Viralogy

Contact: RyanPaugh [at] BrazenCareerist.com
Websites: http://RyanPaugh.com, http://BrazenCareerist.com
Career: Community Manager for Brazen Careerist
Passions: “I’m passionate about making connections. I like meeting new people and developing new relationships, but I also like helping other people develop new relationships too. I feel like I am in a great position to help people connect that wouldn’t otherwise make a connection. Bottom line is that I love to help people.”

During the first few months of my blogging career, I was trying to reach out and make friends with top bloggers in the community.  I eventually found Penelope Trunk who introduced me to Ryan Paugh and Brazen Careerist.  After a month of finding like 2 good Gen Y bloggers, I was instantly immersed into a community that already had an established base of about 100 top quality Gen Y bloggers.  I felt like I had finally found a home in the blogosphere, and I have Penelope and Ryan to thank.

Ryan sports the long, disheveled hair and is a laid-back, t-shirt and jeans kind of guy.  He tried out the suit and tie in the corporate world for about a year, but it just wasn’t him.  The lack of freedom stifled his creativity and growth, so he took the big step and walked into the startup life.  I keep telling him he needs to do some events down here in Los Angeles because we have such a thriving, young tech community that would embrace Brazen and it’s message.  After watching this vid, definitely reach out to him and let him know that you want some events over in your home city.

Conversation Breakdown:

1:42 - How did you get started as a blogger?

Ryan Paugh and Ryan Healy started Employee Evolution as a way to vent.  They were working the whole corporate cubicle thing, and at the time, there were a lot of Gen X talking smack about Gen Y; therefore, Ryan started his blog in order to step up as a voice for career-focused millennials.  Employee Evolution was the reason they met Penelope and founded Brazen Careerist.

2:35 -  Was there a backlash when you started Employee Evolution?

Yes!  A lot of professionals felt Ryan had no clue what the work place was all about.  Penelope was a great mentor and source of support for Ryan and his crew; it might have also been because of Penelope that they got the backlash that they received.

3:32 - Do you know everyone in the Brazen Careerist community?

This is why I think Ryan is such a great guy.  Listen to him speak and you’ll see that he genuinely wants to meet every single member in his community.  It is his job after all as the Community Manager, but I think he has a realness to him that really makes you want to reach out and connect.

4:16 - What has been your personal favorite blog post that you have written?

His favorite blog post is Why I won’t regret blogging 10 years later.

4:55 - Do the people who comment have a blog themselves or are they anonymous?

The most opinionated, negative commentors are the anonymous ones because it’s really easy to disagree and write a bias point of view when you don’t have an identity yourself.  Ryan encourages them to create a blog because they do have valuable things to say, but instead of being a “dissenter,” they should join the community and voice their opinion the right way.

5:53 - What inspired you to write “You can’t save the world with a ball and chain”?

Most popular post: You can’t save the world with a ball and chain.

7:52 - How are you able to balance your personal and professional life?  Or is there no balance?

Ryan tries to keep the two separate.  There are times when his work life does interfere with his personal life, but for the most part, he has been able to keep the two pretty well separated.

8:40 - Question from a reader: “When are you going to cut your hair?”

Ryan is such a chill guy.  He talks about how he’s lived the corporate, shot-haired life and it just didn’t suit him.  He’s enjoying his t-shirt and jeans career and would never change it.

9:52 - What was the transition from the corporate world to the entrepreneurial life like?

Ryan is really honest with his answer.  People transition to the startup life for the freedom, but Ryan realized that some of the structure that the corporate world has is actually good for you.  Having a boss who creates your schedule and timlines is actually a huge positive that many entrepreneurs overlook.

11:26 - What advice would you give to those who are thinking of transitioning from the corporate world to the startup life?

Number 1 piece of advice is to make sure you that you REALLY want to do it.  Your comfort zone goes completely out the window because you no longer have the steady paycheck or boss telling you exactly what you need to do next.  The jump is NOT easy and you need to get ready for a roller coaster ride.

12:26 - What is in store in 2009 for Ryan Paugh?

Personally, Ryan wants to build a stronger work/life balance.

Professionally, Ryan wants to engage his Brazen Community much better.  He’s always looking for ways to make the community valuable for everyone.

13:33 - What’s going on in Madison, Wisconsin?

If you’re in Madison, Wisconsin, the number one place you need to be is at Team Brazen!