"If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got."
Some people attribute that quote to Henry Ford...others to Tony Robbins. Regardless of who created the quote, it's a message that has never felt more true to me and my career then it does right now.
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Joe Odas. I'm 36-years-old, married, and have spent most of the last 10 years working as an insurance agent for a large soon to be regional carrier. I love Philly sports, speakeasies that serve bourbon as well as spicy bloody marys, podcasts, and grilling. But I have to be honest, even though I'm very intelligent and precise when it comes to insurance, it's not something that fills me creatively. I've spent the last several years sending my resume while applying to open jobs in marketing and advertising that would interest me only to get a response from the companies that they have chosen to move forward with other applicants that better fit what they were looking for. I would get discouraged that my skills and office experience that I have acquired over the last nearly 15 years was not enough to even be considered for an interview. But I realized through advice from my wife that if you don't try something new you will achieve the same results.
My wife had the idea that maybe I could go back to school and earn a certification in a field that I enjoyed. So I searched and found that the Rutgers Business School offers programs for digital and social media marketing. I am proud to say that in the fall of 2018 I earned my first certificate after completing the Mini MBA in Digital Marketing program while planning a digital marketing campaign for DDP Yoga as my capstone project. I followed that up this spring with completing the Mini MBA program in Social Media Marketing and planned my capstone with myself as the client with a mission to show potential employers why my new and old school marketing skills will help your agency. This website and my social media presence is the result of completing the program. I am grateful for my experience with the Rutgers Business School because I was able to network via weekly office hours with some of the marketing industry's experienced and brightest minds.
Where will this new experience bring me? Hopefully, to employment that is lucrative financially and creatively! I hope that you enjoy the ride! I'll end this with another quote: "Do what you love, and you'll never work another day in your life."
Song in my Head: "I Want It All" by Queen