Episode 1 of The Things I’ve Learned From Podcast
Here is the link to the podcast. The transcript is below.
Podcast 1: Nothing Ventured, Nothing GainedThe Transcript:
Hello, there. I’m Stephanie Verni, and I’d like to welcome you to the first of my 5-minute podcasts that I’ll be posting every Monday for the rest of the year. For years, I’ve had this notion in my head that I wanted to write a book about the lessons I’ve learned along the way from working in baseball. I say that because my life changed the day I got a job working in Baltimore for the Baltimore Orioles. Up to that point, I was, to use a term from the baseball movie Bull Durham, lolly-gagging my way through my college career. I wasn’t too successful my freshman year because I was in a major I didn’t like. When I made the decision to change to Communication, my life began to change. One of the things that happened to me was I began to hang around other communication majors, and I heard them boast about their really cool internships they were getting. I had nothing. I was just in a new major that I was trying to catch up in at the time.
One day, something propelled me to stop at the University Union bulletin board and look at the posted internships and jobs. I saw a post that read “Public Relations Assistant – Baltimore Orioles,” and I was intrigued by the possibility of working for the Orioles. I went back to my dorm room, put together some semblance of a resume on a old, electric typewriter with green ink, and I marched it down to the mailbox on campus.
Two weeks later, I had a job working for the Orioles as a public relations assistant.
So, as I’ve looked back on my career, I can say for certain that there were people and situations that helped me learn and grow. But I can’t just stop at baseball, because like most of you, I’m in a constant state of learning. When I thought about writing that book about what I learned in baseball, it truly did have an incredible impact on my life. But since those days, I’ve been inspired by so many other things, that the idea for the book, while wonderful, has morphed into so much more.
We could all write this type of book, right? A book that muses on all the things we’ve learned along the way. Then, the idea came to me when I saw someone on Facebook ask if there are any good podcasts out there to listen to. My husband loves podcasts, particularly some of the short-form ones that he can listen to on his ride to work or while he’s working around the house. And that idea made me think that I can leave the writing of that book on the table, because my true love of writing lies in writing fiction.
But a podcast…a podcast is a great way to share quick things that we would like to share with others who value learning and growing. There are so many things I’ve learned from people, places and things I’ve encountered in my life thus far.
I’ve never tried to tackle anything like this, but I’m going to give it a shot and see how I do.
So the first Lesson is the one I learned from going for the job at the Orioles all those years ago when I was young and stupid and nineteen. And that lesson is NOTHING VENTURED NOTHING GAINED. I can’t tell you exactly why I stopped at the bulletin board that day and looked at all the jobs posted. I can’t tell you what made me concentrate on writing a cover letter and crafting some sort of dismal resume that day, but I did.
I remember when the telephone rang in my dorm room and my roommate answered and said, “Steph, it’s someone from the Baltimore Orioles on the phone.” I was in shock. I was asked to come in and interview.
I had to borrow my friend’s Mustang and drive in the sleety snow on a Saturday morning to old Memorial Stadium to interview for the job.
My now dear friend, Julie Wagner, interviewed me. We had grown up in the same town. Went to the same high school and university. I cheered for her brother on the soccer team. And yet, we did not know each other.
As she interviewed me, I sat up straighter and straighter. I wanted the job so badly I could taste it.
Luckily for me, she called and offered me the job.
My life changed that day, and there will be more to discuss about my life working in baseball and for people I admired and adored, but for now, Lesson Number One is NOTHING VENTURED NOTHING GAINED. Remember that.
That’s one of the the things I’ve learned from going for it.
Signing off today,
Stay bright and postive,
Stephanie