FYPC Podcast Ep 36: Scott Anthony Barlow, Founder and CEO of Happen to Your Career

Scott Anthony Barlow is the Founder and CEO of Happen to Your Career. He’s been featured on CNBC, Yahoo, CareerBuilder, Fast Company and Huffington Post and various Colleges and Universities as a top expert on Career Happiness. He gets way excited about careers, coffee, and helping people take control over their life and work. He lives with his wife and 3 kids in Moses Lake Washington (and sometimes Paris or London). When he’s not traveling, he and his team run 2 of the top 5 “Career Change” Podcasts on Apple Podcasts including the Happen to Your Career Podcast.

Tune into this week’s episode as Scott dives into how he found his signature strengths on the Find Your Passion Career podcast!

Scott’s college experience was pretty typical – he switched majors a lot trying to figure out what he could see himself doing. Eventually he found business. “It was something I could sink my teeth into more and more and more,” said Scott.

Scott even accepted a job offer before graduating from college. It paid well and placed Scott in a leadership role, managing a team of 20 people. So Scott packed up his life, travelled with his new wife and moved to Portland, Oregon.

As much as he wanted it to work, the job was just not a good fit. Nor was it a great intro to the working world fresh out of college. But, Scott quickly realized something was off. “I better do something about this,” said Scott.

Scott realized that if you don’t feel it for yourself, then what’s the point? So, Scott called up his boss and explained his feelings. He explained that the job just wasn’t the right fit. And get this, his boss agreed. And then, his boss fired him three weeks later.

Creating the foundation

Imagine losing the championship game, messing up during the opening performance or flubbing the sales pitch you thought you perfected. Do you mope around and wallow in self pity or do you step up and make sure that next time will be better?

Since Scott is interviewed on a podcast all about finding your passion career, I’m sure you can guess which one Scott went with. Sure, he moped around for three days, debts mounting, fears rising and bank account dwindling, but he saw the bigger picture. While he felt fear and doubt in the moment, now, looking back, Scott realized that getting fired from his first job set up everything else in his life. “Look, I gotta figure this out for my own,” said Scott.

From there Scott ended up pursuing an HR position that he felt better aligned with his strengths and values. Impressed with his ability to pivot, Scott ended up coaching friends on how to make a change. In fact, Scott’s passion career today all started out at a Starbucks. Yup, a Starbucks. Scott just sort of fell into coaching people; they would buy him a coffee in return for career advice. That’s right, Scott was literally speaking his passion.

Speaking his Passion

Let’s recap – Scott switched majors a ton and finally settled on business only to be fired from his first job after he moved to a new state and wound up talking to strangers about their passion at a Starbucks. What a whirlwind.

But Scott dug beneath the surface and realized that he was setting himself up for a career. “I took what I had learned previously… and started applying them to the job search process,” said Scott. “It really started out with me training to be aware of the tiny pieces I enjoyed immensely.”

Happen to Your Career started out because Scott used his connecting skills to meet and talk with people. “We created the foundation for everything we do today because I had to figure it out for myself,” said Scott.

Making the Exception the Norm

Scott created Happen to Your Career so that others don’t have to go through this same journey alone. At HTYC, they work towards helping people become the exception. They focus on answering what are people who are in their passion career doing differently than the rest of us, and how can we mirror that? The answer?

“We have to be really really clear about what matters most to us,” said Scott.

Maybe you prefer working in the city rather than the suburbs. Do you like an open cubicle more than a closed-off office? Working from home instead of an office. Or do the company’s core values trump all of the physical values?

“There is something out there for you once you understand your strengths, once you understand your highest priorities,” said Scott.

Take a note from what Scott is saying here and ask yourself those questions. Find your signature strengths. Figure out the core values that you look for. Write them down or describe them in your journal. Really paint a picture for yourself of what your dream job looks like. Got it? Good, now go out and find it, because it’s waiting there for you.

Download our podcast interview with Scott here on iTunes!

Once you’re inspired by Scott’s story, we would love to read your review.