazy how I kind of mess manifested that into existence because I think I heard this interesting thing on I read this in a book was like, you were the drivers of our own life. We're all getting in a car and we're trying to get this destination. If you don't have a goal, if you don't have a point B, I'm getting in a car with no GPS, no map, and I just have to find my way in a new territory.

what manifestation does and what like me speaking that thing of like, want to work at a startup into existence was I define my point B. I don't know how the hell I'm getting there, but I'm going to have faith in the fact that I'm going to find it. you would find the oldest GPS in the system, which I totally did. Cause I had something easy in front of me. I turned it down and I decided to go after something else, which was a little crazy in hindsight, but it did work out. yeah, I've gone on a completely different tangent. No, no, I brought that up. So go ahead. You moved to New York. Okay. I moved to New York.

I have two friends and one's family, so like not even two friends. How was moving to New York? It was crazy. It was really crazy. It was different than what I've ever seen before. It was definitely very uncomfortable, but I've learned a lot just by like even moving out there and I moved to kind of like a janky street as Josh knows and a really dinky apartment. And I feel like that's kind of a part of it and like embracing the chaos of it all. But

Josh Felgoise (25:24.942)

I knew that because I was making those big sacrifices, I needed to give the job everything I had to make sure I got the most out of it. I like had to. There was no choice not to. And also I put myself in an environment where like that's kind of all I had. I didn't know like, I didn't know anyone. didn't have any social circles. I didn't have any structure. I didn't have any place to meet anyone my age. My job was the thing. It was the reason why I was there, which a lot of people moved to New York to move to New York with their friends and then get jobs. But, um,

That was not my experience. So yeah, yeah, it was a kind of like I have I have no choice. I'm going to make this work. what is your advice and then we'll get into more about the job and your experience with it. But what is your advice for somebody that's moving to a new city doesn't have to be New York, but moving to a new city that doesn't know a lot of people. And like, what what do you say to that person? Are they moving along to the city? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's say they're moving without a lot of friends and not a lot of a path ahead.

Well, I really had like one friend and she introduced me to other people, but one thing about, I guess, moving to a new city is you have to be comfortable with being alone. You have to learn how to become comfortable being alone and the more comfortable you are with being alone, the easier it is to like meet more friends because you don't feel like so quote unquote, this kind of sounds bad, but like so desperate to just like become friends with the first person you meet.

Because not everyone needs to be arrested. It doesn't sound sad. It sounds normal because that's the experience of somebody that's moving without a lot of people that they know. So it doesn't it doesn't sound sad. Yeah. So I'm also not of drinking age. Like I couldn't meet anyone at bars. So that was weird. I was 19 when I moved to the city and I don't go to college there. So there weren't many settings for me to meet people. But right. I I found joy in small things. I'd come home from work and I journal.

and I would go to yoga classes. I started reading a little bit. I spent a lot of time with my roommate and I really used that like new open time to explore the city and like really soak it in and also to get my creative juices flowing. So like what are the other things I'm passionate about? Where do I see myself a couple years from now? What am I learning every day? How can I wake up and become a better version of me?

Josh Felgoise (27:43.478)

And I think when you move forward with a sense of intentionality of bettering yourself, like the friends and the fulfillment will come along the way. That's cool. You have a much more mature perspective than I think a lot of people do when it comes to that stuff. it's just very refreshing to hear. And I think what you said about leaning on that one person and then being able to meet people through that person and being willing to meet people through that person and being able to lean on her.

I think was really helpful. So I think that's great advice. think anybody moving to a different city would like to hear that. And I think that without a lot of connections, and I think that would be helpful. So back to the job. What was your first impression of the job itself and then your first impression of me? Yes, can't wait for this one. I've been writing. No, so

First impression of the job, I started a week after you for context for everyone who's listening. So we're both pretty fresh. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. And I remember like kind of the first couple of days. Well, first of all, I was supposed to start on a Monday and I got the flu. So I started on a Tuesday and I still kind of had the flu. And I jumped on a call with you, Josh, and you were like, my God, you have the flu. What are you doing here? I I was like sneezing every second and like, you know.

throwing away my tissues and you were like, if you need to like go get meds at CVS, like you're not gonna die over this, like we're gonna be okay. And I remember like you were so kind about that and you were also like really interested in getting to know me and you also had no idea what the hell was gonna come up in the next couple months. So you were kind of just like, we're gonna figure this out together. Like I'm here to help you grow, which first of all, those words are just like music to my ears. And you were like,

Yeah, like this is like kind of a team effort and like there's just so much being thrown at us and we're here learning together. And I remember I closed my laptop that day and my roommate lives in the room across from me. I sat outside and I was like, Trisha, I love Josh. And she was like, what? And I was like, I can tell like this is gonna be great. Like, cause I've worked in finance a little bit too and I've worked with people that are awesome and then people with like a lot of ego and like.

Josh Felgoise (30:01.474)

Just I've dealt with a lot of different types of managers and people that like don't have the time of day and don't talk to you. And I remember feeling a sense of like, he's gonna care about me developing during this job and he's also a very good person that I'm going to like enjoy spending time with, which honestly matters way more than you think that you just like literally get along with your coworker. So yeah, that was my experience. I shut the laptop and I turned to Trisha and I was like, this is gonna be great. Like Josh is awesome.

And I remember I got on the call with you the next day and I was like, Josh, it's so refreshing. Like I've dealt with so many like egotistical assholes and you, you seem to not be one already. And you were like, thank you. And I didn't even know you. I don't know if you remember that, but I did say that like right off the bat. That's so funny. You say that. And I really appreciate hearing that. And it's good to hear that I said that. but I really think I was also in a state of like, I don't, and I'm sure you know that looking back now that I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm.

Right. And like, I tried to act like I did as much as I could and it sounded like I had a little bit of it together, but that is exactly the way I felt when I had my first call with our boss. I got off that call with her and I was like, she is somebody I know I can learn from and grow with. And like, it was a no brainer to take that job with her because of it. And I could also just tell that she was a good person and a caring person and kind. And, you don't always get that at a job. Like I actually think it's very,

infrequent or like it's not common that maybe it maybe it is more than I think but I don't think it's that common to have somebody that you somebody that cares about you and somebody that like cares about like yeah you I'll just say you and I had that from the experience with her before and I was able to then like take that and learn it or take that and share it with you so I'm first of all so happy to hear that like that means the world to hear

and I promise for anybody listening, I did not have Nina on as an ego boost and I did not know she was gonna say that. I really had no idea what you were gonna say when I asked that question. It could have been anything. You'd like, yeah, like you were nice. And I'd be like, okay, next question. You were nice, but you were really fucking stupid. No, no, no. That's so not true. But like we were very much like figuring it out together just like the whole time. And that became clear to me probably like in the weeks coming.

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Just we work at a very like chaotic company and it's like growing really fast, but it's really young and there are very few people. That's a startup in general, right? Yeah. So, um, yeah, but like that was my experience on the first few days and the flu thing was really funny. It was like kind of the icing on the cake. I, that you say it, I totally remember it. That's really funny. Um, I want to talk more about like our relationship as like mentor slash boss and intern. What did I do well throughout and what could I have improved on?

And I want you to be like as brutally honest as you want to be or can be. Cause I want somebody who's in my shoes that may have, as I said in the beginning, that may be like responsible for somebody else at a company or responsible for helping, like be their helping hand at a company. so I want to hear everything you have to say about that. Cool. Yeah. best thing was setting in a precedent for our team, which is like you and I, you and I, and like our boss, but she's like not around 24 seven. but like we're a team.

Like that was made very clear to me and I really like, you know, walking into work and having that culture. I think you also bring a unique skill set and taught me like, I did like a lot of shadowing early on, just watching you take these calls and kind of like the art of the types of deals we were doing. Something I've never seen before, especially with more of a finance background. Everything's very literal and I remember like...

for our first two meetings, you're like, Nina, this isn't so literal, like we're working marketing. This is not so literal, like everything's creative, like take a deep breath, chill out, take notes, just like stop. Cause I remember I got on my first call and I was like doing the intro portion of one of our calls. And afterward you were like, okay, that was great feedback. You spit off all the facts. You only need to say about three. And I said all 10. I was like, okay, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, fact, fact, fact, fact, for way too long, but um.

So like that was one of the positive pieces. I've been included on like every meeting, which has been huge for me, even when I shadow, just to like see how that thing, that stuff is done. It was very, very valuable. One thing that you definitely got better at towards the end of the internship, and I know you know this. I'm ready. I know you know this, but you were like giving me more structure to be fair. Like there was not much structure early on because both of us were brand new to the job. Like it'd be different if you were in the role for a

Josh Felgoise (34:52.206)

longer than I was, but to be honest, we were both kind of starting at the same time. So that definitely brought in a different dynamic. But once we started getting in the rhythm of things and there was like more orderly stuff, you were like, okay, I'm giving you this project. Because one thing about me, and I think this goes for like most interns, if you're like, hey, here's your project, here's what you need to get done. If they're a smart person who was accurately hired for the position and like is good at what they do.

they'll deliver you a great project and they'll do a really good job. So it was exciting in those moments where I got to own things and say, hey, this is mine, this is the work I did, I'm pitching it, this is why I think this and it really allowed me to like showcase my skills. So I would say more so those tasks that I got to take it from start to finish were the exciting ones and the ones that obviously everyone wants more of those. But.

Yeah, that's like the only piece of feedback is like, wish maybe I could have started doing that earlier on. But at the end of the day, the startup was so, it is, I mean, still kind of working there. is so crazy that like providing that, we didn't even, we built everything together. We built the budget together. We built our, all our calendar systems together. So there wasn't anything to like give me right off the bat, but you came to that realization yourself. And when that happened, I was like, wait, this feels like a good, you know, a good thing.

Yeah. And I think those are two things from my first internship that I learned from my first boss slash mentor. One was being included on calls, like meant so much to me as an intern. And it just felt like, like something that was like extra and added the one when she was like, Hey, would you hop on this call or like join this call at this time? Like I would really appreciate that when she included me and it felt like she

didn't have to do that. And there was times at which like I made the Zoom room bigger and it like made it less intimate. And like some people will say that's annoying or whatever, but like, or I just sat there and it was just like a muted face just listening in. But those were the times I felt like I was in like a lack for lack of a better word, like a room because it was a Zoom room. So I felt like I was in the room where like the conversation was actually happening instead of just getting the related information later. So I wanted to be able, and I did include you in every

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call, like even as as important as they were, and as as least important as they were, I want to make sure you were just keyed into every situation and got to be able to be a part of it all. And the other thing was being able to have a project. I remember that from my first one, and it took me a while to kind of remember it. Like I remember talking to my friend at one point being like, I don't know what else to like, help Nina with. I don't like there was like times where I was like, I don't even know what I'm fully like at where we're at right now.

And that's the nature of what we do. And that's the nature of a startup. Other companies have a lot more structure and like with this internship, like there were times when there was no structure and there were times in which you were able to like own a full project and at a different one, you could have had structure the entire time, but maybe never own a project. so I think that is really good feedback. And we've never had the conversation where like, I've asked you for feedback on me. And I would say like something else is that you asked for feedback a lot of times and we're like, Hey, like what could I improve on?

And I wish I had done that more often to you and been like, hey, where could I improve here? And what could I help you with more? Because I think that is really beneficial and it's both sides there. Like you were really good about that being like, I know I got this done and like, is there something I could have fixed or something I could have done better? Blah, blah, blah, blah. Like that's something I would like to bring into the next person that is in your position. Another thing that

helped me a lot with my other internships and I have really positive relationships with the companies that I've worked with previously. Like I still talk to a lot of them. I would do this thing and I tried to do it a little bit with you too, or hope I did it a lot, is I would say once I finished a task, go, hey, is there anything else I can help you with? Is there anything else I can do to make your day easier? Because that's what an intern's there for. Like I'm there to do your, for lack of a better word,

like shit work that you don't want to do because I want to make your life better and like even if I'm not learning a ton from that work because it's repetitive like I'd rather do that and make an impact because that's why you're there so if you're an intern out there at an internship especially one with not much structure ask for more work and I like using the phrase hey is there anything I can do to make your day easier like I tried to like is there anything I can take off your plate which is like the way to address it and a lot of people like

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like, yes, actually, I'd love you to do this or they're like, you know, it's just a small task. can finish it myself. And either way, like, they just are like, wow, she asked she asked me that question. My last job I asked everyone they had like three or four associates. I would ask them every day like beat the dead horse. Is there anything else I can do to make your day easier? By the end of it, they were like, wow, I didn't even you know, I mean, I went back to the office this summer and they're like me and I didn't realize the other interns don't do that. But like you did it every day.

And was like, great, I'm glad you remembered that. It's incredible phrasing too, because saying like, is there anything else you need sounds worse than saying like, is there anything else I can do to help you? Right. It's saying like, what I can do for you versus like what you need from me. I think that phrasing is really important. And the funny part about what you just said is that I say that to our boss sometimes, like, I wish I should say it now more, like the fact that you reminded me like I should say that more often.

And I do say it a lot of like, Hey, is there anything else I can do for you or is anything else like I could help with? And I don't think that like you gave that advice to interns, but I don't think that's, I don't think that goes away ever. Right. As long as you're the lower person on the team and lower person, meaning everybody our age, everybody who's an associate or a like whatever the role, whatever to call it analyst associate. think that advice resonates and works for anybody in.

positions under like 30 where it's some there's somebody above you that as long as you have a boss as long as you have a boss like I think that advice is really good for you. Yeah, so I love that you said that but I wanted to like take it up an extra step and be like that is something that I do a lot something I something everybody should do more I think and like it's it's also not just shit work like it's when our boss asked me to do something like I don't always look at it as shit work. I look at it as like I'm doing a task to help her and I think you said that as well and I think that

is beneficial to the person and proving your beneficial to the person is just good for job security. Like when I had the CEO of Barstool on, Erica Ayers-Badan, I think it's episode 35, it is, I remember it now. That's a plug. It's something that she said too, was like when you're having your six month, what's it called? Quarterly review. Yep, thank you, review. When you're having your review, whether it's half year or full year, like.

Josh Felgoise (41:48.91)

What are the things that you did to benefit that person? Like what is it? What are the things you did to prove yourself and prove that you're good and prove that you're a benefit to the company and valuable person? And how can you make yourself invaluable to the team? And I think that's really important and it will always be important for all of our careers. Yeah, I would argue that also our our boss does that to us in other ways. So we say, hey, how can I help you with our work? And then she's like, she came to me at the end of my internship was like

hey, whatever you need kid next, I'm here for you. And I was like, whoa, you know, like she, they extend the favor back in whatever way you'll see it, whether that's like a promotion, if you're at a bigger company and you're planning to stay or like if you're an intern and you're moving to your next company, a referral, like it's a constant cycle of how can I help you? How can I help you? And then at the end of the day, they'll be like, how can I help you? Cause you've helped me so much. And I've also heard her say that to both of us, be like, how can I help you? Or what can I do for you? I've heard her say that a lot.

So maybe it's just something that everybody says all the time in the workforce and in the corporate world. And it's, it's a sign of like, I'm here to help you and we're a team and like, there is not really a power structure here. There is, but like when you're on a team and what you talked about, like if you win, I win. And if I can help you do your job better, you help me do my job better. Like it's a, it is a team effort at end of the day. So now that you're saying it, like she said it today, like she says that all the time. The great habit, great habit.

Yeah, I think that's really important. What did you learn about working with people from this job specifically? my gosh, what didn't I learn? is the better question. Totally. We've worked with, little context. We've worked with, people obviously on our teams and our company. And we've also worked with other teams from other companies that were like managing accounts. example, Josh and I touched everything in marketing. like we've worked with agencies, we work with a bunch of different types of people.

It's gonna sound really like there are few people who know what they're doing. Okay, that's what I learned. It sounds crazy. as much like what especially when you're an intern at a small company or even at your big company, people know what they're doing. People are trained, but go ahead. if they give you a document comb through the document, there might be a misspelling. There might be this, you can still contribute because we're all humans. There's human error.

Josh Felgoise (44:10.158)

Everyone's winging it. Everyone's trying to put their best effort out, but no one's a master at their game really very few are We're fortunate enough to like our bosses a master at her game But she's had a wild career and has you know been at it for a very long time But almost everyone else you work with will have You know mistakes they make along the way and like things that you can learn from them and everyone's a human also a communication style is really important and

Culture is really important and I think culture aligns directly with communication style. So the culture that we've created amongst our team at our company is great and I think that has a lot to do with our communication style. Everything from how can I make your day easier today? What can I do to help you? hey Nina, what do you think about this deal? Do you think we should do it? I'm the intern.

You don't even have to ask me that. Just you asking me that is like, wow, first of all, I feel valued. Even if he doesn't take what I say, he's asking me what I think about it. And like including me in the conversation was really awesome. And like you did a really good job at creating that culture amongst us of like, I feel valued. I'll work even harder for you because I feel valued. And I mean, I'm staying on part-time while I go back to school just because.

like I feel valued and I've loved my experience with you and I love the culture that we've created. If I didn't like the culture, I'd probably be gone by now. But yeah, I would say that's a big part about working with people is the culture you create. A lot of it's based on the communication style and how you treat other people around you. And also like not everyone knows what they're doing. So just try your best and wing it. Right. I think that's that's really true. How have your

Touching on what you said about communication styles, how have your communication styles or communication skills improved through this experience? Sure, I think a lot of it comes from our boss and like seeing her at least the way she phrases like marketing messages. It's nothing like I've seen before and she kind of walk into a room and be able to just spew the most creative, genius things all at once. And again, within her communication style, she'd slip in things like

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you know she do she has a lot of like delegating like boom boom do this and this and this and comes in for the important stuff and then is like how can I help you because she's like she knows she's the seasoned professional and can be like boom boom boom and we'll be like cool so how is my communication style changed I've honestly replicated and I think imitation is what is the highest form of flattery replicated a lot of how she speaks to people like I can even notice myself and my mom owns a small business so I help her with her stuff a lot

And I can see myself even replicating the way our boss talks to us and like, hey, think about this idea and this idea. Like even the way she delivers that I'm replicating. Also, it's a email reach out is completely different the way I email other people. Like even learning from you, you send emails that's like, hi, hi everyone. Like happy Monday or hi everyone. So nice to meet you virtually. And like I used to never really add, I'd be like really formal, I'd be like.

I hope this email finds you well. And then you were like, hey, there are other humans on the other side of that email. And I was like, totally. So then at start of my internships and the end of my internship, started going, happy Thursday to like a managing team. And I'm like, you know, the intern and like whatever. And then you would text me and go, that was good. It's fun to add in some personality and character and people really appreciate that because they get a ton of really boring emails. So I would say in my communication style, more like fun and authentic, less serious.

Because everyone is trying to get by their work day. And sometimes all you need is that little sprinkle personality to stand out. Maybe you've been getting a ton of corporate emails from these companies trying to do partnerships. But mine that says, happy money, you're like, hold up. You know what I mean? Let me read that one. yeah, who is this fine young lady emailing me about a finance company? I'm going to read that.

Yeah, being different, I guess, and being more like personable, I guess. And authentic, right? Like you just said. And what, beside like communications hours, what else have you learned from our mutual boss? my gosh, just like literally so much wisdom. She's a visionary. She's like a wicked visionary. She can walk into a room and say, again, like the GPS thing I was talking about. She's like, this is point B and this is how we're going to get there. She's like, not only am I giving you the destination,

Josh Felgoise (48:53.708)

I'm giving you the roadmap. Now go out and execute. One thing I love about her too is she believes so much in her people and people love her because she believes in her people. She's not over our heads every day being like, you're doing this, this and this. She's like, walks into room and is like, I trust Josh and Nina and whatever they're doing. She's like, I've, you know, I've given them direction, but giving people autonomy is so important. You have to trust your people. You have to let them, you know, execute what they

want to execute because they will thrive if you say, you know what, Josh, I'm going to let you lead this whole marketing department. Here are my suggestions. Here's some things that we'd like to, you know, get in the pipeline. But like, I trust you. You probably go home thinking, wow, this woman who's done so many like incredible things and like she's like dealt with like billion dollar acquisitions and like CEO of a billion dollar company. Like she's she's big time. And when she turns and looks at someone like you or me and goes, I trust you to execute this.

Man man, that's all I need to get me going. So, that's another thing I've learned from her and I feel the same way about her as I do some of my other mentors. When I was a senior in high school, I met an NFL player. Okay, I've kinda told this story, it's a kind of amazing story. Who? I don't know if I'll totally name drop because he's my close mentor and like,

I don't know if I want to share that online. But I met an NFL player. was in physical therapy for my ACL terror. It ended my soccer career. I was really sad. One day, my PT was one of my mentors. I've known her since I was 13 years old. She runs one of the most like prestigious, I guess, PT athletic training clinics in Washington state. So she deals with all those NFL and like MOB athletes and no NBA. But sometimes NBA guys come through, whatever, like you get the point.

One day I'm leaving and she goes, I want you to walk out that door and introduce yourself to that guy. And I was like, okay. She's like, here's his first name. Just go shake his hand. I don't watch football. He's a pretty big deal. I had no idea. I'm like, hey. And she was like, she, she told me he's an NFL player, but he's also involved in like tech and finance. So I go and talk to him. And I remember I kept like running into him between our PT trainings cause he had also hurt his knee. And then I hear that he's getting traded from the Seahawks to a different team and

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I'm like, I'm gonna shoot my shot professionally, of course. Let me clarify that. of course. Guys, was 18 and she's like 30 something. Like, okay, you know, had to clarify that on the guys at podcast. Don't come after me. Okay. I'm no Alex Cooper and her MOB boy, okay?

Josh Felgoise (51:44.462)

Okay. So I write him a letter that's basically like, I don't think it was an accident that we met. This is what I've learned from you so far in our small interactions. This is what I think I can learn in the future. Like I would just love to have you be my mentor, like one of my mentors. I like leave the written letter at the PT clinic. Cause like we already know each other by then, HIPAA, she's not allowed to like give it to him, but she can like leave it on the desk for him to see. And he picks it up and I get, I left my phone number and he texts me and he goes,

Hey kid, anything you need. And when I tell you, I'm a senior in high school, having someone of that caliber, he's involved in like tons of different funds, he makes a ton of money from the NFL, he negotiates all of his own contracts, he is so well respected, to have someone like that believe in me at that young of an age, whew, that is all you need. That is all you need because he saw more than what I saw in myself. Like I didn't even know what the hell I was doing and he was like,

you know anything kid I think you have a bright future and I was like a future in what I have no idea and he was like I don't know what you're gonna do but it's gonna be great and I feel like that's what our boss has done with us tying it all back together here and just like literally I would go to like and he would check in on me sometimes and just having someone like who's done such amazing things believe in you gives you so much confidence and she's done a fantastic job of that so not only is she like a killer in her industry and

She kills it in so many things. She doesn't just work for a company. She does a bunch of other stuff. But she really does a fantastic job at making us believe in ourselves and believe that we can be great too. So that, I feel like, is one of the most unique things about her too. What a great way to answer that question. I love that you told that story in the middle of it and reconnected that. That was really cool. And I actually do forget who it is. So you have to tell me who it is after, because I do forget.

Okay, I'll tell you after. One thing I want to circle back on that story with that NFL player. And this is my first of all, this is my version of NFL man, non-romantic shout out Alex Earl, right? We all need our NFL man. This one's mine. Okay. And this is the preferred font of NFL, NFL man that I wanted. I have been told this by one of my mentors that I've done a pretty good job at so far. I hope and hopefully knock on wood, I keep doing a good job at this, but I'm really good at circling back.

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and keeping them all updated on what I'm doing next. So I was back home in Seattle for a month. I met with both my old bosses from the last internship I had and the head analyst that I spent. He was my Josh at my last job. When I sat at a coffee shop, I talked with him for two and a half hours. He's like, I could talk to you all day. I have to run to a meeting. And that's the best type of experience. And I remember, even in that small interaction, I encouraged him. He writes this AI newsletter.

I encouraged him to post about it on LinkedIn. And the next day I woke up to a LinkedIn post, he tagged me. said, hey, my old intern encouraged me to post this on LinkedIn. Like you're my inspiration. And that meant so much to me. But needless to say, I have done a pretty good job at circling back with everyone. Like, hey, this is my next job. This is what I'm doing next. Hey, like happy Father's Day, happy Mother's Day. Having genuine connections with your mentors where it's like, not only do I see you in the business field and I respect you in the business field.

But I see you as a human. I see you as the mom that you are. I see you as the badass dad that you are. I see you as, you know, someone who's not only making waves in the corporate world, but just an amazing human. And I'm there for you in that way. And I care more about you beyond what you can help me to do in my career. So that's also a big thing. So circle back on the important dates. Circle back on birthdays. Circle back if you have a job change. I'm sure they, you know, either want to be a part of that next decision of yours. Like, hey, I got this job. What do you think? Hey, I've got an offer. What do you think?

or helping you get there. So that's a big circle back piece. And I feel like our boss is gonna be a new one of those. And I think it really is the little things that make somebody stand out like that, like sending that small text or sending that little follow up or being like, hey, I saw that you're doing this and I think you could improve it by this way. Or like, here's my suggestion for you. I think you would benefit by doing this. And I think sharing the little things like that, one, are always appreciated by people.

people like hearing from people and, I think keeping those connections is something that like everybody can learn from. as you said that I was like, I wish I had done that a little bit more starting out and it, that doesn't mean I can't do it now. So it does. It's not like a thing that I regret, but it's something I know it's something I wish I did before. And it's something I will continue now to do. And like, I learn a lot from you too. I think your communication style and your followups and

Josh Felgoise (56:30.988)

Like the little things, I mean, I just think that is a style of networking that is like missed out on. And I think people look at networking as like, I'm going to reach out to a person that I know from a person I know and ask for like one call about like advice for a job and maybe hopefully get that job and send a couple emails. But I think the follow-up and the follow-up and keeping in touch with that person is the part of the networking that a lot of us miss, myself included. And

we would all benefit from doing a little bit more of that because you really never know where that connection can get you. Totally. And where that person and where like being a person to that other person really can get you. And how much relationship building can increase or get you to where you want to go. I think is a really cool thing to share. Okay, quick thing and then we can switch topics. I keep talking about this. This good example is I met one woman in New York, I took the

I didn't even know how to really use the subway, but I figured it out and I went like all the way up to the upper East side and met her before work. And I told you that I had met someone. That's another thing you did that was great. You were like flexible and you were like, if you have another opportunity, go for it. And like you can finish your work when you finish your work. Like, let me be 30 minutes late. Thank you. First of all. But I met her for coffee in the morning and like wanted to meet her as a potential quote unquote like networking thing. We talked about career for about five minutes and then we talked about

Kids, divorce, relationships, and like all that stuff for about an hour and a half. And then she walked away and goes, anything you need kid, anything you need. Because even just like me sitting down and being like, hey, how are you doing? Like, she gave me a whole lecture on like boys, know, relationships, what you should be looking for. Never settle Nina. And I sat there and I was like, you know, this is also wisdom that I will need. I'm gonna take every bit of this wisdom. And although it doesn't.

it doesn't apply to whether or not I'm gonna get a job in finance next. If I wanted a job in finance next and I called her, she'd be like, of course, you just sat with me for an hour and we talked about super personal things. So yeah, I you get benefit from anything and knowing someone as a human matters so much, not just what they do for work. I mean, way to think about it is in the US, there's a culture where everyone's like, what do do?

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and everyone talks about their job. But if you went to France or going to Greece and you go to my cousin, for example, Jorgi, and you're like, Jorgi, what do you do for a living? He'd be like, you know, what do do? He'd be like, I eat burgers, I drink beer and I go to the beach. And then they'd be like, no, what do you do for work? And then he'd be like, oh, for work, you know? So they, it's so much our culture here that everyone is like work, work, but that's not life, you know? How do you make sure that you keep in touch with all these people? Like, how do you keep that networking? Like, what is that?

you looped, you have like a contact list. Like what do you do? What's your like actual tip for that? My actual tip. When you make a strong connection with someone like I have people all in my head, which I should write them all down. And I one day did write them all down, but there aren't that many. I mean, all you need are like, you know, one or two people in your corner, but I've gotten to a point where I have like five plus, and these are people who have like contributed to my career in some way. Even if it was like a big one is the analyst from

my last job, so my Josh for my last job. His name's Nolan, I hope he listens to this, he's the best. I write a list and then when anything important comes up and they've shown, like basically my whole thing is like, if you've invested in me, I'm gonna try to invest in you in every way that I can and show you that I'm grateful for investing in me. for example, like I got a notification on my phone that's just like, I don't even know how this happened.

that my one of my old bosses at my last job got interviewed on a podcast. So while I was in New York, I listened to that podcast. It was an hour and a half and I wrote him an email. Hey, I just listened to that podcast. I learned so much about you. I loved this part of the podcast. Hope you're doing well. Would love to see you when I'm back in Seattle. He responded, Nina, you do such a good job at staying in touch. Thank you so much for listening to that podcast. Like, let's get coffee, which like he's a super busy guy. He's a partner at a VC. Like he doesn't need to, you know, he doesn't need to meet with me. So

Right, but like yeah, but like it's it's those little things and it's the the person ability of like you took your time and actually care about that person and he cares about you and it's like it's a real relationship beyond just a like You we work together. You know what I mean? Totally totally. Yeah. Sorry. I've been rambling about other things by the way Sorry, you might have to say that again. I've been no this this says this is this is exactly what a podcast is supposed to be and it went into a lot of different directions and

Josh Felgoise (01:01:06.412)

Like throughout this episode, was like, this conversation is like the reason I do this and why I like doing this. And I think I benefited from this conversation. Like we haven't, we haven't done this type of, like we haven't done this type of like sit down where we've really like heard this from each other. And I like encourage bosses and mentees and employees and employers to do this type of thing, because I just think it can only benefit when you really know.

about somebody else and I think I have this relationship with our boss as well, which I feel very fortunate to have and I, and it's a very transparent relationship where it's like, here's what I think you can be doing better and here's what I think you're doing great. And like, just keep doing what like that, that type of thing that where it's that, where you trust somebody enough that you

know that they're really being honest with you and it's a it's a cool relationship and a cool place to get there with somebody and it doesn't happen a lot of times at work or in a company environment. But what is your advice for somebody starting out a new job? We've talked about this kind of throughout the job. Are you vaping this entire time? are you doing when you leave? I'm burping and I'm sorry I'm burping guys. You can leave that in. literally I have acid reflux Josh. I've been having I do too because I've been drinking so much coffee. First of all.

I do not vape world, but I've been leaning and- your camera's a little blurry. And burping, because I don't want the mic to go to with your hand, and I've Because I don't want to I've never known you as a vape- No, I've never known you as a vaper, but I just keep seeing you this with your hand, and I'm like, what are you I'm burping, I'm burping. Sorry guys. That's okay, I want to be a lady. I'm trying to make the mic- No, I'll catch that, okay? Okay Josh, out me like that. Sorry about that.

what is your advice for somebody looking for a job? I know you're also looking for a new job right now. not that you haven't been extended an offer by us, but you actually want to go into a different direction. So I w w I want to make that clear that like you were really great at this job and we, and everybody at the company really values you and like you're with us for as long as you want and you know that and this is more your choice than ours that won't be coming back. But like, I I want to hear about

Josh Felgoise (01:03:21.496)

First of all, what that process looks like for you for finding a next job or next opportunity, your advice for people in that realm, and then your advice for actually start. Let's just do that one. Your advice for finding a new opportunity. OK, a few things about opportunities. There are obviously a bunch of jobs posted on the internet. This is for grad and for undergrad internships. They're really, really hard to get, though, and it's really hard to stand out. And a stack of applicants and

Like I experienced that a lot that I feel like I don't even, I don't stand out in a pool of applicants. don't go to an Ivy league school. I'm especially in the finance world. They don't go to an Ivy league school. that, and I don't play a D1 sport, which those are like the two that really help you in that world. And most of us listening probably don't go to an Ivy league didn't or don't, and also don't play a D1 sport too. So like that, is keep going. Yeah, totally. to be honest, I haven't.

I haven't gotten like one of my, I haven't got a job at like a really big company yet. All the companies I worked at have been fairly small. But what did matter a lot even at these small companies is outreach. Reaching out to people, again, having coffee chats, asking them about their jobs. And then a lot of, I would get a lot of advice from other people that have like gotten jobs or in the field. like, what do you think? How do I approach this? How did you approach this?

So becoming that fountain of knowledge. Obviously, you already talked about this on your podcast, but the resume is really important. The cover letter people debatably read or don't read. So it's really the human connection that will help differentiate you from the pool of applicants. And when looking for a job, it's finding that thing that feels genuine or diversifying your portfolio, quote unquote, of experience. for me, I've done VC, I've done startup.

I'm now interested in exploring maybe the other worlds of like either funding those companies or you know, starting one or all that kind of stuff looking into like how else can I piece my puzzle together? So like for example, not everyone has to have their like final destination in mind, but let's just say right now my like loose one is like one day I'd love to work for myself. Like I'd love to start my own thing or at least contribute to a company where you know, that like that's the goal. I'm like making an impact and I muck up.

Josh Felgoise (01:05:45.174)

leader up there, starting something, I'm tackling a problem set that I'm really passionate about. So I've put that final destination in my GPS. Now, what's the toolkit that I need to build to get myself to position where I would feel confident, either when I stumble upon that problem that I would like to solve, or I get presented an opportunity where I can join a team and make that happen. So again, GPS, puzzling my route together, done the VC, done the startup, now what's next? What do I not know? So...

I guess for people looking for internships, how can you, you know, do a little bit of soul searching, a little bit of like passion searching and find out what does that loose GPS destination look like? And how can I start structuring my work experience to build my operational toolkit so that one day when I am ready to go after it, I can do it. And don't feel like you have to have your life planned out. Like.

I have none, I had none of this planned out, like literally none, except for the thing I talked about earlier where I was like, I came into this fall saying I did the VC thing, which that experience also came from just like, it was just kind of like the grace of God, perfect timing, sent a ton of cold emails, ton of cold emails, and they finally responded to me. And then just like primed myself for that by like entering a bunch of pitch competitions in school. So like you can get experience through school stuff and then

I also have a podcast, which I don't know if I really mentioned, but that helped me a lot too. you haven't yet. Yeah. So I started a podcast when I was 17 years old where I interviewed women in business about their careers and like all this advice that I'm spewing is basically a networking podcast. Yeah. It's a, it's, it's been great, but, all the advice I've been spewing is literally like all my knowledge is an accumulation of all these seasoned professionals and like specifically women, which is just like amazing. I could not be more blessed and fortunate and

That's why I put them all on the internet, because I want people to listen to it too and start gaining those small pieces of knowledge. But I basically just been priming myself for the next step and then going, okay, I'm gonna set my intention and then I'm gonna figure out how the hell I'm gonna get there, I don't know how. But once you start putting that intention out there, it's bound to happen. When I was in high school, I remember, and this goes along with I had an idea of where I wanted to go.

Josh Felgoise (01:08:04.718)

I remember I learned about venture capital. had no idea how I learned about it. Maybe through a podcast, maybe through my dad, maybe through an article, but I was always listening to how I built this by Guy Raz in high school. that was a great podcast. And then also learned about VC through a lot of the women that I interviewed on my podcast. And I remember I was at a dinner. As I was over at my friend's house, I was dating this guy who was two years older than me and was with her and then him and all of his friends. And they were seniors in high school. was the sophomore.

And I remember, somehow the conversation of work came up and I mentioned something about how like, I'd love to go into VC. And one of his friends looked at me and was like, how are you gonna do that? Like, really VC? How do you think you're gonna get into VC? Like complete, sorry, asshole. First of all, don't surround yourself. Don't surround yourself people who like shit on your dreams, first of all. Those aren't the people to surround yourself with. But him and his friends all were like very, you

They were doubtful and like rude and they like shat on my dreams. And at the same time, like that's don't ever date someone who dims your light. That's another part of that story. But he also said that because he in his head goes is projecting this insecurity onto me. That's like, I can never get into VC. How could you think you could do it? You know, so totally just so that screw that guys, if you want to do something, make it happen, baby. Be like.

I was a sophomore and I was like, want to get into VC. And he was like, you're dumb. How do think you can do that? And he was also probably thinking, you're a girl, so good luck. And guess what, babe? Guess what, babe? After my freshman year of college, I got an internship at one of the best VCs in Seattle. So take that. Right? So just put the intentionality out there and you'll find a way to get there. So again, I feel like I've gone a long ramble, but that's a little bit of my advice in finding direction.

No, I think it's important advice. think I love what you said. also love that story and the fact that you proved more to yourself than to him. Yeah, I don't talk to him. He doesn't know I got that job. like, never need to shove it back in his face. He like I just need to know. I love that advice. I think what what you said throughout this podcast was really helpful and just a great conversation. And I hope this gives somebody who's in my position or in your position. I think it's a

Josh Felgoise (01:10:31.19)

It's a very cool dynamic to have on a microphone and to record and to share with anybody who wants to listen to this, that like a boss or a mentor and a mentee slash intern can have this like really open dialogue and very personable and real conversation about goals and intentions and you know, like feedback in general. So I loved doing this with you. Thank you for doing this.

And as you know, and as you said throughout this, anything you need, Nina, like you know that. So, so now I'm excited for people to hear this one. Well, first of all, thank you so much. I've been dying to come on guys side guys. I have been sending propaganda to Josh since I started. I was like, so like, don't you think it'd be a good idea to get your intern on the podcast? And he kept on like putting it off and I was like, Hey, no, like, honestly, I'm a lot smarter than you probably think. Like I will, I was like, trust me, I will serve.

But you I know was that you were trying to wait till I like finished. I understand that now. But it also it was was never it was never that it was always that I wanted to be able to shape the conversation this way and be able to like ask you how you really thought about everything when once it was over. And I also think we were able to build a much like better dynamic between the two of us as the time went on. And

like be able to like really see real sides of each other and how we worked and how we worked together and learn a lot through this experience and be able to share it better in this way. So that's why I waited. But I, you know that so. Okay. Thanks again for doing this, Nina. I'll talk to you soon. my God. Thank you. Wait, do I leave the call now? No, I'll click stop.

Okay. And that is the episode. Thank you so much for listening to guys. I thank you to Nina for coming on the podcast. If you like this episode of Really Who We Did, please give this podcast five stars at the top of the Spotify or Apple podcast page. There's a one, two, three, four, five stars. You can just go one, two, three, four, five, and then just...

Josh Felgoise (01:12:31.906)

The fifth star, please leave a review of like this episode as well Send any questions anything we talked about that should be talked about to my email Josh at guys at comm j o s h at gu is et comm You can also leave questions on my or at my DMS at the guy set th e gu is et or on reddit r slash guy said I'm also setting up a discord channel called guys set probably And you can leave questions there and I'll answer them and I will keep bringing on perspectives tools advice and all the things that should be talked about

for guys. Thank you so much listening and I will see you guys next Tuesday. See you guys.