Turning Your Passion Into Your Profession | #BossTalks | Salesforce

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Boss Talks, a series featuring candid career advice from some of the best in the business. Today we're going to focus on turning your passion into your profession. While some folks are happy to channel their passion into hobbies and volunteering, others are driven to turn it into their nine to five. In fact, now more than ever, people want their jobs to align with their personal strengths and their values. And the great Resignation is really proving that out. But in today's modern workforce, not only is it possible to turn what you're passionate about into your day job, it can also help you change the world while you're at it. To help me explore this topic, I've invited someone who makes this all look so easy. Ryan Gahl is the co founder of Global Citizen Platform and Festival and the founder of the production company Crooked Highways. Ryan, welcome to Boss Talks.

Thank you, ebony. It's great to talk with you today. I definitely love this topic, so really happy to be here to chat.

Good, good. Well, let's just jump right on in. So, Ryan, the story behind Global Citizen expresses today's topic perfectly. You saw an opportunity to bring together two worlds. You're passionate about charity and entertainment and then build it into a company. Tell us more about that moment.

You know, I obviously kind of drew a lot of inspiration from Live Aid, and I remember seeing Live Aid as a kid and then Live Earth and Live eight and. But I hadn't. It kind of hit me that no one had kind of done a revamped version of that and really taken advantage of sort of this new generation of people and kids out there that really care so much, so much about these issues and they want to learn about them. They also are very demanding of the companies that they work for, making sure that the companies stand for things and the corporations that they buy from. We knew we didn't want to run just a typical sort of fundraising event. We came up with the idea to have the tickets be something that you had to earn, and that really kind of gamified the whole thing. And it allowed our platform to be something that kind of, you know, could see actions all year round. You could, you know, take different actions, get points, and then use those points to get into either our festival or different concerts throughout the year.

So you have quite a few things going on these days between Global Citizen, your production company Crooked Highways, and the nonprofit organization Hope Campaign. I just can't believe it. So for passionate people like yourself, zeroing in on just one thing can sometimes be a little bit difficult. So what Are your tips on finding focus?

You know, I can't lie. This is something I have trouble with sometimes. I think in order to be really successful, you definitely need to be laser focused. You know, your targets can't be all over, but also to not burn out, you know, you want to, you gotta try new things and take new chances, but, you know, you just can't say yes to everything. That's definitely something I'm learning more and more as I get a little bit older. Having, having the most incredible team you can try to put together is, is essential. I do a little bit of meditation. I think that can help, you know, when you're, when you're a little scattered, that can help kind of bring a little bit of focus to kind of what's the most important thing.

There is also a balance between doing what you're passionate about and needing to earn a paycheck. So what's your advice for people out there who need to really consider this?

My advice would be if, if you can, and obviously not everybody can, but if you can start, you know, the, the passions project side or the passion projects, you know, when you're young, obviously, you know, when you have a little more time or, or if you're older, when you, you know, when you do have time, maybe on the weekends, you start small and start slow and, you know, try to grow that project or grow, know what your capabilities are around it. You know, I know from just having a kid that once you have kids, your time is just so precious. It's, it's really, it's hard to do anything but make sure that you have that paycheck to cover everything because your expenses double. And you know, so I, you know, I guess, you know, either start, start when you're young or down the road when you've, you know, kind of figured out how to have some free time to be able to put towards something like that.

So Global Citizen has some really big goals around defeating poverty, demanding equity, and defending the planet. Something I really love about your work, from your music festivals to your documentaries, is how you inspire people to get involved. So what are your tips for motivating others to make change?

So the. One of the big ones for us at Global Citizen is really trying to show people that the change is possible. You know, that actions can, can make a difference. It's very easy to think that these, these issues and these problems are so big that, you know, how can one little thing that I do actually make an impact? You know, we do that a lot through, like you said, Some, you know, documentary or content and, you know, impact reports. We do a lot of that. And obviously, if you come to one of our festivals, you see a lot of that firsthand. We talk a lot on stage about the. Because of the actions you took to get here, Here's a commitment. You know, we really kind of show you that direct line. So I think, you know, being able to kind of show that proof that it's worth their time is. Is an important way to. To be able to get people to. To want to get involved and, you know, get past that. You know, I can't make a difference because it's not true.

And then you yourself are known for jumping into action, modeling the behavior, leveraging your platform and your own personal connections to really meet the moment. And with all that's going on in the world, it's really easy to feel overwhelmed and really deflated. So what would you tell people who want to help make a difference in their world but don't know where to begin in their world, big or small?

You know, we all have different skills and different things that we were born with that we're, you know, naturally good at. And so I think it's. It's really kind of figuring out how to use those skills. You know, if you're. If you're a lawyer, you know, maybe donate some hours to an NGO or to a cause that you believe in. You know, if you're a designer, help create some. Some design assets. If you're good at organizing, you know, help organize a rally. So I think it's really kind of whatever you're good at. You know, that skill set is definitely needed. Somewhere there's some organization. There's an issue out there that if you align with and if you want to go out and search for it, they will happily take your support and your skills.

All right, Ryan, this has been great, but now we've come to my final and favorite question. So, Ryan, what is your superpower?

Oh, man, I don't know. I think I'm pretty persistent when I feel like I have a good idea. I don't really quit easily. When we were putting Global Citizen together, early on, we got told no so many times. You know what I mean? Everybody would say, hey, you're trying to do a concert on the Great Lawn of Central Park. You know, good luck. Good luck trying to get that funded, or good luck trying to, you know, get the city to say yes, because they hadn't done a concert on a Saturday in years. So I think, you know, finding ways to block out that negativity. I've, you know, been successful in a little bit. I also think, you know, trusting your instincts, I don't know if that's a superpower, but I think that's something that we can all, you know, benefit from. You know, when you see an opportunity come up, you really, you do need to jump on it. You know what I mean? And if, you know, if you miss, you just, you know, realign and try again. Because I think one thing I've learned is chances are there's someone else that's thinking the same thing and trying to get the same thing done. And if you hesitate at all, you know, someone else will seize that moment.

Plus one to all that you just said, and I'll just add that trust your gut is my mantra for the year. So I love that you just shared that and reminded me to lean into that a little bit more for the day. So, Ryan, I just want to thank you for all the incredible advice and words of wisdom that you offered us for helping us turn our passion into our profession. And I think you just inspired more people to go out and make a difference. And we need a lot more of that today. So thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you for having me on. Really appreciate it.

I really hope you all enjoyed today's conversation. So to watch more episodes of Boss Talks, check out the new Salesforce Plus. And to continue boss building, head on over to trailblazer.salesforce.com to join millions of trailblazers who are learning relevant skills, connecting to Trailblazers, fellow trailblazers, and giving back with the Trailblazer community. With that, thank you for tuning in to Boss Talks and I will see you all next time.