In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Ramsey Bradkey, a second‑year MBA student at Purdue who is about to join PepsiCo. Ramsey shares a formative personal story about transitioning from a military academy to the all‑male liberal arts college Wabash, where he discovered a love of reading, embraced boredom, and learned the value of daily grinding. He then offers industry‑specific insight, emphasizing that managers in consumer packaged goods (CPG) must understand the motivations, mindsets, and needs of frontline workers such as sales representatives and merchandisers. Beyond industry advice, Ramsey stresses the importance of building intentional, meaningful relationships rather than superficial networking, cultivating gratitude for his upbringing, and recognizing that close relationships and aligning work with one’s talents are the core of happiness. He recommends Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit for its actionable framework, shares his favorite quote—“Live with wolves and you will learn to howl”—as a reminder to surround oneself with people who elevate you, and provides his Instagram and LinkedIn handles for listeners to connect with him.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite makes the process of becoming a published bestselling author as simple as sipping your morning cup of coffee. You can learn more about Authors Unite at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Ramsey Bradkey with us. He's graduating second-year MBA at Purdue, concentrated on marketing, and working for PepsiCo starting in June. So welcome to the show, Ramsey.
Appreciate it, appreciate you having me on, Tyler.
Of course, man, happy to have you on. So We'll dive right in. The first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, so I tell this story to a lot of undergrad students that I've talked to or even high schoolers, 'cause I think it applies especially to a lot of people, you know, as they get older and get a little bit more focused or business-minded, so, I actually went to an East Coast boarding school type, but it was in the Midwest called Culver Military Academy. You know, there I did well, but I always tell people, you know, I got a 3.0. I did the drill in terms of academics, but my head was kind of focused on sports and girls is what I tell people. But then I ended up going to to a small private liberal arts school called Wabash College. And what's interesting about Wabash College is it's one of two all-male schools in the nation. So needless to say, my environment was a little bit different. And, you know, the kind of the pinnacle of the story, or, you know, the underlying value takeaway is that, you know, I ended up really buckling down, finding myself in the library, 5 to 6 times a week, had some really amazing professors that really made me fall in love with reading, getting to know every last little thing about business, economics, and politics. And you know, so the values that I say that, you know, I take away from that looking back is one, everybody should be reading a book at all times. Whether that's, you know, for if you're in school or even more so when you're a professional, just bettering yourself. There's so much knowledge out there, especially digitally nowadays. But then to, you know, embrace, you know, the quote unquote boredom a little bit, because that's really where you can set yourself apart from other people. Make sure you're grinding every single day. So no, that's the story I like to share with people.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
So going into the CPG industry, consumer product goods, I've worked for a small, more entrepreneurial 200-and-under company, and now I'm going to go work for a you know, the, you know, PepsiCo, which is second largest in market share only to Coca-Cola in terms of consumer product goods companies. The number one thing I tell people in that industry is you should really always know, especially as a manager, the motivation, mindsets, and needs of your frontline workers. So for me, a lot of that will be A lot of our sales designates, you know, these are guys who are guys or women that are paid hourly, who are, you know, driving the trucks, unloading the merchandising, putting these things into stores. And if you really want to execute and, you know, deliver results for those that you're accountable to, you know, these are the people that are going to be delivering the the bottom line. You know, that can apply to anybody. If you're in oil and gas, that's people out working on the rigs. If you're in education, that's your teachers in the classroom. So whoever your frontline workers are, you need to know their motivations, mindsets, and needs at all times.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, and not necessarily like industry-specific?
Yeah, I think the number one thing, you probably hear it a lot, people usually will talk about networking, but I think a better way to say that is just be really intentional about building meaningful relationships. So, you know, that just means putting yourself out there and getting to know new people. It doesn't need to be as calculated as it's sometimes portrayed. But when I say intentional, you know, if I'm working in the consumer products goods industry, or if I'm interested in health and wellness, I should be thinking about putting myself in conferences or getting to know people or groups of people with similar interests that I can get to know. That will make me happy and potentially give me some type of business advantage.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
You know, man, to be honest, to be grateful for the upbringing and privilege that I had. I had a great family. A lot of things that I look back on and now I'm much more grateful that I had that I know a lot, a lot of people in America and the world globally, you know, don't have. So just a little bit of gratitude.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Key to happiness. I think the research shows that meaningful relationships, like I said, is the number one key to happiness. I'd say close relationships with others and then doing exactly what you're doing, Tyler, working full-time on your talents. So find what you're good at, find what you want to bring to the world and find a way to make that a full-time job.
And what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Best book is hard because I'm always reading a lot of books, but the latest book that I've read that's been the most meaningful to me that everybody should read is called Power of Habit. It's by Charles, I want to say Dugain, I'm messing up his last name. Unreal book, it's actionable right away. Everyone should check it out, Power of Habit.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
Favorite quote, uh, there's a story behind it, but I'll leave that out. Uh, favorite quote is, live with wolves and you will learn to howl. Surround yourself by people, um, who are gonna make you better.
I like that, man. Thank you so much for coming on. Uh, the last question I have for you is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
Instagram or LinkedIn, uh, ramsey.bradkey, ramseybradkey. Those are probably the best places for now. I'll be looking to launch a platform in the future and y'all can find me when that time comes.
Perfect. Thanks again, man. We appreciate it.
Thanks, Tyler. The podcast you just heard was recorded with Anchor. If you want to make your own, download the Android or iOS app completely free from anchor.fm/podcast. That's anchor.fm/podcast.
