A Chat with John Saddington

I've been trying to find time to write this post. And prep yourself for some serious geeking out and a lengthy, pseudo-philosophical ride.

John Saddington

Yesterday, we had a guest speaker for our class. Some guy who just happened to be in town for some convention and would be speaking. I'll be honest, with how bad my allergies had been from my lovely apartment scenario, I was just happy to be breathing without the assistance of 50+ tissues on hand.

...I was not ready for this guy. Turns out - he was one of the founders of Iron Yard. (Which I immediately recalled Emily telling us, and that I had promptly forgotten all about it.)

If you don't know who John Saddington is,  I'll do my best to sum it up: a fucking force. That's who he is. (But seriously, take 5 minutes and just google him.)
This guy is awesome. He started coding around 15 years old. Now, he's worth more money than I think I've ever made in my life with a few extra zeroes behind it. But don't get me wrong - this wasn't some guy coming to tell us to 'do our best and we'll go far'. I mean his opening to us was an apology. It was "I'm sorry guys, I just got in on the red-eye, I've only had coffee, I haven't had my medication, and I'm probably going to swear like a sailor."

I'm already liking this guy.

Coming from someone who can swear like one, I approve

The presentation/talk was pretty informal, but packed with some amazing information. I was surprised by how much of it was a slight variation of the things I had learned in the LA dept. at BSU. The differences, though small, made such a huge difference.

Blogging & Social Media

For example - Saddington has been blogging everyday. ...for the past 14 years. That's insane. 

....but it's not. He talked about the opportunities that have come about because of his blog. At one point he did it professionally (and made over 40K that year from doing so!).  He stressed the importance for us to have blogs up and going now, and the number of people he had talked with over the years wishing they'd started sooner. 

I'm certainly not new to this concept (Thank you, Simon Bussiere), and this was a major component of discussion in the LA program, but there was one thing I was missing: do it even if it looks like crap.  The sheer fact that you're putting something on a page is getting yourself in a step forward. So it looks like crap? So what! You've GOT something out there. You're developing your own 'brand', your own 'flavor'. This applies to design, development, whatever!

For something so simple, why was I missing this? Because of the stress of 'does it look nice?' or 'could this look better?'  John's answer: fuck it. You'll always want to make it look better. Instead, just write. And your content will outweigh the design. Your commitment will speak louder than your template.

"Commitment wins." - John Saddington

He also talked about utilizing/leveraging social media to be used as a tool to further your opportunities and market both yourself and your ideas. Nothing new, again. But I hadn't had anyone ever talk about utilizing less platforms. John talked about how more effective you are when you engage into one or two media forms - and beast mode - versus attempting to keep up with all of them and half-assing it. 

Ron Swanson - my spirit animal.

The Competition

-Cue the Pokemon Theme Song-

Those of you who know me, you're aware that I'm competitive. For those of you who don't know me super well, I'll put it this way: I'm all for playing fair, and making sure everyone has a chance, and making sure that everyone has a great time...but don't expect me to take it easy on you in this board game because it's your first time.

That being said, this is the first time I've ever been in an environment where the mentality wasn't a cut-throat, I've gotta be better scenario. Ok, maybe that's a bit of overkill - but in school, your grades are always compared...to the other students. In this realm, it's you versus yourself. (I will have a full blog post about this in the future, for sure.)

He also talked about how to get yourself in the front-runnings (which I was all ears for hearing). His answers were great. "Ever take an hour and a half lunch? I do. I love 'em. ...fuck em. You can eat in 30 minutes. What the hell were you doing with that hour, anyway?" ...that's entirely true of way too many people - myself included some days.

"Don't be disqualified from opportunities you didn't know you had." - John Saddington

The best advice on how to get forward? Of course it was networking. (Duh!) ...but again with a twist. You go to networking things, right? How many people have you scoped out before you get there? How many people did you meet? How many business cards and contact info did you get? Did you meet them with such an impression that they will remember you? ...and most importantly: did you ask them "what can I do for you?" Create. Value.
That last one kinda took me off guard. I plan on using that as a way to get into the realm of networking and potential hiring work. "What can I do for you?" ...how many people go to networking events and ask that...probably no one.

Overall

I was so inspired that through all the things he was saying, you could just tell he was being real. I can recall sitting across the table from higher ups in companies - CEOs, Presidents, etc. - and feeling like they were simply there to put on the act that they actually listen and give a shit...when they don't. At all.  But they want you to think they do. 

I pride myself on my people skills. I can tell when people are being genuine, or when they're clearly not even remotely interested in what is being said. (It's not a hard skill to learn - try serving. Or acting. Or being that social person at any major gathering. You'll quickly find the people who don't care about anything coming out of your mouth. And you've done it, too.)

But Saddington didn't try to put on a face for us. Yes, the guy who helped to found the program that he was speaking to was asking us to just chat and ask questions. That level of honesty and openness is so rare. And he was really getting to brass tacks at various points. No candy-coating. If it was fucking stupid....he literally said that. And for him to be able to look at someone, tell them they will never be great at this, and still somehow leave an inspiring message for that individual on an individual level...it was brilliant to watch. Yes, that really happened - he said that to one of my classmates. And, contextually, it worked. It made sense. And it inspired that person.

It was uncut. It was rough. It was needed. ...I wish more people communicated like this, and more people were open to getting this level of feedback.

Closing Questions and Remarks

John Finished with asking us a few questions. He also hung around for Q&A for an hour and a half. 

"Don't ask 'where do you want to work?', ask 'who do you want to work with?'" - John Saddington

On educating yourself:
"The goal is not retention. It's resourcing." - from a advisor of John's during grad school

Finally, John asked:

What drives us to do this? 

In order of importance:
I want to make a difference.

I want to build something that people appreciate, use, and love.

I want to be the best version of me I can be. 

I want to never have to worry if I have enough money to get by, ever again.
and ...I want to work for that man. Holy crap.


-Re-cue the Pokemon Theme Song-